Transcripts For MSNBC Dateline 20241001 : comparemela.com

Im on my way. Josh mankiewicz a loving mother always there for me. Josh mankiewicz a beloved friend she was just so easy to like. Josh mankiewicz vanishes. Something was very, very wrong. Josh mankiewicz was she murdered . Was it for her money . How much money did she have in the bank . I think it was over seven figures. Josh mankiewicz or was it Something Or Someone else . It really threw him for a loop when he found out that my mom had met somebody else. Josh Mankiewicz Police had a suspect and the case that was about to take an unbelievable turn one of the most shocking things ive ever seen in a courtroom. Hello, and welcome to dateline. Deede keller had made a comfortable life for herself. A successful realtor in southern california, she lived in a charming neighborhood where she was surrounded by family and friends. Then suddenly, deede disappeared. As her Loved Ones launched a frantic search, investigators would follow the trail of clues to a suspect with a dark obsession. But the final twist in this case would leave the courtroom stunned. Heres Josh Mankiewicz with betrayal of trust. Josh Mankiewicz Californias South Bay a singularly stunning strand of shoreline with familiar names like hermosa, redondo, and manhattan. We call it the sandbox. No one thinks that this part of Los Angeles exists. But it does. Josh mankiewicz this Seaside Playground is lined with beachfront properties worth millions. And nestled among these small Beach Towns is an oasis called El Segundo. Its main street usa. Its a great place to raise kids. Josh mankiewicz and in 2003, one of the rainmakers in the real Estate Business selling those beautiful homes in El Segundo and the South Bay was a woman named julia keller, known as deede. She really just embraced everyone that came into her path. Josh Mankiewicz Deedes best friends, Mortgage Executive Cindy Ertman and Real Estate Sales Partner Linda Dondero. She was good at her job . I loved working with deede. Everybody did. She was just so easy to like and always wanted the best for everybody. Her clients were very loyal over the years. Josh Mankiewicz Deede was loyal too, not only to her clients, but as a divorced mom to her children mike and julie. I remember my mom explaining to me when i was about 10 years old, that as you get older were probably not going to be as close or you wont like me quite as much. And it never happened. If anything, we just got closer. Josh mankiewicz but Deede Keller had a heart problem. Not literally, it may have been a little too big. She loved without limits. And she simply hated to disappoint or let anyone down. She loved dogs so much she literally couldnt say no to another one. She was surrounded by them at home. I always joke that as soon as i graduated college, thats when she started replacing us with dogs. You know, she never stopped being a mom. And she never stopped sort of loving everybody, i guess. No, she never did. She was ready to be embraced and to embrace you whenever you wanted it. Josh mankiewicz but there was one area of her life in which Deede Kellers Honesty And Embrace hadnt caught hold. Your mom was so lucky. And life was so easy in so many ways. I mean, she couldnt quite make the man in her life think come out right. She had a wonderful life. But no, i guess she hadnt found that person. Josh mankiewicz she did have a longterm relationship. But that ended sadly in 1997. Soon after, she met someone new. He was a real Estate Client named Erwin Howard, a Pilot And Airline mechanic originally from bolivia. I remember deede telling me that she was not going to Date Anyone else unless they loved, treasured, and adored her. And she did feel loved, treasured, and adored by erwin. You know, he treated her like a queen. When erwin popped the question, deede said yes. At deedes Bridal Shower in march of 1998, erwin dutifully delivered his fiancee to the surprise party. But the smiles didnt last after the engagement was over and the marriage began. It wasnt more than six months after they were married, and she just blurted out that she had married him on the rebound. And was having second thoughts . Linda dondero apparently so. It was very hard for her to think about ending it because of what it was going to do to him. Because she knew he loved her. Josh mankiewicz so much, in fact, that the marriage lasted another four years after that conversation. Ultimately, their divorce was amicable. And a year after the split, in the summer of 2004, deede seemed to be finding her footing once again. Shed begun dating a wellknown South Bay Car Salesman named Bobby Lowe. That new relationship was going so well that on the evening of thursday, july 8th, Bobby Lowe took deede out to dinner at this restaurant to meet his father. I talked to her before her date. Any sign that she was nervous about anything . She was in a happy state when i talked to her. And we had made plans to hopefully get together the following night so i could get the update on the date. Josh mankiewicz but that conversation never took place. I called her on friday and she didnt call me back, which was not unusual for deede. I called her on saturday, and she didnt call me back. That was pretty typical. But by sunday i started getting concerned. Josh mankiewicz concerned too was Daughter Julie. Shed talked of meeting her mom that same friday during a layover at lax as julie headed for cabo san lucas, mexico. Shes like, you know what . I might have an appointment that morning. But if i dont, ill come by. Ill text you, well have coffee. So we laid over in Los Angeles. I didnt get a text. It was a little odd but didnt think much of it. Josh Mankiewicz Deedes son mike was beginning to worry after he returned from a Business Trip to the San Francisco area. When i called her Cell Phone, the voicemail was full. And that had never happened with my mom. And she prided herself on being responsive. Josh mankiewicz so you go over to your Moms House . Michael keller so i went in the back gate. And then instantly it was clear that she had not been there for a while. What made that clear . The Dogs Water Dish was bone dry. My mom would die of thirst before her dogs went without water. Josh Mankiewicz Mikes first call was to cindy. And he said cindy, wheres my mom . And i just i instantly knew in that moment that something had happened. I just knew. And i just said michael, call the police. Im on my way. Josh mankiewicz where was Deede Keller . Not only was there no water left outside for deedes Beloved Dogs, but detectives noticed lots of other things wrong inside the house. Her purse was there but her wallet was missing. And this was a woman with money a lot of it. Was deedes hefty Bank Account a factor in her