ryan. it wasn't love always and the ring was soon gathering dust in the cab of ryan's red pickup truck. then, the strangest thing happened. the truck was reported stolen from ryan's farm a few days before off nebraska. >> really nothing more than a standard missing vehicle. >> reporter: jim roarer was then a detective back in dodge county, wisconsin. when the call came in, it suggested some local joy ride, they'd find it nearby. instead, what a surprise. >> our dispatch had received confirmation from a parish down in louisiana that they had the stolen truck. >> reporter: stolen in wisconsin and abandoned way down in louisiana. that's a long way to go. what did you think? >> a couple kids on a joy ride. somebody taking it that needed to get back down south for whatever reason. >> reporter: it wasn't long before they fingered the suspected thieves. there were two of them. the guy was greg fester, age 19,