irene garza disappeared. irene had actually called us on saturday before easter, we re going to have the typical easter egg hunt. she had gotten us baskets. late that evening my parents got a phone call that said that irene had gone to church and she hadn t come back and she was missing. another cousin, noemi sigler, was at irene s house that day waiting for the easter egg hunt. what i remember is the grown-ups talking, whispering, crying. we were wondering what in the world was happening. but we knew something really bad had happened. irene was missing. but her car was still parked outside the church. family, friends and neighbors formed search parties and looked frantically. everybody was hoping that there was just, you know, some misunderstanding or she had maybe gone with friends or something and everybody was
not in prison? and he said simply, the church protected me. reporter: the autopsy states that irene showed evidence of recent trauma, sexual intercourse, and trauma to the head. evidence of strangulation could not be found, but suffocation could have been carried out by placing a cloth over the mouth and nose, especially if irene was unconscious. the subject was dead when placed into the canal. i believe he killed her and i believed that then, i had no doubt about it because he said he did. reporter: you have no doubt that he killed irene garza? correct. reporter: but dale did not come forward with any of this until four decades later, when he said the guilt became too
john feit left the priesthood. he has lived a full life. i m gary tuchman with cnn. i want to talk to you about irene garza. good for you. reporter: it s not surprising he doesn t want to talk about irene, because not only do her relatives and dale believe he killed her, so does every police officer and law enforcement agency that s dealt with this case. do you believe you know who the murderer is? we have developed evidence sufficient to probable cause that he was involved in this particular homicide. reporter: but with so much heat, why did the case go cold? early on, why do you think he wasn t prosecuted? a cover-up. reporter: who were they trying to protect? john b. feit.
and he said simply, the church protected me. reporter: the autopsy states that irene showed evidence of recent trauma, sexual intercourse, and trauma to the head. evidence of strangulation could not be found, but suffocation could have been carried out by placing a cloth over the mouth and nose, especially if irene was unconscious. the subject was dead when placed into the canal. i believe he killed her and i believed that then, i had no doubt about it because he said he did. reporter: you have no doubt that he killed irene garza? correct. reporter: but dale did not come forward with any of this until four decades later, when he said the guilt became too much to keep quiet.
after fondling her breast, he took her to the basement. reporter: about keeping her bound and gagged. he put something over her head. reporter: about her struggle to live. she was saying, i can t breathe. i can t breathe. reporter: and about dumping her lifeless body at the canal. on the way over there, he said that he patted her on her breasts, she was in the back seat, and was saying to her, irene, everything will be okay, everything will be okay, irene. reporter: even though he knew she was dead? yeah, yeah. reporter: while it was not unusual at the time to deal with criminal priests internally, he says he asked feit about the secular authorities? why was he sent to the monastery in your opinion, not to the police? i asked why are you here and not in prison?