place. it's so isolated. somebody got lost out there. a marines wife and gone missing. i never expected to be a huge piece of a murder case. >> my heart just sunk. something had happened. >> we don't know if she was stranded in the desert, where should been held somewhere, can we find her before she meets a horrible end?■ç i was a little suspicious that he waited to report her as missing. >> they treated me as a suspect. >> they were laughing and carrying on. >> there was something big going on there. >> i had no idea what we were getting into. >> one wrong turn can be your last. >> this really can't be happening. >> we did not realize there would be a predator. with a little love, trust, and respect, these majestic creatures can emerge >> this if you are >> this if you are feeling down, it's time to saddle up. with trust and respect, these majestic creatures can emerge his loyal and majestic companions. for both horse and rider there's nothing like it. >> she transformed into these awesome horse handler and she knew what she was talkig) about. >> if only romantic relationships were that simple. this is the story of a young woman, so gentle, so vulnerable. she may have understood what makes horses tics, but humans, a different beast indeed. >> this does not happen to people we know. it just does not. >> it was crushing. i cried. i still cry when i think about it. >> oak ridge tennessee, nestled a long the beautiful clinch river is an unassuming place with a big story. they call it the secret city for its part in the manhattan project which produced the first atomic bomb. oak ridge still prides itself on being a community that values science and education and it's a good plaae@■to raise a family. this is where erin heavilin corwin grew up. >> when erin was three weeks old she joined our family as a hospital -- foster child. she was a tiny little thing. i think she was 5 pounds. we thought she was the sweetest little thing. our oldest girl was 16 and they carried her around. they loved her. lore and her husband officially adopted their little doll when she was three. with the horses she cared for at the east tennessee riding club , that was a different story. >> when i think of erin with horses, i ■çthink of her as bigger. she is very confident, she knows exactly what she wants and what she's going to do. >> erin's friend, abby. >> but, with people, she was much weaker, much quieter, calmer. >> courses would always be erin's first love, but as she entered her teen years, certain young man caught her eye. her name was jon corwin. >> what is it about you that could break through to erin because her mom says how shy she was and she was better with horses than people so what was it about you? >> i guess it's my charming personality. i have no idea. it still surprises me today. i was always able to talk to her, figure out■ç what she was feeling. >> erin's parents had strict rules about when she could start dating. >> we were those parents. we were the main parents. >> jon was sure to get their blessing first. >> i ended up driving over to her parents house and asking if i could date her daughter. >> that's very chivalrous of you to go to her parents. >> that's the way i was raised, always get the parents permission before anything. >> after graduating from high school, jon joined the marines. he asked erin to marry him when she was just 18 years old with an unusual proposal. there was no champagne , but there was a cup of sprite. >> client my hands were clammy and everything, nervous as heck so i grabbed the sprite and put the ring on top of it and ask her to marry me. >> so, the ring was around the straw. did she see it ■çright away? >> no. she drank. >> what was her reaction when she finally looked down? >> she was crying tears of joy, ecstatic and screaming yes, i would love to. >> erin's mom had heard that being a military wife comes a sacrifice. >> and marine corps wife myself and i know that it can be a very lonely life for people, but it is not easy. did you try to warn her? >> no, yes. >> did she listen? >> i know, mom. i know, mom. and of course, when i was 18, i knew also. you probably couldn't tell me a whole lot. >> the couple decided to eloped to las vegas and tie the knot after an annual formal celebration known as the marine corps ball. >> my husband had a lot of fun■ at a ring ball but we never decided to get married. why did you decide to get married there? >> because we were young, it was vegas. it was a spur of the moment type deal and that is how we live. >> jon was assigned to the twentynine palms marine base out in the california desert. in december 2013, erin packed up to join him. her mom saw her off at the airport. >> she's very directionally challenged, and she had two layovers and i'm like, when you get off that plane, you ask somebody where you need to go and you let me know as soon as you get there. >> what emotions were you feeling, letting your baby go to start her new life? >> it was scary for me, you know. i know that it was going to be harder than she ever dreamt. >> like any parent,■ç lore worried about her daughter finding her place in this new life. >> she is very shy and i did have concerns about her making friends. we felt like base housing would be safer for her because her husband was out in the field so often. >> it was not long before jon and erin learned they were expecting a baby. >> she was very excited. i was excited for her. >> sadly, her excitement was short-lived. in early 2014, she suffered a miscarriage. was it hard for both of you to hear that news? >> it was very hard. i was actually in the middle of a training exercise out in the field and i received the message over the radio. my co called me down to his vehicle and said that your wife just had a miscarriage and she's in the hospital, so it was kind of shocking and that night, i got drove back to the hospital and met up with her and she was in tears. >> after ■çshe lost the baby, part of me wanted to go out there and be with her, but i felt like they would do a better job of getting through their grief if ;(#to worry aboue mother, erin vowed to try again. around four months later in june of that same year during a visit to the hospital for nausea, the couple got good news. erin was pregnant again. here you are again. how did it feel this time? >> we were happy but we were also fearfulntam, afraid that was going to happen again. >> were you cautiously optimistic? >> yes. >> she decided to wait to surprise her mom with the news. lore already had a trip planned to visit the following month. >> we had plans of going for walks. we were going to go to san diego to go to seaworld and san diego zoo, but mostly just spend time together. h wdyng . >> you both must've been really wanting, needing this trip. >> absolutely. >> in anticipation of her mother's visit, erin told her husband she was going to scout out some good hiking locations at nearby joshua tree national park. >> she had woken up, got dressed and give me a kiss goodbye and said hey, heading 'v t ng out for the day. said i love you and i said i love you, too and rolled back over and went to sleep. >> a routine goodbye, or so it seemed until erin corwin vanished without a trace. coming up, what had happened to erin? >> i called her throughout the night. >> how many times would you say tried to call or text her? >> at least 50 times. i was so stressed and missing. >> he said erin is missing. u yesterday morning and i haven't seen her since. >> jon was concerned but withdrawn. when you have a spouse that's not extremely frantic, you've got to question why are they super upset . we had a lot of questions for jon. sewha lot of questions for jon. long lasting eylea hd could significantly improve your vision and can help you go up to 4 months between treatments. if you have an eye infection, eye pain or redness, or allergies to eylea hd, don't use. eye injections like eyla hd may cause eye infection, separation of the retina, or rare but severe swelling of blood vessels in the eye. an increase in eye pressure has been seen. there's an uncommon risk of heart attack or stroke associated with blood clots. the most common side effects were blurred vision, cataract, corneal injury, and eye floaters. and there's still so much to see. if you are on eylea or a similar type of treatment, ask your retina specialist about eylea hd today, for the potential for fewer injections. billy: one second, grandma. this guy is going to buy my car. okay? 