Emotional troubles. She began Screaming Obsinities and shouting. He said she is not wendy. When she does that, she is shawna. Was this a woman broken or taken. They areok described as righ out of hell wood. The staged kidnappings. The fake blood is phenomenal. All leading up to a sit down with a man they called mr. Big. You and me get to know each other. High stakes scandal to he reveal the truth on tape. With the children left behind. Who would you like to hear that . Shattering. The story you are about to witness is all too real, though it may seem like a play for movie, with at its dark heart, something quite unspeakable. The actors are the family, divided across a thin line of truth and deception. Theres the gamblers last desperate hand. The voice, the presence. Someone from the beyond. And all to solve an 11yearold mystery, and put under the light of intense scrutiny, a most unlikely villain. Whom depending on who you believe may not be a villain at all. But In The Beginning, In The Beginning there was wilderness, vast and lovely. And a happy little family. A sister who loved each other. And loved their mom and dad. I thought of our family as a Perfect Little family. As long as we were together that was home. This ise anna and home was Country Cabin surrounded by the trees and bathrooms of british columbia, canada. And this ismb her little brothe. Gabriel. I thought of my parents and familymy being perfect. Especially when you saw the dysfunction in familys around. In yeah, like, parents get divorced, how did you deal with that . Their parents, as unlikely and romantic as anybody had heard. This shy canadian laborer, who fancied himself a gambler and wendy, The Sweet Wild Girl who strayed from her roots. They met iner a hotel in reno, nevada. He hardly knew a word of english and she hardly knew a word of french. Yeah, they hit it off. When it came time for him to leave, she said take me with you. And so he did, all the way back to canada, and against all odds. They said, the marriage of the wayward teachers daughter and a virtually illiterate drop out worked. They seemed to be more friends thanse loafers. The way they talked and behaved. It can the not feel like husband and wife. Then the kids . Anybody could see how close they were. As their friend could see, he was fiercely protective of all of them. I would trust him to do the right thing and keep me safe. He was going to protect his family and gokids. Were you a daddys girl . Yeah, i was. He was the rock that i had. He was calm, he was patient. I always considered him as close as a hero a girl could get. The strong silent hero that preferred Longro Walks In The Woods as opposed to social gatherings. Except for poker. There was usually aex game in town, the family couldll use th cash and he figured he was pretty good. He prided himself on being able to read peoplegu and know when to hold them, when to fold them. And i guess he sort of could. Because he was winnings quite bit. Ui wendy, an art teacher by trade, taught her children to help others, speak up and be heard like her. Well, i think you are too domineering tore me right now, maybe tomorrow we can talk about that. In this oworganization, she organized a Peace Project that taught gastudents, including he own son about Conflict Resolution and respect. N thats the ideal of what she tried to do in her every day life. You were close to your mother . Clvery. Very tight relationship. She was incredibly nurturing and i think what she succeeded in doing is raising a good man and son to live in the world. Wendy wanted the children to have the emotional stability she could notal manage. Evend if her solid middle clas upbringing. She was open about it too. How she was constantly seeking something missing. How as a teenager she ran away from home, experimented with drugs. How her parents sent her to a Psychiatric Hospital in connecticut. She wanted to have aho peacel part of her. She wanted to be centered would be t the word. But isnt that life . Isnt that something common to of us . Of she was drawn to spirituali and a little known Religion Group that called themselves thy emisaries of define light. She saidof she felt at home there. She did that, she religion bounced. Searching for somewhere to belong. Then she and the family seemed to find it. Far from her connecticut past, a Small House Outside of Prince George british columbia. He took a job in a local lumber mill and wendy found work on and off as a Substitute Teacher in the local high school. That might have been the whole story, really. Except, well, every drama needs a catalyst, right . One day he returned home from work and told his family how a log hit his shoulder and knocked him out cold and when he tried to return to work, tough as he was, he just couldnt. It turned out he nerve damage down the right side of his body. So he was left high and dry without being able to work anymore. He could no longer be the Family Strong stable protector. Once he lost his job, i think that b,she, it was up to her to figure out, okay, like how do we make everything work . And then it was a hot morning in august 1997. When everything soped working, gabriel was in the kitchen and he was more or less paying attention. When his mom and dad told him thaerp off tool run errands. She waved a quick goodbye at the door and walked down the stairs and out the door. The first idea of something wrong or off was when the phone range just after lunch. I got a phone call from dad asking if we had seen mom. Because she had not shown up where they were supposed to meet. Annas dad told her that she dropped him off downtown and she drove on the family van to tutor a student and meet a friend and pick him up again in a hardware store, but she had not returned. And as each other crawled by that afternoon. Annas worry grew. By nightfall, there was still no sign of wendy. Coming up, where was wendy . I just kept making phone calls. And no one had seen her, no one knew what i was talking about. When dateline continues. Ats life, nothing you can do. Uh, shingles can be prevented. Shingles can be whaaaat . Prevented. You can get vaccinated. Where . At your pharmacy, your doctors hold on dont want to go through that 50 years or older . Get vaccinated for shingles. Now. Up at 2 00am again . Tonight, Try Pure Zzzs all night. 50 years or older . Unlike other sleep aids, our extended release melatonin helps you sleep longer. And longer. Zzzquil pure zzzs all night. Fall asleep. Stay asleep. It was late summer, a hot morning. When wendy and her husband drove off to run some erramds, hours later, wendy was nowhere to be found and her daughter, anna, then a teenager was worried. When i called the police to say, i dont know where she ises can you help . Their only question was has it been 24 hours . And it hasnt been so i could not report her. They stopped by one of their moms favorite meeting places. No wendy, but as she looked around, her eye caught something pam. Verifies the van, sitting under a light in a Grocery Store parking lot. I was so excited, the Grocery Store was just closing up and i thought, maybe she is on her way on out of the grossesry store and i knocked on the door and they said, nobody is here. The van had picked up a dent that neither of them remembered on the drivers side door. Weird. The van was lost, and he a extra key. Inside, everything looked normal. So, anna drove the van home. That night and the next morning, i just kept make phone calls. I called every friend of mine, every friend of hers. I called every number the directory that she had and no one had seen her and no one knew what i was talking about. What did all of that feel like . It wasbeing in a nightmare. Because mom was never late. Mom didnt miss appointments. She didnt just disappear. The next day, they filed aer report with the rcm perform, the Royal Canadian mounted police. They created a Missing Persons poster. A photo of wendy, smiling, happy. Her hazel eyesed magnified by super sized glasses. A day went by and then two and then a week. I kept waiting for her to walk back through the door. You expected that to happen . I didnt know what else to do. For me, it was well, had she is one of my vivid memories is we went to see a movie together because we felt like lets have a little distraction from this trauma so i remember standing in line to go to the cinema, just feeling awful. Feeling the weight of what is happening and having it feel so odd that we are doing that. Like why arent we looking for her . And anna remembered her dad going for long walks in the woods, seemed lost, in denial. He broke down for the first time. I had never seen real emotion come from him before. By then, wendys disappearance became news all over Prince George. I came in to contact with the case as a News Reporter covering the disappearance itself. Frank of the Prince George citizen. It was quite a shock that is apparently normal, every day, almost a stereotype in that sense, could disappear without a trace. She was everybodys mom and she just disappeared. A disturbing echo of other stories that the town knew you all too well. This town is used to disappearances. When she disappeared, there was a strong whiff that this was another highway of tears case. Highway of tears . What would that be . It was sickening to hear the police say another girl had went missing. Was wendy a long list of women who disappeared or were found dead along this stretch of road. You could not look at it as a possibility. Its another woman, gone missing in unsubstantiated ways. When dateline continues. Rinvoq can even significantly reduce ra fatigue. Thats rinvoq relief. With ra, your overactive Immune System attacks your joints. 