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 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
backyard, where he marked with little flags the spot where he buried marie carlson, five years earlier. then he fell down on the ground, cried. told her, i m sorry. what an act, thought nesli. it took hours, but finally, almost five feet deep, wrapped in a blanket, they found what was left of marie. i was shaking. i was crying so much. i don t think i ve ever cried so loud. reporter: nesli, and prosecutor angela mason wept too. it s my fault. reporter: back in court that afternoon, james flanders was sentenced to 15 years. with good behavior, he ll be out in 11. free to join tanya in arizona. and grace, whose mother he killed. he s gonna get to have a life after he s done. marie s gone forever. she doesn t get a life,
and then the pastor offered his 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.
and silver online, apparently while running the church. 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.
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. i had been asked by our attorney not to talk to anyone without him there. reporter: but he did talk talked for two hours, in fact, from his car. at times, sounding like he was the victim. what emotions have i felt over the past year and a month, you know? anger at marie for going and not letting us know what s going on, and then back to anger at myself for not making a phone call to get her help. and anger at myself for ever letting the relationship became what it became. reporter: the pastor said he knew he was the prime suspect. i am terrified of the prospect of mar