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shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. only shingrix is proven over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. but shingrix protects. erin corwin couldn't wait. her mom would soon be making her first trip to see erin and her husband jon at their new home in twentynine palms, california, at the marine base 19-year-old erin corwin 19-year-old erin corwin can wait. her mom would soon be making her first trip to see th erin a her husband, jon, at their new home in twentynine palms, california at the marine base in the middle of the mojave desert. around 7:00 in the morning, erin said goodbye to jon and told him she was coming here to joshua tree national park to scout out hiking trails for her mother's upcoming visit. jon expected her home that afternoon but she didn't show. he tried her phone. no answer. >> did you keep calling? ■ç >> called her throughout the night at least 50 times. i was stressed and worried. >> hours passed and by the next morning, jon was frantic. >> jon calls and he said erin is missing. he said she left yesterday morning and i haven't seen her since. my first question was, how much water did she have with her? >> your thinking this is like maybe a hiking situation? >> this is the child that has no sense of direction so i'm assuming she's lost. >> jon reported his wife's disappearance to the local police station. san bernardino county sheriff's department was soon notified . >> obviously we were concerned, can we find her before something horrible -- before she meets a horrible end. you don't know if she's been held somewhere, if she is stranded in the desert still. >> lore's phone rang again. this time it ■çwas a deputy. >> one of his first questions first you think she's driving home and you think she's just left? and i about laughed because i know how much she hates to drive, has no sense of direction, and is absolutely no way she would give up a trip to seaworld and the zoo. >> back at twentynine palms, jon rounded up some of his marine buddies and headed into the national park. it is a vast expanse of nearly 800,000 acres of rugged rock formations, twisted joshua trees and the desolate, open desert. summer temperatures climb well past 100 degrees. >> we literally drove round joshua tree national park all day trying to find any signs, any closer where she ■1% been. >> do you see any signs of her? her car, piece of clothing, anything? >> nothing. >> there is a certain protocol detectives follow when investigating a missing person. start small and close to home. that inner circle of friends and family, the ones who know the person best, so when jon corwin reported that his wife had disappeared, it was natural they would look at him. >> at the beginning of the investigation you start closest to the source of the missing person so we had a lot of questions for jon. >> investigators learned that one's childhood sweethearts erin and jon settled in twentynine palms, things were far from perfect. >> the relationship was not intertwined. we knew it was a relationship that was■ç rapidly starting to dwindle. >> there was her miscarriage in early 2014. jon says it was heartbreaking and erin had trouble coping. >> she became very enclosed and depressed and would stay at home . i'm definitely not the one who speaks out on his emotions. i've kept it bottled up my entire life when she felt like i didn't care and i did. it actually hurt me a whole lot. it really took a toll on our relationship. >> erin's mom knew that the young married couple also had money problems. >> we gave each of our kids a certain amount of money when they got married and they kept just buying things when all of a sudden i think that huge chunk of money was not there.■ç >> you struggled with finances? >> absolutely. we had food on the table. we just didn't have money for extracurriculars. >> was it hard on erin? i know she had an issue with her credit card. >> yes, we ended up racking up debt. >> times were lean. >> yes, very lean. >> they were grown up problems for a couple barely out of high school. erin shared her worries with her friend, abby. >> it's just hard to transition from being on your own to being married and i think that is what jon was teaching her and she didn't like it. >> detective newport and his colleague, jonathan woods, wondered about jonathan's behavior when his wife did not return home. why did he wait a whole day to call police? >> it was a little suspicious that he waited till the next day to report her is missing.■ >> you see these common things on television now, you can't report a missing person until 24 hours after they've been missing and i truly believe them. >> makes sense, maybe, but detectives noticed something. >> jon was kind of withdrawn. he was concerned but he was withdrawn and at times, we wondered, is it his military background? when you have a spouse who is not extremely frantic , you've got to question why aren't they super excited, why are they super upset? >> jon had gone into the park to search for his wife , the sign of a concerned husband or something else?■ç >> obviously, as an investigator you have to wonder is this person trying to put themselves there? is this person trying to give us a reason why they would be there for the person was last seen or contacted? >> you are seriously looking at him. >> yes. >> i did think maybe jon and i think that's normal. it doesn't make it right but i think that is normal human response to think the spouse. >> but really, they might've been getting ahead of themselves. erin was missing and could well have run off on her own. there was no reason to believe any harm had come to her, much less that jon was responsible. there were other people to talk to, and a new place to explore , a sanctuary for erin wright here in the desert, one that would prove to be full of clues and secrets. >> coming up■ç -- >> they were laughing and carrying on. >> anything flirtatious? >> giggly. i hadn't seen her act like that. i wasn't used to it so it stuck out. >> erin, the shy young wife. exactly what kind of secret was she keeping? >> any time you have a spouse who is missing and you hear that there might be some infidelity there, just human nature not just as an investigator , but as a human being to question whether that person might be involved. - [narrator] life with ear ringing sounded like a constant train whistle i couldn't escape. then i started taking lipo flavonoid. with 60 years of clinical experience, it's the number one doctor recommended brand for ear ringing. and now i'm finally free. take back control with lipo flavonoid. when we're young, we're told anything is possible... ...but only a few of us go out and prove it. witness the greatness of anna hall on a connection worthy of gold: xfinity mobile. only xfinity gives you the most powerful mobile wifi network, with speeds up to a gig in millions of locations. and right now, xfinity internet customers can buy one unlimited line and get one free for a year. get the fastest connection to paris with xfinity. after a trip to joshua tree national park, detectives started out by questioning her husband, jon. then they widened the circle, trying to learn as much as they could about her life at the marine base here in twentynine palms. they discovered that erin had been lonely when she first moved to the base, but quickly bonded with other military families. when erin corwin went when erin corwin went missing after a trip to joshua tree national park, detectives started out by questioning her husband, jon. then, they widen the circle trying to learn as much as they could about her life at the marine base here in twentynine palms. ke they discovered that erin had been lonely when she first moved to the base but quickly bonded with other military families. >> it's kind of like melrose place and there. everybody's friends. >> everybody's doors 10 foot away from the next couple's door. >> erin and jon grew close with their fellow marine corps neighbors including nichole and chris lee, a couple originally from alaska. >> chris and nichole and jon and erin ■ç. they went out together all the time. i was happy, you know, that she had this. >> erin and nichole shared a common passion for horses. >> i was excited when erin and nichole met because nichole was into horses, and i knew erin needed the horses. >> nichole introduced erin to the white rock horse rescue ranch and its owner . >> you're not very far away from twentynine palms in the marine corps base. is this not only kind of a sanctuary for the animals but maybe a little bit for the marine corps wives? >> yeah. >> as will start at the ranch in 2004. >> the spouses come to the ranch with their husbands or fiances or boyfriends are out in the field. they have nothing to do. most of them don't work, and they get very lonely. loneliness is probably the biggest problem that they have. >> and this is where erin had a horse named cassie ■ç, and tha was very special to her. >> yes, it was. >> come here, cassie. so, your erin's horse. >> she picked a horse that i would never have chosen for her . >> why, what was with the horse? >> the horse was standoffish. it did not like anybody, and it liked her. this force was so bonded to her, and we couldn't believe it. >> before long, erin and jon, chris and nichole were spending more and more time at the ranch together. >> we could go out in the desert and shoot our guns and go out to the horse range and typical shenanigans. i had a little dune buggy that we all could take off routing while the girls were doing horse stuff. >> as will ■çset up when the couples were together, chris was always the life of the party. >> at the ranch, chris was very funny. he was a real soft individual when he talked about his daughters, wife, his family, but he also had the ability to be very stern. >> the ranch was clearly an escape for chris, who struggled after returning from deployment in afghanistan. >> there was something that you just stayed away from that subject. >> so, he might have had a rough time overseas. >> yes, he did. >> but, said isabelle, chris was a loving father to his and nichole's daughter, liberty. erin took the little girl, too and would help out her friends by babysitting the six-year- old. >> gentle, very gentle. the younger kids at the barn, you know, they knew■ç that she cared about them. >> so, erin had found her place here surrounded by friends and horses, but isabelle said that around christmas of 2013, she started to see a connection between chris and erin that seemed a little too close for comfort . >> they were laughing and carrying on about something on the computer. >> was there anything flirtatious about it, or was it just to close for you? >> giggling. i had not seen her act like that. it was like a kid in a candy store. i wasn't used to it, so it stuck out. >> isabelle said she found the behavior so alarming she mentioned it to chris's wife, nichole. >> i said nichole, something's wrong i said. the way they are acting . she says no, no. there's nothing going on. she says ■çthey connect. >> what was it they can relate to each other about? >> she said they could relate to being sad. she said chris was sad, and that when he came back from the service, he was a different person and that he just was not himself and erin could understand depression . she said they were just friends. >> but, two months later, nichole told erin's husband, jon, she needed to talk to him, and by then, she was singing a very different tune about erin corwin. >> nichole had found out that chris had been having an affair with erin. i didn't know at the time. >> you're totally clueless■ç? >> yes. >> is this just a bombshell to hear this news? >> yes, it was earth shattering. >> but, jon says he still loved his wife and was committed to his marriage. >> i tried my hardest to make it work. >> were you in this for life, this marriage? >> yes, definitely. she would always try to fix something instead of just replacing it and i was trying everything i could to fix it. >> he says that over time he and erin reconciled and patched things up with chris and nichole. >> they started hanging out with us. >> really, you were able to accept them in knowing what chris had done with erin? >> yes. it was not the same that it was before, but you always give somebody a second chance. >> or, do you? erin was now missing, and the fact that she had been unfaithful to her husband added to investigators suspicions about him. >> any time you have a spouse is mics there might be some infidelity there involved, it is just human nature not just as an investigator but a human being to question whether or not that person might possibly be involved. >> but then, detectives found out something that made the potential pool of suspects a whole lot deeper. coming up -- >> it was not just your friendship slight infidelity. it was full on they were completely involved with each other. >> stunner number one, the secret affair with the neighbor was not exactly over. >> had betrayed did you feel? >> it was earth shattering. i felt like somebody literally stuck a knife in my back. >> and stunner number two? >> this baby not■ç -- might not be his? that's heavy stuff for someone to deal with. >> absolutely. jon realized it might not be his kid and again that brings motive to the spouse. >> and dateline continues. nexgard® plus: the one you want for one-and-done protection. everybody wants super straight, super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile. new sensodyne clinical white provides 2 shades whiter teeth and 24/7 sensitivity protection. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients. this isn't charmin! no wonder i don't feel as clean. hurry up dad! you've been in there forever! i'm trying! this cheap stuff is too thin! i told you not to get the other toilet paper. here's charmin ultra strong. ahhh! my bottom's been saved! woooo! with its diamond weave texture, charmin ultra strong cleans better with fewer sheets and less effort. what's everybody waiting for? 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(♪♪) dove it new dove replenish your skin after every shave. tropical cyclone tropical cyclone beryl■ç no a hurricane moving toward the west indies. it set to move through the caribbean this week. iran will hold a presidential runoff election this friday seeing both the reformist candidate and the hardliner falling short of securing an outright win. a special vote was called after the death of her previous leader in a helicopter crash last month. for now, back to dateline. detectives in san bernardino, california were working around the clock to figure out what happened to 19- year-old marine wife erin corwin. ■ç they soon learned erin had had an affair and that made them suspect that her husband, jon, may have had something to do with her disappearance. some of the detectives thought that your behavior was strange, that you were not acting sad enough. do you get why they were thinking that? >> i understand. i'm a very inclusive kind of person. i don't show emotions. >> did you worry in the moment that they are looking at me? >> no, i did not. >> jon told detectives that his wife said the affair was over. he and erin had reconciled and he even re-established his friendship with erin's foreign -- former lover, chris lee and his wife, nichole. in the first days of their investigation, detectives learned that ■ç erin's relationship with chris seem to be going strong right up until the day she disappeared. >> it was not just a friendship slight infidelity. it was full on, they were completely involved with each other. >> one of erin's close friends in tennessee told investigators she talked and texted with erin nearly every day. erin, the friend said, was making plans for a life with chris lee. >> erin had expressed to this friend that she was going to get married to chris. >> the friend told investigators erin said that chris was taking her on a special trip the morning she disappeared and she texted her all about it. erin wrote , so apparently the surprise trip is super important, and i finally got him to tell me it's by the national park. erin told her friend she did not know what plans chris had in store. >> yeah, i'm clueless . lol i'm ready to know what it is. i mean, i have a couple of ideas. i feel like it is big but yeah lol we shall see. the friend responded with a series of images including a diamond ring, ■çhearts, and? search exit -- subjects sting perhaps a proposal. >> erin texted we shall see. this day cannot come quickly enough and apparently it takes just two hours together. a long, slow drive. good talking time, though. after erin went missing, that same friend spoke to jon. >> she told me that erin went out with chris that day and that she was expecting that chris was supposed to propose to her that day. >> had betrayed did you feel? >> it was earth shattering. i was -- felt like somebody just literally stuck a knife in my back.■ç >> detectives soon learned something even more explosive. remember, erin had recently found out she was pregnant. she told her friend that she believed the father of her baby was her lover, chris, not her husband. >> did you think that the possibility existed that he did find out that this affair had not ended like he had thought, and that this baby might not even be his? i mean, that is heavy stuff for someone to deal with. >> absolutely. that is why we wanted to question him so let -- jon realized it was probably not his kid. >> did you have anything to do with your wife's disappearance? >> no, i did not. everybody who knew me personally knew there was no way i could do that. ■ç >> but, jon says marines on the basic did not know him well seemed suspicious. >> you could tell they would look at me differently. >> we are not able to do your job then if you didn't want to leave the house? >> no. at that time, they considered me to be mentally unstable and they took me away from everything pretty much because we handle firearms every day, so i stayed at home. >> but now, jon was not the only one on detectives' radar. of his fellow marine, chris lee, might be the father of erin's baby, and the person she was going to meet that day, then chris, too, might have a motive and an opportunity. >> did you look at both chris and jon suspects? >> yes. absolutely. >> there was at least one other possibility, ■çthat erin, naove and just 19 years old, had simply decided to run away from her troubles. whatever happened, there was still no sign of her. that is, until this woman noticed something strange, something she had never seen before. >> i did not know if somebody was doing drugs in there, or if somebody was just up to no good, and i knew it was not supposed to be there. >> coming up, a breakthrough new clue. >> as we were driving down the road there, i noticed a car parked off to the left-hand side of the road that was not there the night before. >> there were shoe impressions, tire impressions. >> something had happened. >> i know my daughter. i could not get to twentynine palms quick enough. the plane could not fly fast enough. >> when dateline continues. and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. gallbladder problems may occur. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. living with type 2 diabetes? 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>> it's like finding a needle in 1000 haystacks. >> when erin's mom heard about the car, her mind went to the worst possible place. >> when they found her car without her, that is when i knew something else. had happened. i think at that point in time, i knew she was not with us anymore. >> you knew just from the car? >> yeah. i know my daughter. and, it was just -- i could not get to twentynine palms quick enough. >> what was that like, getting on a plane? you have had this revelation, the worst kind of revelation. and there you are. >> you have to turn your phone off, you know? you can't get any communication until you get ■çback on the grod . i mean, it was -- >> must be excruciating. >> it was. the plane could not fly fast enough. >> but, detectives had to keep an open mind. they had no way to know yet whether erin had run away or got lost or was the victim of a crime. >> we had to bifurcate the investigation. we had to turn it into a search and rescue mission and potential homicide investigation. one was to try to look for and alive and well hopefully erin corwin and the other was to work another angle for unfortunately, we might be looking for a deceased erin corwin. >> whichever angle the investigation took, they knew they needed to check out a key piece of information. erin had told her friend back in tennessee that she was supposed to meet ■çup with someone the day she vanished, her neighbor and lover, chris lee. deputies first knocked on chris ' door the day after erin was reported missing. >> christopher lee told the deputies the extent of any contact he had ever had with erin corwin was behind in passing in an apartment complex. >> apparently that was not true but it was not necessarily incriminating, either. chris had every reason to downplay his relationship with erin. nevertheless, detectives knew it was time to talk to chris lee again. coming up -- >> he seemed ■çsurprised that w had found the car. >> and he started tense up after this reveal? >> yes. >> i can see definitely him more tense in his body. >> marine corporal chris lee prepares for battle. >> your tire tracks are there as well as her tire tracks. >> i was worried because my previous relationship you'd automatically assume i did something. >> it was just a very unusual, wild story he was telling me. >> when dateline continues. >> ahhh, there's nothing like a day out with friends. that's nice, but shingles doesn't care! 99% of adults 50 years or older already have the virus that causes shingles inside them, and it can reactivate at any time. a perfect day for a family outing! guess what? shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. only shingrix is proven over 90% effective. shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles in adults 50 years and older. shingrix does not protect everyone and is not for those with severe allergic reactions to its ingredients or to a previous dose. an increased risk of guillain-barré syndrome was observed after getting shingrix. fainting can also happen. the most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. shingles doesn't care. but shingrix protects. ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. an alternative to pills, voltaren is a clinically proven arthritis pain relief gel, which penetrates deep to target the source of pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the source. voltaren, the joy of movement. centrum! it's scientifically formulated to help you take charge of your health. centrum gives every body a healthy foundation. supporting your - oops - energy, immunity and metabolism. and yours too! you did it! plus try centrum silver, now clinically proven to support memory in older adults. no one should have to choose between good vision and great value. that's why america's best is slashing their prices. during the wise buys sales event, get two progressives and a comprehensive eye exam for just $129.95. book an exam online today. after erin corwin disappeared, chris lee sat down for a formal interview. : was he being cooperative? daniel hanke: yes, he was. (interrogation video): how you doing? andrea canning (voiceover): detective daniel hanke was part of the team investigating erin corwin's disappearance. he wanted to know why chris didn't admit to police right away that he and erin were more than just friends. christopher lee (interrogation video): i didn't bring up mine and erin's thing because it didn't seem pertinent at the time. daniel hanke (interrogation video): okay. >> two days after erin >> two days after erin corwin disappeared, chris lee sat down for a formal interview. was he being cooperative? >> yes, he was. >> detective daniel hinchey was part of the team investigating erin corwin's disappearance. he wanted to know why chris did not admit to police right away that he and erin were more than just friends. an >> i did not bring up mina and erin's thing because it did not seem pertinent at the time. >> but, now chris began to open up. he said his relationship with erin started innocently enough. he was depressed after his 2013 tour in afghanistan. erin was someone he could talk to. ■ç >> i confided in her that i was feeling suicidal and she was like you can be doing that stuff. it's like she was someone to talk to about stuff that i didn't want to talk about with my wife. >> he said erin confided in him as well, a terrible secret, that she suffered physical abuse at the hands of her husband, jon. >> she said her husband was beating her and choking her and she was scared for her life. she said that he would choke her whenever he would get mad. >> the way chris told her, erin story of jon's abuse is what brought them together. >> i was like in the state i was in, you know, i can fix this. broken pieces fix each other so we kind of started developing a bond. >> chris said bonding soon turned to love. >> when you told her that you loved her, did she tell you that she loved you? >> remember, police had heard from a friend of erin's that she thought she ■çwas pregnant with chris' baby but chris insisted the relationship and stayed pretty pg. >> okay, how many times did you guys kiss? >> four, tops. maybe like hands up and down while we were kissing but nothing real heavy, nothing underclothes or anything. >> clothes never came off? >> chris said he talked about running away together but he did not want to risk losing his daughter, liberty. >> you know, we bounced the idea back and forth. >> he said the affair ended abruptly when his wife■ç, nichole, found out about it. chris also said that is when he learned a big part of his bonding with erin was based on lies. >> she lied to you? >> she told me her husband is beating her and she was afraid for her life. >> he said he never talked to erin again after that but detectives had the text messages between erin and her friend in tennessee, which seemed to show the affair was far from over. detective travis newport confronted chris. >> no reason at all why she was saying she's going to meet with you on saturday? >> she could've overheard -- >> chris suggested erin had overheard his plans for a trip to the desert and upset that she wasn't invited, lied to her friends, saying chris planned to meet her that day. >> i just don't think she ever got over the fact that we've stopped seeing each other. >> we all know that cheating in the military it, that could be a dishonorable discharge. >> it's not uncommon to see military personnel deny such a relationship because they know it ■çcould lead to repercussion >> still, they pressed chris on his whereabouts the day she went missing. they told police he had taken a drive to joshua tree national park to hunt coyotes and that he has shot his rifle at some rocks and that that at one point he said he encountered another man with a gun. >> i'm not sure if he was shooting at me or there was just recreational shooting but there was an individual out there with a handgun that was fired in my general direction. >> he was very descriptive about this guy and his clothing and for he was out on the ridgeline and that he was reloading and he fired four rounds at him. >> i got kind of lost and at one point in time, i came out and followed gold crown road to old dateline road■ç and follow that to the road to come out of the national park and came home that way and