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The fastest 5g in the world. This is the 5g thats built for you. This is 5g built right. Only from verizon. Terrifying spector, the highway of tears. 837 miles of natural beauty. Winding its way past dramatic snowcapped mountains and breathtaking vistas of lush forests and clear lakes reflecting the blue skies above. Also, the sites of unsolved mysteries. Tonight, more missing women on the highway of tears. A body by the time wendy ratte vanished, 15 women had gone missing or found dead somewhere along the highway. Word was a Serial Killer was on the loose. For me as a reporter, it became sickening after a while to hear the police issue another release that another girl had gone missing. Had wendy become number 16. Her abandoned car was not far from the highway. Its perfectly valid. His Reporter Friend had a theory making the rounds around town. I know the police spend a lot of time thinking about and investigating the jones theory. The jones family. Once neighbors of the rattes, not exactly friends. In fact, just four months before she disappeared, wendy come plained about the jones accusing the family of mistreating their animals and using their land as a garbage dump. She was able to get a fairly big News Story Happening which made the city react and get them kicked off the property. And the animals taken away. It was not only damaging for the jones, it was humiliating. Not the kind of thing they were going take lying down. Originally there were threats made. And the matriarch of the joness sent a letter to the paper intentionally misspelling the rattes namer for rats. I heard that indeed people would not have been surprised if they had acted out some of the threats that they were alleged to have made. Oh, and there was no question, said gabriel, his mom did feel threatened by the jones. They did not make their anger any secret. They would hoot and holar at her, that was an example of community activism. Having a bad neighbor like that. And doing something about it. Yes. And fearlessly, she had to know that they did not like it. And made an enemy. For sure. That was four months before she vanished leaving nothing but her van in a local parking lot. A van with a dent in the door that nobody could remember seeing before. It was a pretty sizeable dent. So, what was it . Could it have maybe been some kind of a sign of a struggle . If my mom was accosted . And she was thrown in to the van. Something forceful must have caused this dent. And you know how people are, they talk. And the longer wendy stayed missing the more they talked about the joneses. So even in the newsroom, that was a leading theory. Thats one of your clear first steps in any disappearance or murder case is whats the motive . And the jones could have a motive. There was a grudge certainly. There was some differences. And it certainly was in the media and we looked at that angle. Prince george detective, this early in the investigation, any lead was welcome. What became your focus . This is the difficulty with missing person files. You dont theres no real starting point. You dont have a scene. You dont have remains and it makes it difficult. She decided to focus her investigation closer to home. She discovered that none of wendys clothes or personal things were missing from the house. Except for her passport. So, the obvious question. Did you have the feeling that this is a woman who might have just up and left . We had to look at all possibilities. You have to keep an open mind when you start on these investigations. Because we have had at that point very limited information on who wendy was. Where do you start . Maybe a phone call to wendys family. Back in the states. And hear this story and i think, for crying out loud, she has done it again. Coming up. A Missing Persons case like no other. Because who actually disappeared. Wendy or a second personality some say lurked inside . Yeah, we said, had what is going on . He said that is not wendy. That shawna, when she does that, she is shawna. I met shawna, she was driving a very fast, very expensive car. She was bragging about how many money she makes and she said, i am not wendy anymore. When dateline continues. Opdivo plus yervoy is for adults newly diagnosed with nonsmall Cell Lung Cancer that has spread and that tests positive for pdl1 and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. Opdivo plus yervoy is the first and only fdaapproved combination of two Immunotherapies Opdivo plus yervoy equals. A chance for more starry nights. More sparkly days. More big notes. More small treasures. More family dinners. More private desserts. Opdivo and yervoy can cause your Immune System to attack healthy parts of your body during and after treatment. These problems can be severe and lead to death. 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Switch to progressive and you can save hundreds. You know, like the sign says. Im dara brown, here is what is happening, new York Governor Andrew Cuomo faces a new Sexual Harassment claim this time from an aide, over half a dozen women have accused cuomo of sexual misconduct. He has denied the allegations. And the cdc has revised guidance for social distancing in schools, allowing children to sit three feet apart rather than six feet provided everyone is masked. In an effort to encourage schools reopening. Now, back to dateline. Wendy ratte, the sweet free spirited Prince George british columbia, had vanished from her life, slick as a magic act, her passport, nowhere to be found. And the police had to seriously consider could, would a dedicated wife and mother of two simply skip town, run away from her own family . When brings us to the Greyhound Bus station. I asked the lady who was there, do you recognize this lady on the poster . And she said, she did say she recognized my mom. And i was taken aback, and i said, you do. And she said, yes certainly. We asked her repeatedly and she said, i saw her, she was sitting at the table over there. What does it do for you . Its hope. You know . Anna was looking through her moms papers and found an application for a teachers job in california. And we thought, maybe she is there. I knew she had spent time in new mexico when she was getting her Teaching Degree and loved it. Maybe she went there. Then there was the religious group that she was in to. Could she have upped and joined them . They feel they have transended the conflict and tension of their form er lives. The show profiled their group, and showed they have several branches in the u. S. I helped the police look in though that. I gave them all the information i could. And would often ask, how much did you look in to this . Because i knew there was an american sect. And still, why would her own kids think its possible that she abandoned her family, without so much as goodbye. The reason for that was, history. She had done it before. Just disappear from her life. Had this is karen kreider, wendys sister, who told how wendy vanished the first time when she was 17 years old, the family found her living in a tent in new hampshire. Just at our approach, she began screaming and behaving in a Menacing Hatefully way. And she was not a person i had ever met and knew she was not well and needed care. And forceablely took her. And put her in the hospital. Doctors thought wendy suffered from drug induced manic depression. But karen said they didnt have time to make an official diagnosis. She turned 18, checked out and disappeared again. This time for almost two years. When wendy disappeared all traces of her were gone, we couldnt find her or track her. She had showed up suddenly. Apparently seeking refuge from an abusive relationship she was in at the time and then was gone again. There was a clear disengagement from reality. She didnt understand that her disappearances were hurtful to her family members. Didnt get that at all. So it went on interest and on, until she turned up and said she was going to get married. The family was over joyed. Our family thought that he was a very good influence on her and the fact that he chose to take a chance and take her away was nothing short of amazing. Wendy became a dedicated wife, teacher, artist, mother. But there were always issues. Mood swings for one thing. Some days shed be so happy and other days the world would just weigh down on her. But her sister said that what she observed when anna and gabriel was young, were not just mood swings but something far more complicated than that. The first time that