only in a small city, right? she went to college in del rio, started in nursing and then transferred to criminal justice. nothing that prepared her mom for what she did at 22. enlist in the army. she didn t ask me, she didn t get my opinion, she told me after she had done it. your family is a military family? we are. my dad was air force. my sister is retired air force. and then i was in the army reserves. after specialty training in information technology, the army sent karlyn to south korea. off duty she found time to give back. she found herself volunteering at an orphanage. well, she starts sending me pictures of a little boy that she s in love with, and she says mom, i want to adopt him. i said, no. in korea, karlyn found another kind of love. she began dating a handsome sergeant named maliek kearney. she was attracted to his
with anyone. vail was healthy and beautiful. karlyn radiant. their townhouse was filled with the joyful sounds of karlyn singing to vail. she particularly loved you are my sunshine. you ll never know dear how much i love you? she was happy. it looked like she found her purpose in life. three months after vail was born karlyn and maliek married in a small ceremony in south carolina. after the party karlyn went back home to fort meade in maryland with the baby. she said it was hard, the distance and not seeing him all the time. susan stayed in touch with her daughter. i spoke with karlyn every day, sometimes twice a day. but tuesday august 25th would be different. susan called karlyn that morning. and she didn t answer. and is that i mean that s unusual. you have such a close relationship. so i waited and i called her again. and she didn t answer. so i sent her an e-mail to her work e-mail. never got a
ramirez s husband opened their door to an army casualty notification team. and the worst news imaginable. their karlyn was dead. what did they say? we regret to inform you. just like they always say. same words. they had a chaplain with them. and couldn t give me any specifics. i asked for the baby. they said that she was in the hospital. so what scenarios are running through your mind? i couldn t even imagine what could have possibly happened. the answers would come 1,700 miles away at karlyn s town house in maryland. homicide detectives kelly harding and dan meyers of the anne arundel county police department were on the case. a maintenance person saw a dog walking around into an open back door of the townhome. he called 911. and the officers got there. and karlyn ramirez had been murdered. patrol officers led the detectives to a second-floor
office. she was loving. everyone loved her. marisa was a single mom with a young daughter. so when karlyn was nearing the end of her pregnancy, they decided to share a house together. had a back yard. it had a decent-size kitchen. and it was right by base. did you ever have security concerns? about the townhouse or the area. we did have. karlyn had mentioned that she came home one day and felt like stuff was moved around in the house. really? yeah. if somebody says that to me i m getting worried. the two women kept the doors and windows locked and worked together to make their townhouse a home. marisa helped karlyn set up a nursery, and then on april 23rd, 2015 catalea vail ramirez was born. grandma susan was on the first flight from texas. what was it like seeing karlyn and her new daughter vail together? your baby s had a baby. yes, it was amazing. i got her and i wouldn t share her
vale could still hear that loving voice. karlyn s sister put a recording of her singing inside a teddy bear.? you ll never know dear?? how much i love you? we are at this point the constant in her life. we want her to feel protected, loved, everything that i know her mom would have given her. that s all for this edition of dateline. i m natalie morales. thank you for watching. i m craig melvin. and i m natalie morales. and this is dateline . my sister s dead. and i just sorry. i just kind of fell apart. inside a silent home, an eerie scene. water pouring through the rooms. you heard the water running? yes. it was just gushing. clues would be hard to come by.