then i got home about 3:30. >> it was just a very unusual, wild story that i thought he was telling me. >> so, detective hankey tried to shake chris up with new information. >> he seemed surprised that we had found the car. >> did he started tense up after this reveal? >> yes. i could see him definitely more tense in his body. >> and then, hanke tried bluffing. >> your tire tracks are there as well as her tire tracks. your tire tracks drove over hers. >> but you didn't know for sureç >> i did not know for sure, but had a suspicion. >> and depression now, chris changed his story slightly saying that while he did not see erin the day she disappeared, he did see her car. >> i was worried that if i told you guys i saw her car because of my previous relationship with her you would automatically assume i did something. >> that did not ring true to hanke, and his ears perked up even more when chris said this. >> did you make any other phone calls? >> no, i couldn't. i lacked the ability to because of the area we were in. >> yes, that was a big tell for me. you told me this entire time he was by himself. >> detectives interviewed chris for nine hours and thought they had caught him and numerous lies but they did not have proof he committed a crime or for that matter, than anything bad had even happened to erin, so detective hanke drove chris home. >> anything telling from that car right? >> yes, it was pretty chilling, actually, some of the questions he asked me. he asked me how good i was at my job, and how good our detective team was. >> what did you tell him, really good? >> i told him we were very good. he asked me specifically how many bodies had i found in the desert. >> that's a freaky conversation. >> it would not be long before investigators heard another thing that was strange, this time from nichole about something out at the horse ranch. >> and nichole told you something was hidden in isabel's closet. what was that? >> it was a 22 caliber rifle. >> coming up, chris lee's wife. >> extremely uncooperative, not what you would expect of somebody■ç who was trying to assist an investigation. >> a chilling warning. >> tell erin that if she ever had anything else to do with her husband she would kill her herself. >> that is a very strong statement and now, very relevant. did you have to consider her as a possible suspect as well? >> of course we did. hearing a statement like that obviously raises all kinds of red flags, really makes you wonder, did this person pay somebody to harm erin. >> when dateline continues. >> i'm adding downy unstopables to my wash. now i'll be smelling fresh all day long. [sniff] still fresh. ♪♪ get 6x longer-lasting freshness, plus odor protection. try for under $5! everybody wants super straight, super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile. new sensodyne clinical white provides 2 shades whiter teeth and 24/7 sensitivity protection. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients. i think it's a great proandrea canning (voiceover): three days had passed since erin corwin told her husband she was going out to scout hiking locations ee three days had passed since erin corwin told her husband she was going out to scout hiking locations. there was still no sign of her. and, so, detectives turned their attention back your, the horse rescue ranch that seem to hold so many secrets. >> erin corwin and john, chris lee, his wife, they were all tied to that ranch. >> you conducted a search of the ranch. >> yes. >> looking for a body? >> not just a body but any evidence we could. >> i said, she is not here. they said they had to follow ■ç every lead that they thought might be possible, so that's what they did. >> detectives know one thing they were looking for. nicole told them she had stashed a rice salt -- rifle and isabel's closet. it was the 22 caliber rifle chris had told detectives they took to the park the day she went missing. >> i was very stupid. i can't imagine hiding something in my house and not telling me. i was starting to get angry at chris and nicole because now i'm part of it and i didn't even know. >> and two-tone allow guns here. >> no. >> isabel told detectives the day aaron disappeared she received a text saying they wouldn't be at the ranch that day because she was sick. the next morning, chris and nicole were back at the ranch. ç by then, isabel received a call that aaron was missing. >> i kind of blew it off because i couldn't believe it. >> isabel noticed things were tense between chris and the cold that date and nicole had nothing good to say about her missing friend. >> nicole was telling me that erin is probably hiding somewhere to meet chris meet ski life miserable. she's setting us up. she's trying to hurt our family. erin is doing that to get even. she is trying to get sympathy. >> chris was about to be discharged from the marines and plan to move back to alaska. isabel lent them the suv to move some of their belongings. detectives searched the suv and found a potato launcher like this one. a sort of homemade cannon that shoots chunks ■çof potato or other small objects. >> the officer said you didn't know that's a weapon? i said, i had no idea it was even in my car. >> a weapon that's illegal in california. detectives are already suspicious of chris and now they use that potato launcher to get some leverage on him. >> this patio is where chris was arrested. >> he was handcuffed to the chair. >> possession of a destructive device. chris had spoken to detectives at length, but now that he was under arrest, isabel noticed nicole seem to be getting nervous and she started to say things. >> she was very concerned that he would get his story confused. he ■çwas not in control of the facts as much as she was. >> detectives noticed nicole didn't seem interested in helping to find her friend erin. >> extremely uncooperative. angry. not what you would expect of somebody who was trying to assist an investigation. >> isabel told them they had searched the internet for very specific information. >> they had researched how to dispose of a body. a dead body. she said we have watched enough of those csi movies to know nobody, no case. >> remember, it was nicole who told john about the affair. according to isabel, nicole said she confronted erin. ■ç >> it was very important to her to tell erin that if she ever had anything else to do with her husband, she would kill her herself. >> that's a very strong statement and now very relevant. >> yes. >> did you have to consider her a possible suspect as well? >> of course we did. hearing a statement like that raises red flags. >> nicole had an alibi. she was at home with her child the day erin disappeared. even if she was not in the desert that day, investigators believe she still could've plays a role in arranging erin's disappearance. >> it makes you wonder did this person pay somebody to harm erin? >> erin's mom had suspicions of her own. in those initial■ç days followi erin's disappearance, she stayed at the apartment on the base. >> i went for a walk and come back. nicole is sitting on their walkway. if looks could kill. >> toward you? >> towards me. >> that must've been an odd moment. >> for some reason it didn't surprise me. >> the suspect pool seem to be growing but there was no proof any crime had even occurred except maybe possession of a potato gun. chris bailed out on july 5, 2014, one week after erin disappeared. two days later, he was officially discharged from the marines and they return to alaska. >> people kept having a fit because they let him go to ■ç alaska. >> detectives continue to hunt for clues as to where erin corwin may be found , and they learned something that would launch the money treacherous search in the desert. >> coming up. danger in the heart of the desert. >> it makes me think of indiana jones. >> what would investigators fine? 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or was she the victim of foul play? t was erin corwin still alive somewhere in the desert? or was she the victim of foul play. this is a ■çhuge operation tryi to find erin corwin. >> we had hundreds of searchers from four different counties. >> with such an enormous area, the search dragged on and in the desert heat, the odds of finding erin alive dwindled. her parents had returned home to tennessee. it must've been so hard getting on that plane. >> it was. >> was are any part, did you feel guilt? i shouldn't be leaving? what if they find her tonight or tomorrow? >> yes. >> the investigation narrowed. detectives cleared erin's husband in connection with her disappearance. cell phone and computer records show he was on the base the entire day that erin went missing. they concluded chris was lying when he said erin ■ç claimed jo had been abusive. >> over the period of the investigation, jon was interviewed multiple times. jon submitted to a polygraph test. i mean, easily 20 hours total we had spoken to jon. >> did he pass the polygraph test? >> yes. >> i knew what was true and i gave honest answers and i never lied to them. >> chris lee had lied to them. seemed interested in how to dispose of a body. isabel told them he had taken a trip to the desert the week before erin disappeared. >> he said i found this one mine. no one will ever find. >> detectives believed it was all adding up.