i really noticed it was with the kids. She was always so gentle with them and soft spoken and all of a sudden, she was cold and abrupt with them. And i started to notice when it would happen, he would take her away, and he would say, we are going for a walk now. And then when they got back, she was back to normal. And finally we asked him, we said, what is going on . Finally he said, you know, that shawna, that is not wendy. He said, when she does that, she is shawna. Wait, did wendy suffer from multiple Personality Disorder . That was never diagnosed. The stories were all anecdotal, but i met shawna, wendy and i met in a parking lot somewhere just to say hi. She was driving a very fast, very expensive car. She was bragging about how much money she made. She was uninterested in anybody else besides herself. And she said, im not wendy anymore. Shawna, going around off and on for quite a while. And called herself that in a letter she wrote her parents when she was 23. Shawna has magic, she wrote. So, two wendys . Wendy was the good mother, conservative, hard worker, wanted to save the world, while shawna was the wild child. She didnt want to be tied down. She wanted to have a good time. She felt restrained by the bonds of marriage and family. Maybe it was shawna who got on that bus or perhaps old shawna, yes, three wendys. Oshawna came to life in seances that wendy led with the kids. I dont know if they were real or not real. It seemed real in the time. She was speaking with voices . She was very much in touch with a spirit, an ancient spirit that was named oshawna, she found peace in that. And one day, she said lets hold hands and speak with oshawna. I remember her transforming in to this character. This different self. And it was a surprise to me. I didnt know had she did this. She was a completely different person. She didnt respond in the way that my mother usually does. So everywhere was looking for wendy, said gabriel, when really maybe they should be looking for one of the shawnas. I think that she had the capacity to pick up and go. She might have reached that Breaking Point where she just thought, or she didnt think, it just snapped and she left. Then one be day, after a month of rumors and theories followed one after the other, there was a break. Wendy had been getting Unemployment Insurance and two of her checks had been cashed at an atm, in full view of the Bank Surveillance camera. Coming up another potential clue is going to surface from wendys pass, a crucial moment when a high stakes gamble went very wrong. She was so angry. She just vibrated. What that told investigators. When dateline continues. Kim is now demonstrating her congestion. Save it slimeball. Ive upgraded to mucinex. We still have 12 hours to australia. Mucinex lasts 12 hours, so im good. Now move kim, no mucinex lasts 3x longer for 12 hours. A month in to the investigation, police thought the they were a big step closer to solving the mystery surrounding wendys disappearance. Someone cashed in her Unemployment Checks at an atm, was it wendy . Was it someone who had done her harm . The investigator, judy thomas, checked the Bank Surveillance cameras. There he was, wendys husband. So you asked him about it. And he admitted it. Straight out. Didnt try to lie . I dont think he could lie about it when you have a picture of him cashing the check at an a atm. Did he have an explanation. He explained that he needed to pay the bills. It made me wonder about his character. He suddenly was suspect number one. Though it was hardly a Surprise Police would look at the husband. In fact, in the very first week of the investigation, thomas had questioned him three times. I introduced myself as a Police Officer coming to talk to him. And i said, had how are you doing . And his comment was better. Better . It struck me odd at the beginning. Did he seem nervous or upset . He did not strike me as overly concerned not distraught by any means. Frustrated is what he was, he told his sister. I said, you know, get used to it. You are the husband. They are going to look at you. Because 99 of the time, the husband did it. Didnt help that from one interview to the next, he appeared to change Vital Information about the day his wife went missing. He said she left with no money. But then in the following statement he claims that he gave her money. More than 2,000 in fact. Money he gotten in advance for an odd job, which he asked wendy to return when he could not complete it. It struck me there, i was going. Why didnt you tell me that the first time. Yes, because it was specifically asked did wendy have money on her. You dont think hed forget good 2,000. Exactly. In the fall of 1997, as investigators intrude more and more people who knew the family, they discovered that ever since he the mill accident and lost his job two years earlier, Perfect Little family was not quite so perfect after all. Well, that was really hard for him. As you can imagine. He liked being the man of the house. Sure. And when both your physicality and your ability to provide for your family are taken arunaway from you, that has taken away from you, it has to be hard. Very hard. And especially hard on the familys finances. The visa card was maxed on out and the only income was coming from wendys job as a Substitute Teacher. So he did what he always did when times were tough. He played poker. He got desperate, and started gambling more and more to try to get money for the family and gambled too much and started to lose money. And money they didnt have. And it was on one of those smoke filled nights, sometime around February 1997 six months before wendy disappeared when hunched around a poker table, in the company of high rollers, he found himself staring at a hand that spelled salvation. With 25,000 in chips sitting on the table. Its every gamblers excuse, my hand was so good that no one was going to beat it. So he threw everything in the pot. Yeah, he bet the highest he could. And yeah, he lost it. So i think that went on to the visa as well. And it was terrible. Mom was very vocal. I remember her yelling. She was so angry. She just vibrated. Vibrated. Mom was emotional. I never saw her yell at him before. She talked about how much she loved him. But was so angry with him and was not sure that if she could for give him. It was betrayal, you put years of devotion in to someone. To be cut done like that. Your fathers addiction is ruining us, wendy told anna, and as was wendys way, told Everyone Else who cared to listen to. 16yearold anna, daddys girl, began to see the tarnish in her fathers halo. When i heard mom had to change Bank Accounts in to her name. She had to protect the familys income. That was the first waiver i had with my fathers character. A month before she disappeared. Wendy decided she needed distance from her husband. She took the kids and went to visit her old friend, lois. I feel that the Decision Wendy was making was whether she was going to end the marriage with him or not. But, she knew how much he loved his children and how much the children loved him. So she decided to give him one last chance. She went back to Prince George and had a heart to heart with him and then called lois. She phoned and she said, i have talked with him, and i have decided we are going to give it another try. That phone call was happiness with a lot of relief in it. But my sense was, if he betrayed her trust again, it was over, it was finished. He told her had that he would do whatever it took to save the marriage. But anna could see that wendys complaints about his failings had been bothers him a lot. He was a proud man who didnt like his Dirty Laundry aired. And she just had to everyone they knew. His failings had been put on display. And they had never been before. What it took for her to forgive him hurt him deeply. But he told police again and again, his marriage was back on track. He absolutely no reason, he said, to hurt wendy. Or have mission to do with her disappearance. Police said, prove it. We were talking on the phone, and he said, they want me to take a Lie Detector Test. I said, they will suspect you. Dont take one. They scare me. Dont do it. He did not listen to his little sister. Four months after wendy disappeared, he volunteered to take the test. How did he seem going in . A lot of people are nervous when they come in. They are unsure of the procedure. Right. Be pretty scary i think. If i can categorize him, he was that way. Wondering what was going to happen. Whats going to take place. It was a Polygraph Question that had to be asked. Last a august, did you murder wendy . He answered with conviction. No, i did not. And waited to see what the machine would say. Coming up, the investigation is transformed when detectives run up against a fresh and frustrating piece of evidence. Does it seem to you at the time, hey, this cant be . I remember having a thought of its not what i would have expected. When dateline continues. Gt so roll up those sleeves. And help heal your skin from within with dupixent. Dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderatetosevere eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups. Dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. Many people taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin, and, had significantly less itch. Dont use if youre allergic to dupixent. Serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. Tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. If you take asthma medicines, dont change or stop them without talking to your doctor. 