he says, neil, i've done a lot of bad things in my life. he'll always be my dad. either he has the worst luck in the world, or he's responsible for murdering two women. i wanted them to know the truth. i was talking to this lady. she's prettier than you. it was almost as if he considered himself like a celebrity. i didn't do it. you didn't do what? kill kathleen or make stacy disappear. it >> kill kathleen. or make stacey disappear. >> so everybody is making things up? >> a lot of people. or you may be here for the rest of your life. >> maybe, or i may not be. >> what keeps me going is my love, my heart. i will find her and i will bring her home. and that's my promise. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> i just think about, is this ever going to end, i my ever going to be able to find her and get the closure i need? >> in these murky training waters, a sister searches for answers. >> i'm going to keep doing this every day i can and every day i can afford until the day i die, until i can bring home. >> solving that mystery would close the circle on a notorious and sensational case, the disappearance of stacy peterson. >> it brought the world's attention to a quiet, bedroom community outside of chicago and put a megaphone in front of this country's most infamous villains. drew peterson. >> i could stand here and cry for you, with that make you happy? >> i've never covered a story like drew peterson. i don't think i ever will again. it was crazy. >> i would not put myself in front of your house. >> as this thing went further and further, i was shocked that he kept telling jokes, and a certain point you have to wonder, does he really have a lawyer? >> please leave me alone. >> why did it take someone to go missing for you to look at this? >> this is not an accident. this is a cold blooded murder. >> i remember being portrayed as a massacre and no one is defending it. >> more than a decade later, from inside prison, drew peterson agreed to sit down for an exclusive interview. >> can you understand why people may have been disgusted by the way that you talked about your wives when one of them is missing and the other is dead? >> sure. sure. i was being me. if somebody don't like it, too bad. >> why should somebody, do you think, have to hear or listen to what you are saying today? >> there is so much that has not been heard, that everybody on the opposition on the prosecution gets to talk, call me names, say things and i am left in a cage. i do not get to say, publicly, what i need to say. what needs to be said. >> most important, at the heart of it all, is the story of two women, two moms who lives are now forever inextricably linked. >> what happened to stacey had everything did do with what happened to kathleen. >> on every level. and i think that their stories will be forever told together. >> the story began in late october, 2007 in bolingbrook, illinois. 30 miles outside of chicago. we >> had dinner, watch the movie. >> cassandra cales vividly remembers the last day she spent with her older sister, stacy peterson. it was just a simple evening in. >> she was going to call me, when she woke up in the morning. >> when she said, i will call you in the morning? >> that never happened. it was odd to be sure, but the 23 year old mother had a lot on her plate. perhaps stacy was just too busy, even for cassandra. but after waiting hours, cassandra picked up her phone and dialed say see. >> her phone is never off. i do not care if she is watching the kids, or doing anything, she will answer. hey, i'm going to call you back. and she does. but, it went to voice mail and that is when my gut started going. >> as the hours ticked by and still no word from stacy, cassandra became increasingly alarmed. she reached out to other family members, stepsister carrie symonds. >> right away, when she said that she could not get a hold of, where we knew something was wrong. we all knew how close cassandra and stacey were, and of course we all felt the panic and the anxiety of, where is she? >> cassandra called stacey's husband, drew, a police sergeant. he said he is not seen stacey since early that moaning when he got home from his overnight shift. as day turned tonight, family friend pam bosco joined the efforts to try to locate stacey. >> then it goes into the morning, hours and stuff, and we cannot find her. i remember telling cassandra at that point, go to the police. she placed the report at that point. she did not let up, she went from that morning with me, through to the next morning trying to find stacey. >> cassandra filed a report for the state police, and the family fanned out to spread the word. stacy peterson was missing. within days, a massive volunteer effort to find stacey was underway. >> they had to put aside any motions we had, cassandra took it especially hard. her mom pam had stepped in to be the spokesperson, but there needed to be somebody who could be there every single day. there is just an overflow of people that wanted to donate, wanted to bring in supplies, wanted to help search. >> searchers blanketed the area. >> we had dozens of people that would come out every day. i think we started in boling brook and then would pick different places to meet, wherever we were deciding to search. combing fields, and woods, and rivers, and would take boats, use the docks. >> as the search for stacey's continued, stories began to emerge about her marriage. her much older husband, and what her husband's ex wives. stories that would soon transfixed the country. >> coming up. >> she was like i want to see my friend drew. >> i was like who's? drew >> she was only? 