■ç chris killed erin and dumped her body in a mine shaft. they decided to start searching, but here was the problem. the mohave desert is pockmarked with hundreds of mine shaft's. detectives knew they needed help. >> the search and rescue folks explained there was a guy can do a lot about the desert. know a lot about the caves. he would be a great resource to us. >> this is the man they were talking about. doug, cape doug. is much desert rat as the gold miners who used to roam a century ago. instead of a pickax and mule, he is outfitted with gps and a homer. >> i've been down every one of these including the ones we are standing in front of. i know how deep they are and what is inside of them. >> wheo0other kids were playing little league, he was here. he was traveling the globe exploring the underworld but the mohave was his home. they started talking into a relationship quickly formed. >> almost every day we would talk on the phone and he would send photographs, aerial images, satellite images and say check these mine shafts. these are more that i have located. >> just getting to one can be an ordeal as we discovered. billings took us to one of the high priority search areas but the road got so rugged and treacherous, we were forced to leave behind our suv along with two members of the crew. and, carry on. this is hard to get around. it's at times white knuckle driving.■ç you look straight down and you don't want to make one wrong turn. >> one wrong turn could be your last turn. >> this is one of the mindset was search? >> yes. >> they checked one dangerous mine shaft after the next. >> it's all clear. always thought in rocks and listen quietly for a rattlesnake. that's the general protocol. this part of the desert they love to hide out to get out of the sun. these say the temperature drop. as you walk here, put your light on. >> that could be scary. >> this could be a false floor. >> it makes me think of indiana jones. the unknown trap. >>■ç i have seen that in real life. >> these of the most dangerous to search. vertical ones that go straight down into a crumbling abyss. >> we were physically going down the shaft. the ropes, clear it, and move on. it became not feasible with the amount of mines we had to search. >> they outfitted buckets with cameras. >> week began feeding them down. >> it sped up the process but with hundreds to explore, the search dragged on then weeks. detectives were often side-by- side with the hundreds of searchers looking for erin. >> we were digging holes and searching. i was wearing a t-shirt and jeans going in mine shafts. we went to find her so we were doing everything. >>■ç and yet, there was no sign of erin corwin anywhere. no closing. no footprints. nothing. but then, detectives caught a break. remember the trip chris took with a friend to look at the minds? it turns out chris's friend had taken pictures. detectives obtained the photos and seven weeks into the search showed them to doug. >> he almost immediately began identifying each photograph. >> the first picture was of the mind across here. able to recognize the tower. they showed going down the shaft and i recognize that. second they showed the cabin. in the next picture was of the mind we are standing next to. >> so they bet on his memory and focus their efforts here around what's known as ■çthis mine. around this rose of mine are hundreds of other minds like this one. any one of them could've been a potential burial site. investigators had high hopes they were finally targeting the right area. after an exhaustive and expensive search that lasted for weeks and weeks, they decided this was it. saturday, august 16, 2014, would be the last day of the search. >> we felt we had one more shot. >> in the evening, they headed for the last mine on their list. >> as nighttime falls, we don't want anybody out there. we began to collect our thoughts and decide in a minute we need to start calling the >> a member of the cave rescue team, a doctor, came upon this mine and right away noticed a strange smell. it was the stench of gasoline. there was a shell casing resting near the mouth of the mine. they lowered a bucket camera. >> we received a phone call from one of the satellite phones with the search team and they could see what appeared to be a leg or some sort of body part down at the bottom of the mine shaft. >> that is unbelievable. that this search was minutes away from being called off after weeks and weeks, and you find something. >> it was unbelievable. >> exploration of the mine would have to wait until daybreak. >> detective hanke called me at roughly 9:00 or 10:00 that night, and■ç said we found a bo at the bottom of this mine shaft. >> did you sleep at all that night? >> i did not. >> i had no idea what we were getting into. do i want to my life in danger? >> journeyed to the bottom of the mine, when dateline continues. inues. good to go off the grid. good to go nonstop. with cabenuva, there's no pausing for daily hiv pills. for adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete, long-acting hiv treatment you can get every other month. it's two injections from a healthcare provider. just 6 times a year. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients or if you're taking certain medicines which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions, post-injection reactions, liver problems, and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms, stop cabenuva and get medical help right away. tell your doctor if you have liver or kidney problems, mental health concerns, and if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or considering pregnancy. some of the most common side effects include injection-site reactions, fever, and tiredness. with cabenuva, you're good to go. ask your doctor about switching. smile! you found it. the feeling of finding psoriasis can't filter out the real you. so go ahead, live unfiltered with the one and only sotyktu, a once-daily pill for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, and the chance at clear or almost clear skin. it's like the feeling of finding you're so ready for your close-up. or finding you don't have to hide your skin just your background. once-daily sotyktu was proven better, getting more people clearer skin than the leading pill. don't take if you're allergic to sotyktu; serious reactions can occur. sotyktu can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections, cancers including lymphoma, muscle problems, and changes in certain labs have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection, liver or kidney problems, high triglycerides, or had a vaccine or plan to. sotyktu is a tyk2 inhibitor. tyk2 is part of the jak family. it's not known if sotyktu has the same risks as jak inhibitors. find what plaque psoriasis has been hiding. there's only one sotyktu, so ask for it by name. so clearly you. sotyktu. so clearly you. spread across two thousand square miles of desert was now focused on a single y- sia massive search effort that once spread across 2000 square miles of desert was now focused on a single hole. >> i had no idea what we were getting ■çinto. >> they are with the san bernardino fire departments elite urban search and rescue team. >> i was told they had found a body approximately in a mine shaft. >> there were problems. >> they detected gasoline fumes. >> the bucket cam picked up images of a gas can and propane tank which were venting fumes into the shaft. that's what anesthesia recalled. they are trained to work inside type spaces will using breathing equipment. they regularly risked their lives to rescue people in danger , but in this case, taking a grave risk to recover a dead body gave them pause. >> it is risk versus gain■ç. to want to put my life in danger? >> after talking it over and knowing how important it could be to solving the disappearance of erin, they agreed to go. one claustrophobic was first in the whole. >> i started descending down. >> how deep? >> 100, 140 feet. it was deeper than we've ever been. >> what were you seeing? >> it was very. rock collapsing. snakes. also, just the heat. it was about 110 degrees topside and 90 degrees works downside. you only have a limited before your quickly fatigued. >> what did you see? ■ç >> a sprite bottle. a rope. a tire and propane tank. some plastic jugs. a lot of rock and rock debris. >> and then, he saw it. a human body. that sounds like out of a horror movie. i hate to say it like that to propel down and see a decomposing body. >> we see a lot of death in overtime you develop a method where you ignore your emotions for a little while and focus on the task you need to do. face your emotions later. >> first took photos wells suspended above the crime scene them methodically set about gathering evidence and sending it back to