it s country out here. cornfields everywhere. two-lane roads and where a cheerful girl named venus was growing up with her family. the youngest child of larry and teresse. venus, a goddess to her mom even before she was born. i dreamed about this beautiful little girl with big dark eyes, and when she came out and i looked at her, i said, there s venus. i can t even tell you how much i loved her. i can t even describe the love. but was venus a little more trusting than she should have been? it was her naivety that bothered her parents. she came home and told us she met this guy that secretly confided in her that he was mafioso. we found out he worked at mcdonalds and was too embarrassed to he will her that, but she believed him. (no edits past here were done) reporter: at 24 venus was ready to go out into the world, a soon to be college graduate with a degree in criminal justice. she wanted to be an officer of the law and then found out she doesn t like guns so that wouldn t
detectives were running down it s bar code, looking for where the tarp came from and who bought it. it looks like it had been recently purchased from walmart, but we did not know which walmart. the wrapping ends up as the murder scene? yes. i think that s the best place to. the north side. venus stayed with her grandparents in michigan while friends and families search for the girl s mother. she s out there somewhere. they organize the search groups, and even when she wasn t out looking she kept a shovel in her car so she could rush over the help dig anywhere, any time. you look for anything that s out of place. if the ground has been dug up a year ago you would be able to tell. reporter: more than 700 miles southeast in newport news, virginia, investigators were also searching. after nothing jumped out at them in doug s apartment, the special forensic unit began combing through his truck. the truck looked like a sty. it was in disarray, yes, it had not been clean
venus stewart. did you attempt it again? yes, we did. reporter: it was deja vu all over again. this time, sunday, april 25th. i went down to virginia. he was heading up back up to michigan. reporter: later that day, ricky said he made a call to doug s boss, pretending to be doug, under the weather. and i said in a sick voice, like, hey bobby, this is me doug. i m feeling like [bleep], i can t get to work. he said, all right. so doug didn t have to come to work on monday. reporter: monday would be venus s last day alive, as ricky would explain in his chilling story of duplicity and death. it began, the prosecutor said, with doug in a field across from venus parents house. he parked there with his truck kind of watching things. i d say probably 500 yards from venus parents house. reporter: doug called ricky at 7:00 a.m. from a trac phone and gave him his instructions. ricky, i want you to leave
venus parents. hanging over the hearing was the strong suspicion by the family and protesters, that doug was the reason why his children were motherless. venus father didn t pull any punches. i asked him if he murdered anybody lately. it was something that popped out of my mouth. reporter: the judge scheduled another hearing for three weeks later, but in the meantime denied doug custody and visitation writes with his young daughters. relieved. feel really relieved. that s all i have to say. reporter: while the court was delaying a final decision, on the children, detectives in michigan and virginia were stepping up their investigation. in newport news, detective fowler suspected doug s alibi was a ruse. what with the walmart received in the truck saying ohio, with area code for when i, and went doug had been telling everyone virginia. michigan state police told us doug had gone to his lawyer s office to make a payment on the pending child
you have a duty to do. and that s to find doug stewart not guilty. coming up you believe she s alive? i ve gotta believe she s alive. reporter: what would the jury do? the clerk will read the verdict. verdict and a whole new chapter in the mystery. he showed up to the door. he said that it was part of the case. the case was never closed. that s the missing piece. when dateline continues. a blood test helped show my asthma is driven by eosinophils, which nucala helps reduce. nucala is a once-monthly add-on injection for severe eosinophilic asthma. nucala is not for sudden breathing problems. allergic reactions can occur. get help right away for swelling of face, mouth, tongue, or trouble breathing. infections that can cause shingles have occurred. don t stop steroids unless told by your doctor. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. may cause headache, injection site reactions, back pain, and fatigue. ask your asthma specialist about a nunormal with nu