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With 5g nationwide, millions of people can now work, listen, and stream in verizon 5g quality. And in parts of many cities where people can use massive capacity, we have ultra wideband. The fastest 5g in the world. This is the 5g thats built for you. This is 5g built right. Only from verizon. Four months in to the investigation of wendy rattes disappearance, no sign of her anywhere. The police radar was squarely pointed at her husband. Which was no surprise to seasoned Prince George reporter frank peoples. It was the natural assumption that someone of that style or demographic would not go missing unless it was because of someone she knew closely. He proclaimed his innocence and took a Lie Detector Test to prove it. There was no shortage of theories. And theories like rumors are easy. Separating rumor from fact is another matter all together as Detective Judy Thomas discovered as she chased down the leads. First, the highway of tears. For years women had been going missing out here, a body occasionally turning up besides the road, a horrifying surprise for passers by. But thomas had investigated those cases, and expected no such surprise in wendys case, was sure of it, in fact, wendy just didnt fit the profile. Some of the victims we see are hitchhikers, also involved in drugs and organized crime. Or some of the folks that are sex trade workers. So you were able to dispense with that one pretty quickly. Hmmm. There was nothing to indicate that she was in any way connected to any of the missing or murdered women along highway 16. So, said judy thomas, no highway of tears. But wendy could still have left Prince George of her own accord, there was that after all the sighting at the Greyhound Bus station. But no, said thomas, false alarm. With various files you get people saying, i saw this person and they are sure. But when i spoke to the woman, she said sure, i would not be able to say that at all. We flagged Bank Accounts. Credit cards. Social insurance numbers. We put wendy on a canada wide database, we checked the airlines and border crossings. There was nothing. What about the religious group the emmisaries of divine light . They had never heard of her. Reports that windy was mentally ill . That it was not her but her alter ego that hey have left town. Thomas interviewed her mother about her daughters troubled youth. We spoke at length. Did she bring up the idea that wendy may have had a mental break down . There was talk of issues that end withey had. We looked in to medical records and there was nothing recent. There was a time in her life when she did, i dont know if you want to call it she lost co family. But thats in a persons youth, which is different than married with children. She interviewed several friends all told her the same thing. Wendy was first and foremost, a mother. You get a sense that you know the people when you are looking for what happened to them . You certainly develop an idea of who that person could be. And what idea did you develop about wendy . A very caring, loving mother. When i was talking with anna and gabriel, the love that they had for their mother, i knew it had to be reciprocated, she loved her children over and over. Shed not leave her children. That was a central fact in your mind . Yes, definitely. So, run away wendy . Investigator thomas decided no. So what about the jones family . The neighbors who wendy helped to evict from their property. They had the motive to hurt her. You look at the circumstances of it. That family had moved four months prior. The main person they were eluding to was not in the area and there was nothing else to support that. The joneses ruled out in the disappearance of wendy ratte, which left, wendys husband. He created this suspicion of course himself when he illegally cashed wendys Unemployment Insurance checks and his gambling habit almost bankrupt the family. And led to terrible fights months before wendy disappeared. But he agreed to take a Lie Detector Test remember and now, the results were in. The Polygraph Operator came back and told dennis that he found him to be truthful. You heard right, truthful, did it seem to you at the time, this cant be . It i remember having a thought of hmmm. Its not what i would have expected. His sister got a call from her vastly relieved brother. Took the Lie Detector Test and i passed it. See you told me not to do it and i did it, and now they know i didnt do it and they are leaving me alone. See, i was right. I said, okay, you were right, you win. The case of the disappearance of wendy ratte was at a dead end. She in most cases theres at least bogus information coming in. There was nothing coming in. Was her mom alive or dead . Could she have abandoned her children that she loved so. Its a personal thing the way humans react to trauma. Gabriels way was to for get, and force it out of his head. He went to vancouver. Registered for college. Tried to go on with life. I didnt give it a lot of thought. To the point where i tried to remember her face and i couldnt. I would have dreams though, dreams of her coming back up had those stairs in the same way she walked out. Anguish like that could not stay hidden for long. It happened in a drama class. Gabriel was reciting a scene from a play that dealt with abandonment, anger and desperation, the very feelings he been trying to surpress. I broke down, i was balling. In the performance . In the classroom, they could not console me, i was on the ground, i was heaving, i didnt know, i mean, this was like three years build up of just holding it in. I just quick school, i felt like it was too much right now. My brother was lost. I say i felt like i connect with my father. I felt my brother connected with her more. I feel a lot of guilt for not having been able to replace her. Why should you replace her . Because maybe he would have been okay. But we both were so lost that we couldnt, we couldnt be there for each other. Coming up. Anna gets word there may be witnesses who know what really happened to end withey . Who are these people . Have they told the police . When dateline continues. N,. And has less major bleeding than warfarin. Eliquis has both. Dont Stop Taking Eliquis without talking to your doctor as this may increase your risk of stroke. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an Artificial Heart Valve or abnormal bleeding. While taking, you may bruise more easily. Or take longer for bleeding to stop. Get help right away for unexpected bleeding, or unusual bruising. It may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. The number one cardiologistprescribed blood thinner. Ask your doctor about eliquis. It had been years since that fateful day that wendy ratte took the van to run errands for her husband and never returned, but the pain of her parents failed to return. Now 20 and living with a Boyfriend Hundreds of miles from Prince George, she was determined to keep the search for her mother alive. Everything else i did was just mechanical motion. My emotion went into finding her. And she began to believe she was quite alone. That the rcmp had let the case go cold. They always promised me it wasnt. They promised they were still looking, but nobody would be working on it. Finally, i was tired of this file shuffle. I went to the media to say dont forget. This was a person in your community. Dont forget. She came in carrying this folder of News Clippings and possible leads that were connected to her mother. I had talked to many families of many disappeared people over the years, and i could see the light in her eyes that way. This was one of those people who was not going to let this go. But annas father, denis, it seemed, had never given up. Not only on never finding his wife again but on himself. He was changing over the years in front of my eyes. This calm, patient, sturdy, steady person was emotional. Falling apart. And angry. He was a mess. I saw him at the food banks. I saw him with girlfriends that he had to pay for. I saw his demeanor change from a proud, working man to a street thug. Denis was in a downward spiral. Desperate for money, he turned to smalltime crime, did a bit of drug dealing, got caught. He was lucky. It was his first offense so he only got probation. He told me that, you know, he did this drug deal because he needed the money to keep her home, wendys home. He said, if i keep the house, shell have a home to come home to. Denis lost the house. Six years after wendy disappeared, he was living in an apartment in the cedeiest part of town, collecting bottles to make ends meet. It was a blow that hed gone that low, but when i tried to