16 >> she was, 16. yes >> it was mid 40s when they met, drew peterson was old enough to be stacy peterson's father. >> we were shocked at who this man wasn't how lovey dovey he was to this. girl >> for me, it was like, what are you doing? >> and soon, stacey was playing house in a new apartment. >> everything that she could dream of, and where the -- did this come from? >> when dateline continues. breathing problems. it's an add-on treatment for specific types of moderate-to-severe asthma. and can help improve lung function for better breathing in as little as two weeks. dupixent helps prevent asthma attacks... and can even reduce or eliminate oral steroids. imagine that. dupixent can cause allergic reactions that can be severe. get help right away if you have rash, chest pain, worsening shortness of breath, tingling or numbness in your limbs. tell your doctor about new or worsening joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines, including steroids, without talking to your doctor. who knows what you can do when you du more with less asthma. ask your doctor about dupixent. the most prescribed biologic for asthma. my active psoriatic arthritis can make me feel like i'm losing my rhythm. with skyrizi to treat my skin and joints, i'm getting into my groove. ♪(uplifting music)♪ along with significantly clearer skin... skyrizi helps me move with less joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and fatigue. and is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. skyrizi attaches to and reduces a source of excess inflammation that can lead to skin and joint symptoms. with skyrizi 90% clearer skin and less joint pain are possible. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine, or plan to. thanks to skyrizi, there's nothing like clearer skin and better movement... and that means everything. ♪nothing is everything♪ now's the time to ask your doctor about skyrizi. learn how abbvie could help you save. 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(vo) visit mytepezza.com to find a ted eye specialist and to see bridget's before and after photos. if you found yourself start in stacy peterson's orbit, those who knew you're would tell you it's a pretty nice place to be. >> she was pretty, kind, gentle. she was a loving mother, a loving sister. just a wonderful person. >> she had the biggest heart, she would do anything for you, even though she had so much on her plate. she would drop everything and run to help whoever needed anything. >> but at the end of october, 2007, it was stacy's family who were dropping everything in a desperate bid to find her. the sense of urgency was almost crippling for her sister, cassandra. >> i was up for almost three days and i actually had to go to the doctor, who had to give me a shot to get me to reacts. >> the sisters shared a special bond. >> i know that you guys did not have it easy growing up, right? >> no, we did not have easy growing up, at all. >> you really looked out for each other? >> yes. >> did you guys talk about your hopes and dreams, what you want it someday? >> not really. it was just surviving that day. you know, are we going to eat, are we going to be fed? >> cassandra does not like to talk about their childhood. their parents divorced when they're young and stacey cassandra lived mostly with their father. their mother, who suffered from alcoholism and depression, was in and out of their lives. strangely, when the girls were teenagers, she also disappeared and was not heard from again. stacy only 17 months old, or kept a motherly eye on cassandra. >> so stacey was the one who took over that responsibility and that role? >> absolutely. she was on a mission to be better than what we had gone through >> it appeared that stacey was well on her way to accomplishing that mission. she was preparing to graduate from high school early and was working at a hotel to earn enough money to continue her education. there was someone new in her life, a guy. >> she's like i have to go see my friend drew. i was like who's through? she was like, he's just a friend. >> she was only 16? >> she was 16, yes. because i was 15. >> cassandra says that everything changed as soon as stacy turned 17 and graduated high school. >> and then, boom. 17 years old, hey come over and check out my place. she's got a brand-new car, she is living in an apartment fully furnished, leather furniture. everything that she could dream of. and then here i am like, where the -- did this come from? >> no way could stacy afford such nice things. >> next thing you know, here comes drew, full uniform, walking in. like, hey are you? >> drew peterson, a sergeant with the bolingbrook police department. they had met at the hotel where stacey worked. at 47, he was 30 years older. >> he was old enough to be her father. she was a little girl, she came to my party with little ponytails and we were shocked at who this man was and how lovely w was to this girl. >> drew was twice divorced and his third marriage was imploding. he already had four children, two of whom were actually older than stacey. even his brother paul was struck by how young stacey was. >> actually, my older daughter is two months older than stacey. so for me it is like, what are you doing? >> what do you think attracted her to drew? >> a stable person. he was a cop, she feels protected. she was looking for a father figure, you know? or just, to be taken care of a little bit. >> cassandra says that drew did take care of stacey. he paid for her furnished apartment, among other things. but, according to cassandra, what stacy really wanted was a family. and in july 2003, when stacy was 