the surface. >> the original plan was for me to do the original operation ■ç but i had been down there 45 minutes and i was fatigued. they rotated us out. >> how did you feel when you got out of the mine? >> i took my mask off. i was immersed with the smell. it was saturated on my clothes and i started dry heaving. >> then his assignment, get the body. >> i would be lying if i said i was excited about going down there. never put a body in a bag. >> once in, he realized retrieving the body would be harder than expected. >> i did a little assessment with my flashlight and realized it was a false bottom then i got more concerned with rocks coming down and knocking out the bottom. >> then everything would be ■ç gone. >> i had no idea how deep the shaft was. >> he began placing the body in the bag with the disturbing the false bottom on which it rested. once that was down, he found something else. >> a torch in the corner of the mine mac. >> it had been led? >> it didn't look like it to me. it looked like someone had just made up. >> ever so carefully, he made his way back up with the torch and the body. on the surface, detectives made a positive i.d.. after eight weeks of searching, on the day they decided would be their last, that finally found erin corwin . >> all these hours and thinking deep down inside■ç she's got a in one of these last caves. she has to be and having the confirmed, it was overwhelming emotion. >> a few minutes before midnight, the phone rings again. wakes us up. and it is the detective. he says it is her. it is like, this really can't be happening to us. you know, not that child. >> the cause of her death? possible blunt force head injury and apparently strangulation with a sinister tool. >> the pathologist discovered what is known as a garrote. i was unfamiliar at the time. i quickly learned what was. it's a two rebar handles.■ç it was encircling her neck. >> isabel from the horse ranch said nichole once told her, nobody, no case. now detectives finally had the body and soon the had an arrest warrant. the charge? murder. >> coming up. >> at its core, this is a very simple case. >> accused killer on trial. nexgard® plus helps you protect your dog from fleas, ticks, heartworm disease, and more... all in one delicious, monthly, soft chew. use with caution in dogs with a history of seizures or neurologic disorders. nexgard® plus: the one you want for one-and-done protection. everybody wants super straight, super white teeth. they want that hollywood white smile. new sensodyne clinical white provides 2 shades whiter teeth and 24/7 sensitivity protection. i think it's a great product. it's going to help a lot of patients. i'm richard i'm richard lui and these are the headlines. former trump aide visor steve bannon must report to federal prison by monday. after the supreme court rejected his last-minute bid to push back his sentence for defying subpoenas from the house january 6 committee. he defended the actions that resulted in his prison sentence in that interview. it tropical cyclone now a hurricane expected to become a category 3 or higher into the west indies and likely to bring catastrophic winds and flooding. set to move through the caribbean this week. and gentlemen, at its core, this is really a very simple case. ladies and gentlemen, at its core, this is a simple case. >> october 2016, two years after erin corwin's death, jerry gathered in the courtroom. the person on trial? chris lee. the charge? first-degree murder. the prosecutor. >> all the evidence in this case points to one person. one person who prepared, planned, studied, and executed the murder of erin corwin. >> there was so much connecting him out there at that mine shaft, even the very location of the particular mine that tied him to the ■çcrime that for him to not have done it, he would probably be the unluckiest man ever. >> they used friends and family to lay out the case against chris. several people who knew chris including this fellow marine testified he had shown a lot of interest in how to dispose of a body. >> he did mention the benefits of hiding a body in vertical position. wouldn't be able to see the outline of the body. >> former downstairs neighbor and one-time friend ashley also took the stand. >> how many times did you hear them talking about -- >> more than i can count. >> ashley told the jury about nichole's odd and cold response when she heard erin was missing. >> ■ç i called nichole and said where is your husband? there's people looking for her. erin is missing. she replied with , i don't care what happened to. she laughed at me each and told me to mind my own business. i hung up on her. >> her husband, connor, testified he saw chris lee to 6:00 the morning erin disappeared. in the back of his gp notice something. >> a saw a bunch of items covered by a tarp and i saw a white propane cylinder. >> for a barbecue? >> correct. >> he said the propane tank looked like the one recovered from the mine. >> asked why it was in there? >> what was his response? >> ■ç he was going to blow up a mine shaft with the. >> isabel from the horse ranch said she also recognize the tank pulled up from the mine and she said chris borrowed it from her the day before erin disappeared. >> i asked if he was going to have a barbecue. he said no. he was going to use it to play games. >> the detective testified a search of the suv chris was driving at the time of his arrest yielded another piece of evidence. >> that's the garrote that was located underneath the front passenger seat. >> i've only seen one of those in my life and it was wrapped around her neck. the second time in the same week i saw the second one. >> there was another link to chris. the showcase he found ■çnear th mouth of the mine shaft matched chris' rifle. the jury also got to hear from erin's confidant in tennessee. jessica was erin's close friend and secret keeper. she is the one who told detectives everything she knew about erin's affair with chris. >> did she tell you how she felt about chris? >> she made it known that she loved him more than her husband. >> jessica said erin had plans for a future with chris. >> she said that she believed she would be -- a divorce would come and she was hoping to stay with him. >> she said chris told erin he had a special trip to plan for her the weekend she disappeared. >> she said he was going to surprise her with a trip ■çto t desert. >> how did she sound? >> she was excited to spend time with him. >> jessica testified about a text she got from erin. my mother comes in a week. i'm excited. jessica responded, are you going to tell her? erin texted back, chris wanted to tell everyone next week. june 28, 2014, jessica spoke to her friend for the last time. at 7:19 a.m. california time, erin called jessica in tennessee. >> she said she was getting ready and about to leave the apartment to go meet chris to have their special date. >> what ■çwas your response? >> i was excited for her. >> why? >> i wanted her to be happy. >> did you make plans or talk about her dad >> she was supposed to call and let me know how it went. >> do you think she was planning to start this new life with him? >> it seems so. it was hard to hear that. i think one of the harder things is to know she was going through that and did not share it. it makes me wonder the level of his manipulation because, obviously, he was leading her on. >>■ç perhaps the most damning evidence came from this dna expert who analyze the items that were pulled out of the mine shaft where erin's body was recovered. >> i chose to go with more substantial testing. >> remember the homemade torch? it consisted of a piece of wood with a green t-shirt wrapped around one end. on the collar? dna. >> in this case, we have a major dna profile which includes christopher lee. >> there was dna around the mouth of the sprite bottle found in the mine. >> i found makeshift two individuals. christopher lee and erin corwin. >> they both had been sharing a sprite that day. the same drink her husband had once used to propose marriage. >> i believe christopher lee took erin ■çcorwin to the dese to kill her that day because she was a hurdle between him and the rest of his life. by the end of the investigation, we realized christopher lee didn't care about anybody but himself. >> the prosecution said chris took erin out to the mine , strangled her and dropped her in. he may have intended to use a propane tank to blow up the mine and conceal her body although he apparently did not follow through. their conclusion? it was a carefully planned, cold-blooded murder. the evidence seemed overwhelming. now, it was a defense turn and jurors were in for a surprise. chris lee was about to testify and no one was prepared for the dark tale he would tell. >> coming up. a ■çstory from the stand that stuns the court. >> i couldn't live with myself. . ♪ ♪ i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop ozempic® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. gallbladder problems may occur. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. living with type 2 diabetes? 