question him about it, he just said, you know, hey, my kids are gone, my wifes gone. Dont have much left. But anna had a sense, she said, a nagging feeling that it wasnt just grief that kept denis from being the strong, dedicated father she had known. Was it possible, she wondered, that it was guilt . I thought i thought he was hiding something. What would he know . I dont know. He said, i have gone through my story. If you need to hear it, go see the police. Ask them to tell you the story. He was fed up, over it . He said, im done. Im not talking it it anymore. I understand about being fed up. I couldnt imagine how it would feel to be the one investigated. But i also believe in truth. If you have nothing to hide, then you have nothing to hide. But when anna kept pushing, her dad snapped back, said that he was conducting his own investigation. His target . Suspects police had already eliminated, the jones family. He said that day that she disappeared, friends of his saw the family from down the street that she had had kicked out. She saw them following her. I said, wheres this coming from . Who are these people . Have they told the police . He said, these people dont want to go to the police. Theyre afraid of this family. I couldnt understand that he would be okay with not telling the police. If her father didnt want to go police, anna decided, then she would. I asked, could i have my fathers storyline, and the police said, we dont have a clear picture of what happened that day because every time he tells us a story, there are big holes. What did you think when you heard that . Just at a loss. It felt like there was like he was putting a barrier in front of the investigation. But there was something anna didnt know. The case of her mothers disappearance wasnt cold at all. In fact, police were actively investigating her father. Four years after denis passed his Lie Detector Test, the rcmp reviewed it. Standard practice in unsolved cases. But this time with a quite unexpected outcome. The Polygraph Operator rereads his charts. Sure. And then we find that he was actually deceptive. Deceptive, meaning according to the police polygrapher, that denis ratte lied when he claimed he had nothing to do with wendys disappearance. Investigator thomas wanted to be sure. We had five Polygraph Operators read those charts. Every one of them read to be deceptive. Right. But a failed Lie Detector Test was not enough evidence to arrest denis, let alone charge him with a crime. It was hard for me not to tell anna. I couldnt. You have to balance the integrity of the investigation. You dont want it jeopardized. So all thomas could do was file the results away and try to find more evidence against denis. But as the years slowly ticked by one by one, nothing. Finally in 2007, a decade now since wendy vanished, thomas decided that if she wanted to get closer to denis to find out what he knew once and for all, she would need some help. Thats when we looked at passing it off to the unsolved homicide unit. Vancouvers edivision to be exact. The premier Cold Case Unit in british columbia. Get ready for an Undercover Mission unlike any you have ever seen. Coming up a sting by investigators worthy of the big screen. Theyre described as right out of hollywood. The staged kidnapping. The fake blood is truly phenomenal. Mean the man they call mr. Big when dateline continues. N frontline® plus kills fleas, ticks, and chewing lice, and its fastacting, Waterproof Formula protects for a full 30 days. With frontline plus, and new Frontline Shield for dogs with tick and mosquito repellency. You and your pet can go everywhere. No matter how you define it. Frontline®. Here. There. Everywhere. Alice loves the scent of gain so much, she wished there was a way to make it last longer. Say hello to your Fairy Godmother alice. And longlasting gain scent beads. Part of the irresistible scent collection from gain to my greatgranddaughter sarah, whom i disowned after she recommended i go with the general i leave my estate. What . turns out, sarahs right about the general. I told you guys oh, can it sarah for a great low rate, and nearly 60 years of quality coverage, go with the general. It was a sweet wedding, happy and a little sad too. Wistful when anna, the bride, danced with her father. It was 2003. Six years since her mother vanished from her life. Her father insisted he had nothing to do with it. And tender moments like these, anna said, reminded her how much she yearned for the bond they once had. I had to believe him. He was still my my hero, My Childhood Hero was still there. But she was sliding. Sliding into a darker understanding of her father. Until the day in late 2007 when anna met reporter Frank Peebles at a downtown cafe. Theres no one else in the room at the time. We were talking quietly. After about an hour of conversation, she finally just shook her head and said, im very sure that it was dad. And the wrench in her eyes when that came out was something i i dont think i can ever forget. By then, the rcmps lead investigator, Robert Burret of the unsolved homicide unit in vancouver, was in charge of the case. One of 800 unsolved cases on the units books. Upon our review, we came to the same conclusion as judy did, that denis ratte was the suspect in his wifes disappearance. But there wasnt quite enough to charge him. Yes. And we decided an Undercover Operation may be the best to move this forward. An Undercover Operation . Yes. The Undercover Operation the unsolved homicide squad came up with was so elaborate and ambitious, it might seem, frankly, unbelievable. They created from scratch a fake criminal Organization Complete with detectives posing as crooks. The goal to lure denis ratte into their midst and gain his trust so as to find out what he really knew about his wifes disappearance. The rcmp have conducted over 350 of these investigations. Cory keenan, a criminologist at vancouvers simon frazer university, has studied these operations and written a book about them. They have creatively fashioned a backdrop that simulates a realworld criminal environment. So much so that fiction is often difficult to differentiate from reality. The rcmp would not discuss the specifics of the Undercover Operation that targeted denis ratte. But we reviewed an rcmp summary of the mission. June 2008 an Undercover Officer approached denis in Prince George. He was looking for someone, he said, but didnt know his way around town. Denis agreed to help him. About a week later, another question would denis like to make some money on the side delivering bags mostly, their contents unknown. No problem, said denis. And bit by bit as days went by, denis became fully involved in what he clearly believed was a criminal gang. After a couple of months, by august, he was helping to smuggle illegal cigarettes and kohl. He exchanged stolen diamonds. He even transport guns, or so he thought. Over time the target is led to believe that he is an upandcomer in the criminal organization. Then it got more serious. Denis was asked to threaten a man. He did, though he said he didnt like it. And he guarded a Hotel Room Door as an Undercover Officer savagely beat a woman. Denis never suspecting it was all an act. These Undercover Officers, theyre amazing actors. And theyre described as right out of hollywood. The types of scenarios that they do. The beatings, the staged kidnappings, the fake blood pacts. Its truly phenomenal. Denis bonded with his Crime Buddies over meals in fancy restaurants and evenings in strip clubs. The pay was good, too, about 12 grand in three months, a little more than he earned in years, he told his sister, without divulging too much. He says, im earning some money. Im not eating at the soup kitchen anymore. I thought, great, he got a job. Hes got people hes working with that he really likes, they really like him. During one of his Delivery Trips to vancouver, denis stopped to see his son gabriel, now 26 and a College Student once more. Gabriel noticed that the old selfassured denis was back. I saw that glint in his eye where he felt proud of himself again. And he hadnt felt that since he since hed been injured. Then three months into the operation, the sting was primed. The real Police Showed up again in denis life, told him the investigation had been reopened, he was the prime suspect. And, by the way, he failed that Lie Detector Test all those years ago. Now suddenly worried, denis, just as planned, had no one else to turn to except his new friends. The Undercover Detectives had him just where they wanted him. Time for mr. Big. Mr. Big is the commanding, allpowerful boss of the criminal organization. Hes the one who calls the shots. If he likes you and wants to bring you in, he can make your Criminal Problems go away. And denis, his Crime Buddies assured him, had all it took to be the main guy all because he had been what the organization valued the most, honest and loyal. Thats a common safeguard of the mr. Big technique, said keenan. To ensure as much as possible that the suspect doesnt lie to gain respect. Just be honest. If youre honest, things will be