19 years old, she andrew had a baby boy. >> my gosh. stacy was born to be a mom, she pretty much put us all to shame when it came to taking care of kids, and stuff. >> drew and stacey married that october and when drew's ex-wife, kathleen savio, died suddenly five months later, stacy adopted the two boys kathleen had withdrew. >> were you surprised when stacey said that she was adopting kathleen's two boys? >> not at all, stacey wanted a family. they lost their mom and she wanted to be there to comfort them. >> stacy and drew had another child together, a daughter. by the fall of 2007, with four kids, a home, and a police officer husband, stacey, now 23, seemed to finally have what she and cassandra longed for. >> it was so beautiful. we did not have that growing up. we did not have that happy family. >> and she was building that withdrew? >> right. >> but now, stacey was missing and none of it made any sense. we stacey's family and friends were not the only ones to think so. local crime reporter, joe huoseh had his own questions about stacey's disappearance because this was not the first time he had reported on something happening to one of drew peterson's wives. >> at this point it is just a missing versions report, right? >> it is a missing person, but it is the missing wife of a man whose previous wife died under what i consider to be suspicious circumstances. >> coming up. >> they found her in the bathtub and it looks like she drowned. >> drew told your sister that? >> yes. >> the mysterious death of the previous mrs. peterson, according to drew. >> it is like she took some sleeping pills or something, drink some wine. fell in the bathtub. >> when dateline continues. 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>> yes, he's a police sergeant. >> the suspicious deaths was that of drew peterson's third wife, kathleen savio. >> some aren't, family oriented. kind. >> her sister, sue doeleman. >> she is just overall a good person. she would never hurt anybody. loved her children to death, they were her life. >> drew and kathleen had split in 2001 after a nearly decade long marriage. kathleen had custody of the two boys. drew took them on weekends. that is how it went until 2004, when drew, by then married to stacey, and living just down the street from kathleen, try dropping the boys of after a weekend visit. kathleen did not answer the door. not that night, not the following day. >> it was probably nine, 9:30 in the evening and drew came down the street and pulled up to me in a swab car. >> steve was through his friend and kathleen's neighbor. >> he asked me to go to the house. he is already contacted her best friend married go to the house. he thinks something might be wrong because he's been trying to drop off tickets for the past day and a half. >> drew said his ex wife would not want him inside his home, regardless of the circumstances. so he waited outside. >> when we first walked into the house, it was kind of an eerie feeling. it was dead silent in there. you are kind of like, wondering what you are going to find, if you're going to find anything. >> they went upstairs into kathleen's bedroom, saw the unmade bed and checked the bathroom. >> i was going towards the bathroom, looked in the tub, and it was kathy laying there naked. mary came into the bathroom right away and she started screaming. drew came running up the stairs right away, ran into the bathroom, first thing he did was checkers balls. and then he started screaming out, what am i going to tell my children, what am i going to tell my children? very distraught. i looked right into the eyes, and he got very emotional very quickly. and then he called the pleas department. >> kathleen was dead. sue remembers getting the call late that night. >> i got a call at one in the morning. and i did not want to answer because i thought it was a wrong number, but it kept ringing and ringing. so i got out of bed and i answered it and it was my sister, my older sister, and she said are you sitting down? but is there any way there with you? i said, no. why are you asking me this? she said katie is dead, kathleen is dead. we called her katie. >> family members gathered to grieve. everyone with the same question. what happened? drew seem to have the answers. >> they found her in the bathtub and looked like she drowned. >> drew told your sister that? >> yes. >> it was the same story that drew told his brother, paul. >> it looks like she took some sleeping pills, or something, drinking some wine, and fell in the bathtub. >> because drew was a bolingbrook police officer, the illinois state police took over the investigation into kathleen's death. >> what are you finding out from the police and the sources at the time of her death? >> i was not finding out much, they were not saying much. >> joe heard the same thing the family heard. kathleen was found naked in her bathtub. it appeared that she had drowned, but the bathtub was dry and street with blood from a wound in her head. the coroner was stumped, and so formed an inquest try to get to the bottom of what happened. >> they sent the started to present evidence to the jury and in no uncertain terms that it was an accident. it was not suspicious, there was no sign of foul play. the jury deliberated and came back that it was an accident. >> an accident. kathleen must have slipped in the tub, hit her head, and knocked unconscious and drowned. the tub was dry because the water had slowly gone down the drain in the time it took for her body to be found. >> did the facts of what you are reporting bother you? did any of them linger with you that this seems weird? >> it