disappearance . Investigators follow the money trail. Coming up who got that money in the event of her death . The beneficiaries were her two children. Craig melvin and detectives wondered, where were Deedes Son and daughter when she vanished . They were both out of town at the time that their mother went missing. Craig melvin when dateline continues Swiffer Duster traps 4x more dust for a clean even mom approves of. That reach making hard to reach. So easy swiffer, [wow ] the mother of all cleans clogged gutters can cause big problems fast. Until now. Call 833leaffilter Today for your free gutter inspection. Ive had terrible Flooding Problems on my porch. Now i understand why. Right now leaffilter is offering a free inspection, on your schedule. Leaffilter is a permanent gutter solution, so you never have to worry about costly damage from clogged gutters again. Call us today and schedule your free inspection. To schedule your free inspection, call 833. Leaf. Filter Today Orsan Franciscos beenm. Through tough times. 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Josh mankiewicz on a sunsplashed sunday Financial Disclosures are in las South Bay, clouds were rolling in over one household. It was july 2004. El segundo real Estate Agent julia keller, known to the world as deede, was missing. Deedes son mike had gone to her home when he hadnt heard from her for three days. The biggest red flag, deedes Beloved Dogs left without food or water. What did you think happened . I didnt know at that point. I just knew that something was very, very wrong. Josh Mankiewicz Mike called his moms best friends, Linda Dondero and Cindy Ertman. Cindy, whod last spoken to deede three days before as deede prepared for a date rushed to the house. Cindy ertman you could tell just The Dogs had been running around for days. But the way the tv was on and the way the shades were, i felt like Thursday Night had never ended. I felt like a Friday Morning never came. Josh Mankiewicz Cindy immediately phoned deedes new boyfriend, Car Salesman Bobby Lowe. He reported theyd had dinner on thursday at a local restaurant then returned to Deedes House for a nightcap. Cindy ertman he said shed had a little bit too much wine, and she laid down on the couch and was kind of starting to fall off to sleep. And so he just said good night and let himself out. Anything about what Bobby Lowe said sound in any way suspicious to you . Not at all. Josh mankiewicz the next call to El Segundo police, and soon on the scene, thendetective sergeant carlos mendoza. This does not happen [inaudible] and especially people that are known as well as deede is. Josh mankiewicz and what detectives found in their initial search of deedes home only deepened the mystery. In the kitchen, deedes purse her Cell Phone still inside but no wallet. A Vodka Bottle that police learned was usually kept in the freezer was out on the counter. And in the Living Room, the tv was on cnn. We discovered that whenever she left the house, shed always put the tv on to a classical Music Station so it would relax The Dogs. But it was on cnn when we came into the house. So deede was watching cnn, had The Dogs there, was having a drink, and then left for some reason. Suggesting kind of whatever happened in a big hurry. She didnt have time to do her routine that she usually does before she leaves. Josh mankiewicz and it appeared deede had left in her car. The garage was empty, her silver 1999 mercedes gone. But strangely, police found the Car Keys sitting on deedes patio. We decided to call the La County Sheriffs Department Homicide bureau to come and assist us. Josh mankiewicz jimmy gates was the detective who answered that call. There was no forced entry whatsoever. And when we started walking through the house, i noticed several articles that were very valuable. So she let in whoever it was and it wasnt robbery. Absolutely correct. If she didnt let them in, that person let themselves in. And they may have had a key. Josh Mankiewicz Gates wondered, had deede left in her car with someone she knew . And how did her car get taken without its key . If you dont have a key, is it as easy to steal a car as movies depict . But certainly not a 1999 mercedes. Its hard to hotwire. Its just hard to steal it. You almost need a key to gain access to it. Josh mankiewicz if your car doesnt have a key, the next stop is a Car Dealership to have a new one made. But first, gates and his crew searched the house looking for deedes spare mercedes key without success. And gates quickly became convinced of one thing. You thought finding Deedes Car was going to be the key to this . That was going to be extremely important. Deedes Friends And Family printed up posters and, along with law enforcement, launched a massive search. An army of people banded together to try to help find her. And we broke up into teams. And we mapped everything out in onemile increments to start to search every Parking Lot looking for her car. We would ask people, have you seen this woman . Have you seen this car . It was frantic. It was heartbreaking. And it was leading nowhere. At the same time, Detective Gates wondered who might have had a motive to have abducted deede from her home. Those most common of motives love, money, jealousy are always the Ones Police Hug first like old friends. Josh Mankiewicz Deede made a lot of money being a realtor. She was successful, yes, sir. How much money did she have in the bank . I think it was over seven figures. Seven figures a lot of murders committed for a lot less than that. Absolutely. Who got that money in the event of her death . The beneficiaries were her two children. Josh mankiewicz and the detective noticed something about the whereabouts of deedes two children, mike and julie, at the time of Deedes Disappearance. They were both out of town at the time that their mother went missing. Why is that significant . Why wouldnt the reverse be more true . I thought that the mother goes missing and it just so happens that mike is gone in San Jose and julies down in a resort. And its been my experience that sometimes people dissipate stress after they commit a crime a different way. Some people drink. Some people take drugs. And some people leave the area just to dissipate stress. Josh mankiewicz and there was, strangely, one more person who just happened to have been traveling near the time of Deedes Disappearance her exhusband Erwin Howard had just flown to his Home Country of bolivia. And erwin was a mechanic who worked for American Airlines in la. The common thread in all these trips, nearby lax airport. And so the Detective Thought what better place to dump a car . Lax is a big place. Very big place. Josh mankiewicz a lot of Parking Lots. A lot of Parking Lots. And it took