instant horror of where is she what had happened to baby savanna? the answer would come decades later and astonish the world. it happened so fast, couldn t fathom what was going on imagine, your mother fugitive. your father stranger. your home, your name your past was any of it real? the first thing i felt, jus a pit in my stomach. i jus felt like it was my fault. a mother s crime. a father pain what kinds of emotions di it stir up when you would se that crib? it would just make me cry a daughter forced to face the shattering truth i was shocked and i was jus terrified. hello and welcome t dateline a father left childless and daughter left questioning he very identity. it was a case that started as custody battle, but turned int an international mystery tha spanned two decades and took investigators nearly 10,00 miles around the world all driven by a determined dad searching for answers and hi daughter here s andrea canning with finding savanna. in
the beautiful city that coul have been savanna s home, if life hadn t taken such a tur that ultimately led here. th charleston jail where her mo was awaiting trial we don t know what s goin to happen. i m looking forward to going to trial, to be honest i think we re going to give it all we got and that s all w can really say, right? it is. that s it. so, we can only hope. and she said to me, i ve done this all for you and i ve succeeded. she doesn t care what happens to her. reporter: lee s defense for what she did had not changed from the allegations she had made 20 years before. namely that harris had abused savanna that time when she picked he up with the bloody nose. lea prosecutor, nathan williams, said he re-investigated th incident, but like the origina inquiry, found no evidence t support lee s charge
savanna and i were in the yard, and it was a warm day, and she was barefoot walking o the grass. reporter: what do you hea on this phone call the judge awarding me full, sole custody reporter: harris was to emotionally depleted from th vicious custody battle to jump for joy, but he was surprise by what he suddenly felt that overwhelming sense t protect and care for a child. didn t anticipate the depth. reporter: were you feelin an intense bond with savanna a this point oh, tremendous. i d never been happier in my entire life reporter: but lee was reeling from the verdict tha allowed her to see savanna onl every other weekend. the judge wrote in his ruling that the psychological and emotiona problems experienced by th mother, if left untreated, wil create conflict and havoc in the child s life she was angry. she though it was corrupt reporter: babs mccambridg
the beautiful city that could have been savanna s home, if life hadn t taken such a turn that ultimately led here. the charleston jail where her mom was awaiting trial. we don t know what s going to happen. i m looking forward to going to trial, to be honest. i think we re going to give it all we got and that s all we can really say, right? it is. that s it. so, we can only hope. and she said to me, i ve done this all for you and i ve succeeded. she doesn t care what happens to her. reporter: lee s defense for what she did had not changed from the allegations she had made 20 years before. namely that harris had abused savanna that time when she picked her up with the bloody nose. lead prosecutor, nathan williams, said he re-investigated the incident, but like the original inquiry, found no evidence to support lee s charge. the first doctor said there
it was beautiful. it was absolutely beautiful. and was your sister happy on that day? yes. i think she found her prince charming. nicole pietz seemed to be on top of the world, and stepping confidently into her grown-up life. she was pretty excited about getting married. she loved her ring. she loved her bracelet that he got her. she was excited about getting a new condo. and having her own little family. january 28th, 2006 was a saturday. after a hectic work week at their different jobs, nici and dave would chill with a dinner party that night over at their friends place. that afternoon, dave called nici to hash out the details. they would drive there separately. hey, babe, give me a call. i need to know what we re doing, if i need to stop and get food or anything for ellen and jason and stuff like that. so give me a call. i love you. bye. but when dave pietz showed up at their friends apartment that evening, nici wasn t there. one hour, two hours, and still no nici. d