great. Youll thrive. If you lie, there could be very devastating consequences. Mr. Big will only accept the truth. The truth . So far whenever Undercover Officers had asked denis about his missing wife, about a dozen times or so, he didnt waver from the story hed stuck to for more than a decade. He had nothing to do with it. September 27, 2008. A hotel room in winnipeg. Lead investigator rob burret monitoring the video in a nearby room. So youve got this elaborate setup. What are you trying to get . Ive been involved in investigations where weve been able to clear a person of any wrongdoing. So its not just there to try to find a person guilty. Its there to seek the truth. The moment had come. Time for denis to come clean. Coming up his back against the wall, what would denis say to mr. Big . Im going to tell you honestly what happened. When dateline continues. Ois. For up to 60 days. Give us one plug for freshness that lasts. These are real people, not actors, whove got their eczema under control. With less eczema, you can show more skin. So roll up those sleeves. And help heal your skin from within with dupixent. Dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderatetosevere eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups. Dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. Many people taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin, and, had significantly less itch. Dont use if youre allergic to dupixent. Serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. Tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. If you take asthma medicines, dont change or stop them without talking to your doctor. So help heal your skin from within, and talk to your Eczema Specialist about dupixent. If your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help. If your financial situation has changed, im a verizon engineer, part of the team that built 5g right. The only one from americas most reliable network. We designed our 5g to make the things you do every day, better. With 5g nationwide, millions of people can now work, listen, and stream in verizon 5g quality. And in parts of many cities where people can use massive capacity, we have ultra wideband. The fastest 5g in the world. This is the 5g thats built for you. This is 5g built right. Only from verizon. Heres whats happening. The Biden Administration has reached its goal of administering 100 million vaccines more than a month ahead of schedule. President biden said he would set a new goal next week, possibly doubling the goal to 200 million shots by his first 100 days in office. The cdc issued new guidelines for inperson schools to make it easier for learning. Students can sit within three feet of each other instead of six feet if they wear masks. Now back to dateline. I want you to take this as a job interview, okay . Yeah, okay. Thats a job interview. We are going to put everything on the table. Sure. Okay . Denis ratte had come to the moment of truth. He was meeting mr. Big, the man he believed to be an allpowerful crime boss. His audition, he believed, for membership, for trust, for help from mr. Big. The Royal Canadian mounted police disguised the identities of the undercover voice on this video. Im going to help you or im not going to help you, okay . Right now were going to see who are you as a person. First, mr. Big told denis hed have to come clean about his past. Especially about the mystery of his wifes disappearance. That is, of course, if he knew anything about it. The Undercover Canadian Investigator posing as the crime boss wanted denis to feel comfortable, so he spoke french, denis mother tongue. We have translated and dubbed over their conversation in english. There are three things i want loyalty, truth, honesty. Translator the last one, i didnt translator honesty. Being honest. Translator honesty, honesty, okay. Then a knock on the door. It was one of the crime bosss alleged cronies with an internal police memorandum. Read it, said mr. Big, as denis sat and listened. Our primary suspect and only suspect, husband denis ratte, had just about finished their investigation. Theyre waiting for Satellite Results from the u. S. Satellite results . That was a lie, of course. There had been no satellite watching denis on that august day back in 1997. Theyre 100 sure hes the one who did it. For the last 11 years, denis had insisted he had nothing to do with his wifes disappearance. Now suddenly for a man he believed to be a crime boss, he changed his story. Translator okay, man. What do you have to say . Translator im going to tell you. Im going to tell you. Im going to tell you honestly what happened. The honest truth. I never told it in my life. I aint happy about it, but i did it. Yeah. Okay . Not happy i did it, but i still did it. Everything worked perfect. With a rifle, one shot, you know, nice and easy. You shot her where . Translator in the head. Translator where in the head . Translator in the back of the head. I didnt really check when i hit her. I was nervous. I guess, around here. He shot wendy, denis told mr. Big, that morning at their house in Prince George. She was feeding the ducks, her back to him, when he took aim with a. 22caliber rifle. Translator right or left side . Translator i got to put myself back there. Eerie. Seeing a husband trying to relive the moment when he said he murdered his wife. Translator okay, you you move over there like that. Yeah. Yeah. Cuz i remember turning. Yeah. And thats your left side, right . Translator that thats my left side. Denis said it was just one shot, not a lot of blood. After wendy fell to the ground, he said, he quickly wrapped her body in a black tarp. And thats when he noticed she was still moving. Translator i took a bumper jack, right . Those old jacks you used to put under a vehicle. Translator yeah, okay, okay, yeah. Translator there was a big thing with a cover on. I didnt want to leave a mark, right . I finished her off with that. Translator okay, where . Translator in the face. Then, denis continued, he put the body in the plymouth voyager, made a left turn onto highway 16, the highway of tears, and drove to an abandoned loggers road, 1. 5 hours away. There was a swamp there. Translator i made sure, you know, the body translator what did you put on it . What did you put on top . Translator there was mud, right . And there was a stick. Translator okay. Translator you know, i stirred it around, and it slipped. Oops. Denis told mr. Big he drove back to Prince George, got rid of the gun and his wifes i. D. Along the way, and left the van in this Grocery Store parking lot. Then he wandered around for a bit before he called anna to report her mom was missing. Later that night, he came back with anna to the coffee shop so that she would discover the van. Right after the curb there, the house is right there. The day after his meeting with mr. Big, denis took two other Undercover Officers to the scene of the crime. Of course, he believed he was talking to fellow gang members. After you shot her, what happened then . I brought her more behind the garage. You just shot the once, right . Once. I dont believe in twice. Then denis criminal friends asked him to take them to where he dumped wendys body. They told him they needed to make sure there was no evidence left. They took a while to find the place. He hadnt been back in 11 years. Finally, he was sure. I walk there, right in there. Everything makes sense. And as they continued searching the area oh, my gosh. What . Im putting my gloves its black thats the tarp. Thats a piece of the tarp. A couple of days later, anna got a call. It was the police asking her to come downtown. And they sat me down and said, weve just arrested your father for the murder of your mother. What was it like to hear that . Shattering. I broke down. But at the same time, its like i knew. I just didnt want to believe it. The signs were all there. He changed so much. And just hearing it made it kind of official that the person i held so dear wasnt there anymore. Not a big surprise really. Anna had doubts about her father all along. But her brother, gabriel . Well, that was a different story altogether. I cant imagine how it anyone would say its 100 certain that my dad did it. Coming up and gabriel isnt the only one with doubts. A confession is one thing. But did police have Anything Else on denis . Im going, wait a minute. They found absolutely nothing to corroborate his story. When dateline continues. Ways. Its the first and only fda approved combination of advil plus acetaminophen. Advil targets pain. Acetaminophen blocks it. Advil dual action. Fast pain relief that lasts 8 hours. Gabriel was at work when the call came. The police. They said they needed to see him right away. It was a big mystery until they brought me in. They put me in a room with a camera, and thats when they broke it to me. They told me that they know it that my father did it and they are 100 certain of it. And your very first reaction was what . It felt like my world came unhinged. Like it was a dream. Like reality had ceased to be. And right then and there, the police asked