murphy s job was to find out what did happen. detectives started by re-interviewing eric and asking him about his relationship with pegye. he said his marriage was good. there was no problems with it. you didn t take his word for it? no. in our game, we don t take anyone s word for anything. we look into it. and that s what we did. reporter: they met with the improbably-named kobi laker, eric s best friend. and kobi backed up eric. they had a terrific marriage. and there was no problems whatsoever. reporter: but if the marriage seemed solid, there were questions about pegye, at least according to linda bechler, eric s mother. linda says pegye told her something in confidence just before she disappeared. she stopped me on the stairway as i was leaving. and said, i have to talk to you. she said, i m afraid i m going to jail. reporter: according to court documents, about a year before pegye disappeared, the couple sold their physical therapy business to another company
starting to set in and it was painful. at this point you didn t think she was alive anymore? i kept thinking that she was, but how could she, you know, that length of time. reporter: unless, of course, what appeared to be an accident was not. the coast guard conducted a re-enactment at sea to try to understand how pegye could have fallen off the boat and they couldn t do it. they said it doesn t appear to be feasible to them given the sea conditions. reporter: that s when the coast guard called the orange county sheriff s office. detective sean murphy was put on the case. they weren t able to duplicate even close to what was alleged by eric bechler that his wife was tossed off by a rogue wave. reporter: if pegye s disappearance was no accident, murphy s job was find out what did happen. detectives started by re-interviewing eric and asking him about his relationship with
i kept thinking that she was, but how could she for that length of time? josh mankiewicz (voiceover): unless, of course, what appeared to be an accident was not. the coast guard conducted a re-enactment at sea to try to understand how pegye could have fallen off the boat, and they couldn t do it. they said it just doesn t appear to be feasible to them given the sea conditions. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): that s when the coast guard called the orange county sheriff s office. detective sean murphy was put on the case. they weren t able to duplicate even close to what was alleged by eric bechler, that his wife was tossed off by a rogue wave. josh mankiewicz (voiceover): if pegye s disappearance was no accident, murphy s job was to find out what did happen. detective started by re-interviewing eric and asking him about his relationship with pegye. he said his marriage was good. there was no problems with it. you didn t take his word for it.
at this point you didn t think she was alive anymore? i kept thinking that she was, but how could she, you know, that length of time. reporter: unless, of course, what appeared to be an accident was not. the coast guard conducted a re-enactment at sea to try to understand how pegye could have fallen off the boat and they couldn t do it. they said it doesn t appear to be feasible to them given the sea conditions. reporter: that s when the coast guard called the orange county sheriff s office. detective sean murphy was put on the case. they weren t able to duplicate even close to what was alleged by eric bechler that his wife was tossed off by a rogue wave. reporter: if pegye s disappearance was no accident, murphy s job was find out what did happen. detectives started by re-interviewing eric and asking him about his relationship with pegye. he said his marriage was good, there was no problems with it.
i kept thinking that she was, but how could she, you know, that length of time. reporter: unless, of course, what appeared to be an accident was not. the coast guard conducted a re-enactment at sea to try to understand how pegye could have fallen off the boat and they couldn t do it. they said it doesn t appear to be feasible to them given the sea conditions. reporter: that s when the coast guard called the orange county sheriff s office. detective sean murphy was put on the case. they weren t able to duplicate even close to what was alleged by eric bechler that his wife was tossed off by a rogue wave. reporter: if pegye s disappearance was no accident, murphy s job was find out what did happen. detectives started by re-interviewing eric and asking him about his relationship with pegye.