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>> yes. me, nichole, and liberty were planning to move to alaska. >> had you told erin this? >> i did. >> he said he planned a hunting trip and invited erin along so they could talk. >> just you and erin? >> chris asked two friends to join him including his friend connor. >> why were you inviting these other friends if you needed to talk to erin? >> because i didn't want to have lengthy conversations so i wanted to be able to hang out with my friends and do some hunting in case the conversation got too deep or we came to the point i wasn't comfortable. >> chris said by june 28, he found out his friends had bailed.■ç he and erin set out for the park, just the two of them. chris had a propane tank and, he said, he wanted to blow up stream dashes steam, literally. >> you told erin you were going to try to blow it up? >> on the way there. >> do you remember her reaction? >> she thought it was stupid and unsafe. she thought this trip was about us talking. i told her it was but i wanted to do this too. >> when they arrived, chris began unloading the supplies. >> i took the tires out of my jeep and tossed them down the mine shaft. >> what was erin doing? >> she was listening to music in the jeep. she didn't want to be near this. >> what did you do next to blow the mine? >> i went to ■çget my torch and realized i had not doused it in gasoline. >> chris said he returned to the jeep. >> we started having conversation about plans. she wanted to come to alaska. she wanted to be part of liberty's life. i told her i didn't want that. i told her i decided you can be part of her life. she said she wanted to and she loved liberty. i told her it's not your choice and not your daughter. she is mine. >> what were you thinking at that point? >> i was thinking■ç there was n reason for her to love her. she shouldn't have any emotional attachment. >> then he said he remembered something else. a story that would be central to his defense and would stun the courtroom. he said he recalled something his wife had shown him one night when she was giving liberty a bath. signs, chris said, that nichole believes showed sexual abuse. >> she thought maybe erin had molested liberty because she was uncomfortable's she was around her when she was washing her. >> what was your reaction? >> i felt safe in my community that i didn't think it was possible. >> you didn't believe nichole? >> no. >> but then when they talked at the mine, he said erin seemed to attach to liberty. >> when erin said she loved liberty and wanted to be with her , it turned a gear in my head and i said what you care about liberty so much? why do you want to be part of her life? erin told me i love her. and i stood up and i stopped her and i said did you touch liberty? she reeled back a little and started stuttering and she said i data i -- and i stopped at her and i yelled at her. i said did you molest my daughter? and she said yes. but, and that was the last thing i heard her say. >> explosive allegation against the victim. did you worry that could turn off the jury? >> absolutely. ■ç but chris insisted it was the truth. >> erin's husband said it was not possible. >> she was nurturing, caring and never did anything elusive or crude. or harmful. no way that person would believe that. >> for detectives? >> i felt disgusted. from all the people we talked to who knew erin , we didn't think this was even an angle that he would play. >> chris said it was hearing what he believed to be a confession from erin that caused the horrible events he recounted in chilling detail. >> i stumbled back and i sat on the edge of my jeep. in my right hand i felt ■çthe metal from the garrote. it set me off. i felt so much hate and rage. i came up behind her and i put it around her neck. i turned around and started pulling. nothing could've stopped me from doing what i was doing. i told myself while i was doing this, never again. i wasn't going to let anybody hurt my daughter again. i let her into my daughter's life and it was mindful that my daughter was hurt. i just kept choking her. i don't know how long it was. it might've been five minutes, 10 minutes. it felt like forever. i just kept choking her. ■ç and then, the anger, that feeling of disgust and hate, she dropped to the graham. >> he was describing how he had killed erin corwin. >> after a few minutes i realized what had happened and i killed her. the garrote was still around her neck . i grabbed it and i dragged her to the edge of the mine shaft and pushed her in. >> his story accounted for the physical evidence and portrayed the killing is a crime of passion committed by an outrage father. the prosecution took over and shocked the courtroom all over again. >> coming up. the heart stopping moment.■ç >> you couldn't have stopped to? 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>> you're still having sex with the woman? >> yes. >> prosecution's mission? show the jury they cannot believe chris because he lied claiming not to know where erin was throughout all eight weeks she was missing. >> people live for a reason and it's important to point out he lies to protect himself. you knew people she had people who loved her? >> yes. >> you made the decision to hold her hostage?■ç >> perhaps the biggest moment came when the prosecutor found a striking way to demonstrate how chris had killed erin. >> you put it around the neck , you twisted around and you turned backwards. >> yes, sir. >> you testified you pulled really hard. you could've stopped? >> no. >> you made the decision to kill? >> yes. >> my goal was to show the jury how long it takes to kill someone like that. to show them the brutality of what was done. it's one thing is he said when i strangled her and pushed her down the whole. it's another thing to show what you did. i think the jury was entitled to see that. it was heavy. ■ç one of them met heavier moments i've had in court. at 10 seconds in and you could've stopped. right? >> no. >> 20 seconds. you could've stopped? >> no. >> why not? i saw the reaction of the jurors. it was pained. their expressions were pained. we are 40 seconds in and you're still doing it. >> yes. >> it's about a minute. still doing it. injured testimony issue could not stop? you couldn't let go? >> no. >> minutes 20 and still no? >> no. >> ■çyou can let go. can you let go now? and you threw her down a mine shaft? >> i did. i threw her down the mine shaft. >> like a piece of trash. >> is at a question? >> yes. >> yes. >> the jurors heard a confession but did they think it was voluntary manslaughter. carried out in the heat of passion was a premeditated murder? the prosecutor made his final appeal to the jury? >> if you do, you are mistaken. the defendant is not remorseful. he did not care. he didn't care, search and rescue, homicide and the ■çfire department putting their lives at risk looking for erin. he didn't care that he was holding her mother hostage. he didn't care one bit until it came time to talk to you. the people who will decide. >> the defense attorney asked the jury to consider this case is a tragic crime of passion and not one of premeditated murder. >> only you can decide whether that provocation was sufficient to justify a lesser included, not justify the killing because it wasn't justified, but was it murder? was said deliberate, willful, ■ç premeditated, lying in wait murder? or was it a tragic killing? that should not of happened? >> the jurors pondered those questions for just an hour and a half. then, they reached a verdict. >> we the jury find the defendant, christopher lee, guilty of first-degree murder. the defendant intentionally killed the victim. >> christopher lee was convicted on all counts and he will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. what was that moment like for you? that was pretty final at that point. >> it was like a breath of fresh air. >> although jon still feels the lasting pain of regret. >> ■ç i wish i could have been there for her more. i tried my hardest but it was not enough. >> erin was a kid. she had her whole life ahead of her. she didn't know that she was dealing with the devil. >> chris's wife nichole said she had nothing to do with erin's disappearance and she is not been charged with any crime. is there still a chance? >> is she out of the woods? >> not every door is closed. >> for erin's mom, chris lee -- she breathed easier knowing it. to know i'm not going to have to do with the? >> she finds comfort in the joshua tree desert where doug created this. ■ç in the desolate place where erin's life was cut short , a garden grows in her memory. when you look at that desert garden, what are you thinking? >> it is beautiful, like my girl. it's a peaceful place. i have a peace that can't be explained. i decided i could not be bitter and angry. he has taken enough from me and if i'm bitter and angry, he's taking my mind, soul, and heart, and i'm not giving him that. hello ?.> hello. i am craig melvin and this is dateline. a mystery