and yet he seemed such a boy scout. he had no secret criminal past. listen to the wiretap on scott s phone. hi, scott. this is mom. it was a boat anchor. we knew it wasn t laci. that is scott whistling in the background. he seems relieved, too. i just dodged that one. you can interpret that in, good, that wasn t laci. that was lucky it wasn t her. suggesting to us we were looking in the right spot. and yet, he seemed such a boy scout.
they did a grid search, meaning they would ve they would ve been in eye contact and walked this whole area. reporter: brocchini and his partner jon buehler had a feeling from the start, laci peterson missing wasn t going to end well. because she didn t lead an at-risk lifestyle. she didn t hang around at the bars. and she wasn t out two-timing him or doing anything like that. i mean, she was a girl that was just ecstatic, from everything that i learned about her of being a mother. reporter: so she wasn t someone who would just walk away, and yet in the anxiety, hope. an idea formed in the minds of those who loved laci, that somehow this might turn out all right. we know we re going to find laci. we know we re going to bring her home alive and safe. we were gonna find her. like, i thought somebody kidnapped her. that s what i thought, just for the baby or something. reporter: here s lori, renee and stacey along with another friend in january of 2003.
whistle. she made everybody laugh and welcome and just with a smile. she could smile and you would know that that is the girl that you re going to be probably spending the rest of the night talking to or or listening to. maybe not talking so much. she was a hard to get a word in edgewise. reporter: talkative, smart, tenacious. you have us? i have you. is it working? reporter: a person who went for what she wanted the way she did for scott peterson. how did laci meet scott? at a café where scott worked. reporter: or at least saw him there. and just like that gave a waiter her phone number to pass on to scott. she wasn t bashful. reporter: and laci s mother liked scott, liked him a lot. very charming, very polite, perfect gentleman. bring you roses, that sorta thing? he d had a dozen roses for laci and then a dozen roses for me. so, of course, i was impressed. reporter: the courtship was like that, old fashioned. in what seemed like a good way.
reporter: he got it, all right. a sudden whirl of interviews. a few days after his affair with amber was revealed, scott talked about it on nbc s bay area station. obviously, yes, i had a romantic relationship that was inappropriate and unfair to a lot of people. reporter: in an appearance on cbs s kovr, scott claimed laci knew. reporter: strands of evidence they tried to weave into a rope with which to hang scott. another strand, scott s sudden desire to sell his and laci s home just weeks after she went missing. he said, i think we should get the house up on the market. and my mom said, this isn t the time to be discussing this, scott. reporter: but he did sell laci s car, another strand. and then there was the cement dust at scott s warehouse. a lot of people use concrete anchors for small, aluminum boats. and it looked like five of these
significant leads at this point. reporter: would never know that a curious, sympathetic, puzzled nation had cast an eye her way. laci peterson. she was 27 years old. and, on the night before christmas, she was gone. laci, if you re out there and can hear us and see us, we love you and we re searching, we re looking. reporter: it hit something. something in the air. the zeitgeist, that name, that smile, that mystery, impossible to put down. whoever has her, please, please, please let her go. bring her back to us. we love her so much. and we want her back. please let us have her back. reporter: and then there was him. the husband. the inscrutable scott peterson. i really don t care what