gabriel to record a message to his father. And so, of course, he did. I spoke to him in french about how i loved him, first of all. And i told him, you know, if this happened, i just want to know more. So please be honest. Please know that im here for you. Then with a heavy heart, gabriel called wendys family in the states. But instead of anger he was surprised to encounter skepticism. I didnt believe it. All of us, i think, saw him as someone who would die to protect his family. That was who he was. That was his source of pride. And at that point, it was the only sense of pride he had left. The only way gabriel thought he could make sense of it all was to confront his father in jail. And i told him right away, i want the truth, whatever it is. I want you to tell me the truth. He told me, no, no, no. Theres no way. I didnt do it. So gabriel wondered what hard evidence had police found that proved his father was guilty of murder. It turned out they hadnt found anything. Oh, my gosh thats a piece of the tarp. No a day after denis led Undercover Detectives to the scene of his alleged crime, they returned to pick up that piece of tarp and sent it to the lab for analysis. But the results were inconclusive. They also searched the area for a body, of course, but found nothing at all. Not so much as a bone. Its not unusual for us to over that kind of time frame because of Animal Activity and things of that nature not to find either any remains or very few remains. But the gun barrel, the bits and pieces of things, the stash places, the drivers license and so on. None of that showed up. Because it had been over ten years. I think its reasonable to expect that a lot of those items would have just disappeared. You didnt have the physical evidence that would back up his confession in the Undercover Operation. It wasnt physical evidence, correct, yeah. Yeah. And im going, wait a minute. They found absolutely nothing to corroborate his story. It was painful for diane to watch the video of her brothers confession in the pretrial hearing. She was shocked to learn that The Confession was the only thing the cops had to convict her brother of killing his wife. Thats when she became convinced. Denis lied to mr. Big. His confession was false. Oops. The proof first, she says, the chilling details of his alleged coldblooded murder. They just didnt make any sense. I cannot see him the way he left her doing that. And not especially not with his kids in the house. Theres no way he would have taken that kind of chance. I asked, you know, do you hear gunshots all the time. He said, no, and especially not first thing in the morning outside my window. There was no gunshot. He said he did it between the house and the garage. You would have heard that surely. I definitely would have heard it. Then there were the Clothes Denis said wendy wore. A little sweater and jogging pants. Couldnt be true because of my recollection of the morning, he said that she was wearing totally different clothes than i saw her leave with. And Something Else bothered him. Something that he told his Crime Buddies when they asked him whether he was capable of murder. Earlier on in the mr. Big sting, he confessed to killing a man with rat poison. And it turned out that he died of natural causes. So it was never happened. It was a fake confession. It was. Why lie . Gabriel said denis was desperate to be accepted by his new tough guy friends. And if he lied about one murder, why not lie about killing wendy, too, especially when what was at stake was his acceptance in the gang and his new job which he loved as mr. Bigs loyal foot soldier. All i remember is the glint in his eye when he told me he was working again and how proud he looked. Perhaps a regular Crime Organization wouldnt have even brought him in, you know. They might not have looked at him twice. Probably. But this Crime Organization was designed for him. He made a lot of money, first of all. He had more money than hed made in a long, long time. He had found a newfound family that respected him, that thought he was intelligent. He didnt want to lose that. But perhaps the most convincing argument diane heard was from denis himself when she went to see him in jail. For all those years he told her, the police just wouldnt leave him alone. And his meeting with the crime boss, he said, was a chance to finally make the investigation stop. Translator were going to talk to each other, and were going to work out these problems. Were going to fix them, okay . Okay. Translator thats what were going to do. Were going to fix them. He said, i couldnt just tell them i did nothing. Then they cant help me. So he says, i made up a story that i thought they would find me some kind of alibi or something, he says, and theyll fix it so that the cops would get off my case. He had such a miserable, lonely life that i believe he at that point would have said almost anything. Rumors of suspects nabbed by a mr. Big sting had every right to cry foul said criminologist cory keenan. A techniques ingenuity is also its achilles heel. While its capable of exposing the guilty, it can also induce innocent suspects to falsely confess to a crime they didnt commit. So the litmus test to me is corroboration. Without it, theres no way to tell whether the suspect is telling the truth or is lying. But anna watched the tapes, too, and she said she could tell. I know my father. I know my fathers mannerisms. I know when hes hiding something, when hes not being truthful about something. And unlike diane and gabriel, unlike her moms family in the states, anna was convinced her father was guilty as charged. I knew when he was talking about moms murder that it was true. Thats what he had done. Theyve just about finished their investigation, and theyre waiting for Satellite Results from the u. S. Satellite results . Thats when he folded. And i saw the look in his eye. Im caught. I saw the im caught look in his eye. The gunshot, the tarp, the carjack, her brother gabriel said it was all a lie. But anna had another word for it thats cold. Thats cold to talk about let alone cold to do. How do you talk about the woman you were married to if you didnt do it, could you really tell that story . Or could he or would he tell it again . Coming up whatever denis was or was not about to say, did it really make sense that he would hurt wendy . She was the breadwinner. She was the brains of the operation. Why would he kill her . When dateline continues. Heres to the duers. To all the people who realize they can du more with less asthma thanks to dupixent, the addon treatment for specific types of moderatetosevere asthma. Dupixent isnt for sudden breathing problems. It can improve Lung Function for better breathing in as little as 2 weeks and help prevent severe asthma attacks. Its not a steroid but can help reduce or eliminate oral steroids. Dupixent can cause serious allergic reactions including anaphylaxis. Get help right away if you have rash, shortness of breath, chest pain, tingling or numbness in your limbs. Tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection and dont change or stop your asthma treatments, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. Are you ready to du more with less asthma . Talk to your Asthma Specialist about dupixent. If your financial situation has changed, we may be able to help. Alright, guys, no insurance talk on beach day. Im down. Yes, please. [ chuckles ] dont get me wrong, i love my rv, but insuring it is such a hassle. Same with my boat. The insurance bills are through the roof. [ sighs ] be cool. I wish i could group my insurance stuff. [ coughs ] bundle. The house, the car, the rv. Like a cluster. An insurance cluster. Woosah. [ chuckles ] i doubt that exists. Its a bundle its a bundle, and it saves you money hi. Im flo from progressive, and i couldnt help but overhear. Super fun beach day, everybody. Denis ratte caught by an elaborate undercover sting, a confessor to murder, sat in jail while outside his two children, anna and gabriel, battled over whether he belonged there. Anna thought The Confession finally proved it. Her father was guilty. But she stood alone. Most of her family sided with gabriel. There was no evidence, said denis sister diane. And no motive. She was the breadwinner. She was the brains of the operation. She was his everything. He lost the house, he lost kids had, he lost his whole life. Why would he kill her . In his confessions, denis said he had a reason that would seem so twisted Neither Police nor anyone else believed it. Wendy, remember, was said to have a split personality, and denis claimed on the day he killed her, he knew wendys Alter Ego Shanna was going to sexually assault anna, and, of course, he couldnt let that happen. Translator i had no choice. Save the little girl. Save my little girl. What did you think when you heard that . I was disgusted. Of all the lies you could have said for why, you had to involve me again. It was all too much for anna. The lies, the betrayals. And now her dear brother refusing to share her outrage. He wants very much to think that your fathers not guilty. I