valuing this coin at over $500. lemme tell you, that s exciting stuff. reporter: was james just a pastor? or part time flim-flam man? so this is where things stood when an anonymous tip came in. startling. if true, it would solve the case. and in the tip, it says that james buried her in the backyard. reporter: that s some tip. yeah. i can remember getting that tip and thinking, no way. like, who would who would kill somebody and bury them in their own backyard? reporter: could be bogus, of course. just another false lead. but nesli was hopeful. we brought cadaver dogs and ground penetrating radar and we didn t find anything. reporter: nothing? nothin . reporter: no body. so what happened to marie? more months went by. police kept trying to speak with james but got no response. then after a whole year, they tried again and he picked up.
the young detective who happened to be a brand new mother. and the veteran who d seen just about everything. and who soon learned from friends and family that marie was deeply attached to both her daughters. she had a heart of gold and loved her paris more than anything in the world. reporter: but what happened in her life? and how did she end up with another baby? from esta the detectives learne pastor and his wife offered her a place to stay. but the questions about baby grace? esta said her relationship with marie was always supportive, and not judgmental. and when marie didn t tell her who the father was, she didn t push the subject. i ve never questioned her because marie will tell me in her own time if she wants to tell me. i ve learned with my sister i never pry. reporter: but that was the job of the detectives, nesli and keith, to pry and hopefully, find marie. and one of their first calls was on her church pastor, james
loved her paris more than anything in the world. reporter: but what happened in her life? and how did she end up with another baby? from esta the detectives learned about the divorce and how marie had lost her job, and how the pastor and his wife offered her a place to stay. but the questions about baby grace? esta said her relationship with marie was always supportive, and not judgmental. and when marie didn t tell her who the father was, she didn t push the subject. i ve never questioned her because marie will tell me in her own time if she wants to tell me. i ve learned with my sister i never pry. reporter: but that was the job of the detectives, nesli and keith, to pry and hopefully, find marie. and one of their first calls was on her church pastor, james flanders, and his wife. impressive guy, they discovered. james flanders, what was he like? very charismatic i would say he would good at his job. reporter: wonder what it would be like to listen to him
matz to look into it. that text message. something off, said her family. this doesn t sound like marie. reporter: huh, so when you got that one the antenna must have gone up, huh? the antennas did go up. reporter: detective nesli suhi-moore didn t hear about the case then because i was on leave. reporter: on maternity leave. correct. so and i came back, two weeks after she was initially reported missing. reporter: and that s when nesli heard from other detectives about the case keith was working on. poor keith had no idea that i was gonna come bully my way into that investigation. reporter: and why did you wanna bully your way into the investigation? i think the connection of just having a child i just knew that she didn t leave on her own. reporter: so here they were. partners. the young detective who happened to be a brand new mother. and the veteran who d seen just about everything. and who soon learned from friends and family that marie was deeply at
version of that last awful night. he claimed that marie was in a downward spiral mentally and erupted after he told her she should be hospitalized for depression. she hit me in the chest and i grabbed ahold of her and just hugged as tight as i could, and in the scuffle, we fell down on the floor. and when we hit the floor, we hit it hard. when i was realized somethin wasn t right, i rolled her over and she wasn t breathin . reporter: a fatal bear hug? not possible, thought nesli. and then she braced for the answer she d waited five years to hear. did you bury marie in the backyard? i ll tell you exactly where it s at. is that where you buried her? yes. reporter: at that point, the detective got up and left the room. nesli passed me a note that said, i missed her. i was pretty devastated.