know. And i cant blame him. You think hes living in lala land . I think he didnt see what i saw. He wasnt there. I was up to my neck in investigation trying to find mom. And i can absolutely understand wanting to be blind to to the truth because i was there too. You know, i dont want to speak badly about my sister. I really dont. But she because of her activism in trying to find my mother for so many years, it was a lot easier for her, i think, to put everything aside and create an easy solution. Me, im happy to live with a question mark. Im not going to pretend its Anything Else. Why dont you want to see something, some kind of evidence to back up what youve seen on tape . The look in his eye on that tape was thats all you needed . Thats what i needed. Or is it that you cannot stand living in this kind of doubt any longer . You had to make a decision, and that was the decision you made . Absolutely not. I saw the truth on his face in that tape. The man who ran the undercover sting, lead investigator Robert Burret, insisted his team took all precautions to make sure denis did not lie when he met with mr. Big. Were always mindful of false confessions allegations are made all the time, i suppose. Correct. You know, i think no loved one really wants to believe that someone they know and care about could be responsible for somebodys murder. In fact, the mr. Big undercover technique has been repeatedly upheld by canadas supreme court. And although the rcmp did not find any physical evidence to corroborate denis confession to mr. Big and his gang, it turned out they did have evidence that was perhaps much more compelling, and they got it after denis ratte was arrested. By that point in time, denis rattes read all his rights that hes provided under the canadian law. He had access sure. He could have said, ah, i thought i was talking to a crime boss. I thought i was lying to him. Absolutely. And he didnt. No, he didnt. When denis was arrested, he had no idea hed been caught in a sting and that his confession to mr. Big was on tape. But then Police Showed him the video. Translator does this come back to you . Is it coming back to you, denis . At first for almost an hour, denis seemed to be in denial. Translator i have never said that, that i killed her, first of all. Translator yeah, but, denis, we know that you killed her. Translator i never said it. Translator you said it there, denis. Translator i said it there . Translator yes. Thats when the interrogator decided to show denis another tape, the one police made of gabriel the day they told him theyd arrested his father. Translator so essentially, your son is asking you to tell the truth. And then a couple of minutes later, a silent nod from denis. And he began to confess again. The same details. The gunshot, the tarp, the carjack. Translator she didnt suffer. Translator she didnt suffer. Translator no. Translator it was fast . Translator it still hurts. It had been a heavy burden to carry that with him all those years, said denis. Translator you know, its hard. You know, someone who looks at you and ive always loved my wife. I still love her even. We were friends, okay . Translator you have killed your friend . Translator yes. It took everything for me to do it. I even cried when i did it. There. He admitted it. And this time translator check the tapes. Its all true. Translator its all true what you told them . Translator it was all true. Translator you didnt tell any lies at all . A confession is the strongest evidence anybody ever gets, and, you know, it generally does the deed. Mmhmm. And that was a pretty detailed confession, not just once but twice. And thats the one i dont understand more than anything. Ive asked him more than once, why did you confess when you knew you were in front of a Police Officer . Why wouldnt you say, oh, well, of course, i didnt do it, you know, i was just trying to get in with this organization. And you know, he didnt have much of an answer. So if theres an ounce of of me not believing him, its there. This is the biggest weakness in the story. But given the continued absence of any physical evidence, that second confession still wasnt enough to convince gabriel his father killed his mother. Is it possible, though, that youre living in denial . No. Youre not the first person to ask me. I bet. I definitely thought about it, right . But i think im very balanced about it. I can be swayed by the evidence whether it is going to be for or against my dad. So show me the evidence. Were denis two confessions evidence enough . A jury was about to decide. A brother and sister were prepared to fight for what they believed was right even if that meant losing each other. Coming up anna and gabriel face off in court. What was it like to testify in the trial . It was hard. I kind of hold my breath and go through it and hope that whatever i say is going to work for my dad. When dateline continues. December, 2010. 13 years after wendy ratte disappeared. In a Prince George courtroom, the battle lines were drawn. But this case wasnt only the crown versus denis ratte. It was brother against sister on the witness stand. What was it like to testify at the trial . It was hard. You looked out there and you saw Everybody Else who in the family who disagreed with you. Theyre still my family. Mmhmm. It was tough for all of them. They all felt i should have been with him more, siding with him more. But i had to make it clear that someone has to defend mom. Denis ratte pleaded not guilty and recanted The Confessions he made both to mr. Big and to the police after his arrest. His son gabriel was one of just two witnesses the defense presented to the court. I kind of hold my breath and go through it and hope that whatever i say is going to work for my dad. And im utterly aware that im the only person there who is speaking in favor of my dad. Denis Defense Lawyer hammered Undercover Detectives about the lack of physical evidence and pointed out lies denis had told mr. Big and his gang. Proof, he told the jury, that denis confession should not be believed. And after four weeks, the end to the 13yearold mystery was finally at hand. It took the jury just two hours to find denis ratte guilty of seconddegree murder. So much of my life had been devoted to finding the truth, and now i had the truth. Its not the truth i wanted. But nonetheless, thats what i had. Im happy i have it. Interesting that getting the truth isolates you from the people you love. Thats true, but isnt the truth more important . It doesnt matter that my family might be angry with me for the results of where this trial led. The truth is all that matters. And thats how mom led her life. Anna knows all too well the truth will never replace her mothers soothing voice. Its what she yearns for most these days. If only she could speak to the spirits the way her mom once did. Because i think maybe then i could hear her. Maybe then she could speak to me. If i open up enough, shell come talk to me. But not today. And there was one last moment of melodrama. Right after denis was sentenced to 15 years to life, he suddenly turned to anna. As she was leaving, he said to her, keep looking for your mother. Gabriel was not there for the guilty verdict. He had to leave right after his testimony. Back to vancouver to his College Graduation that very same day. It was such a whirlwind. I was just in the lineup late to get my gown, get ready to go to the ceremony and think, oh, my god, you know, what is this life . Where are my parents to watch this, you know. His father was in prison, and his mom well, his mom do you really believe in your heart that there is a possibility that your mother is still out there somewhere . That she shes still alive . Thats the part of me that is the dreamy, hopeful, optimistic side. You hear the odd story once in a while of someone returning after 25 years of absence. You do hear it. It does happen. So, man, whenever i do hear one of those, i just my heart fills with optimism. There hasnt been a happy ending for anybody no. Except your sister anna thinks its the right ending. Its hard being on the other side of this with her because id love to have a better relationship with her. We try to talk with each other every once in a while. And its kind of a thing where she says, i cant believe you cant see it. Its so obvious. Hes guilty. And i say, how on earth could you think that . Theres no evidence. And we just go back and forth like that. Its impossible to get around. Gabriel is a father himself now with a daughter. His father in prison has met his little girl now, but when we last spoke with gabriel, anna had not. We love each other very much. We have a bond as brother and sister that was very strong as children, and it will always be there. This is a really difficult situation for both of us. Well get through it. Its all thats left of our perfect family is the two of us. Im craig melvin. And im natalie morales. And this is dateline. My sisters dead. And i just sorry. I just kind of fell apart. Inside a silent home, an eerie scene. Water pouring through the rooms. Reporter you heard the water