Reporter nearly thirty years. Sixty investigators. And it all kept coming back to one elusive suspect. He just very calmly said, i know how to get rid of a body so it would never, ever be found. To him, i think, murder is something that can be done over a lunch hour. We were just a heartbeat away from not having a case. It was basically a now or never situation. Hello and welcome to date lain. When kathy heckel disappeared police didnt know if they were dealing with a missing person case or coldblooded murder. With little evidence to go on, the investigation grew cold. Decades later a young detective who was just a kid when kathy vanished dusted off the old files. Investigators couldnt solve her case then. Could he help solve it now heres Josh Mankiewicz with she didnt come home. Reporter time can be like a river. A long stream of events rushing by. Most barely make a ripple. But a few, like the sudden loss of a close friend, a child, or a parent, have a way of circling back upon us in a ceaseless loop of memory and regret. Thats the way its been for john heckel and his sister Alicia Talbot ever since that completely normal morning in 1991 when their mom, kathy heckel, kissed them goodbye, left for work and never returned. You you remember her leaving that morning . Yeah. I i mean like every other day. Yeah. Same routine all the time, every time she left us, she kissed us goodbye. Reporter it was a july morning. Alicia, 13, and john, then nine, were home for summer vacation. A little after 9 00 a. M. , alicia says her mom called from her job. We discussed having dinner and having pork chops. Uhhuh. Yeah. cause that was one of my favorite things she cooked. Reporter later, they tried to contact their mom at work. One of the times we tried to call her was around lunchtime. And she had left for lunch. Yeah. And then we waited and called after lunch, and she still wasnt back to work yet. Reporter at 40, kathy heckel had spent half her life working at the local paper plant in lock haven, pennsylvania. I cant remember who i was speaking to at the office. But you could hear in their voice that there was some concern there that she hadnt come back yet. And you picked that up. Yeah. It was not typical for her to not come back and not tell anybody. Reporter with their dad out of town, they kept trying to reach their mom. Nothing. At about 6 30 that evening, alicia called her grandparents, clarence and margaret dolan. I answered the phone. It was alicia. She said, gram, can you get us some milk . And i said, what what do you mean, can i get ya some milk . She says, well, mom didnt come home yet, and she says, we dont have any milk. And i said, alicia, i will be right there. And youre thinking what . I didnt know what to think. But as a mother, you know that this is something bad, something very bad. Reporter that night, kathys mother and father contacted everyone they could think of. No one had heard from her. And that was i remember picking up on that, that they seemed they seemed worried. I mean you could just tell. Your grandparents were acting differently . Uhhuh. Uhhuh. Reporter their dad, john, was in upstate new york that monday training with his National Guard unit. He didnt learn his wife was missing until the next day. You get that phone call. Its your mom. Yeah. Whatd she say . The gist of the conversation was that kathy didnt come home from work on monday night. And they didnt know where she was. And now its tuesday. And now its tuesday evening. And you think what . I said, time to call the state police. Reporter with the permission of his commanding officer, john heckel immediately left for home. He had plenty of time to think on that five and half hour ride. He thought about the time kathy donated a kidney to save her brothers life and about the december day in 1972 when he first gazed at kathy dolan. She just had the biggest brown eyes you could look into. Reporter six months later, they were married. Like any marriage, i think we had our ups and downs. But overall, i was i was happy about the fact i didnt have to worry about my family with kathy. You thought you were gonna stay married forever . Yes. Reporter the problem was, john was already married to the military. Johns career frequently took him away from home. Sometimes for weeks at a time. Kathy didnt like that. And john says his wife of eighteen years seemed to have that on her mind when shed dropped him off for his latest guard assignment. She asked me why i had to be there so early, which didnt make sense to me because i was always the first one there. And i said, its my job. She didnt want you to go . She didnt say i dont want you to go. But you felt it. I could feel that something was wrong. The look on her face when she said it, its it just didnt set right with me. Reporter now kathy was missing and her disappearance would eventually drag into the open secrets that some in and around lock haven would have rather kept hidden. There was no doubt kathy took good care of her family. But as investigators soon learned this wife and mother was also a woman who was sometimes lonely. Coming up i asked her mom if she was seeing anyone. And she said that she had reestablished contact with an old friend from school. And that old friend had a confession to make. He did admit that they had had a physical relationship. And it had only been a few days before she disappeared. When dateline continues. Whes since pioneering the suv in 1935, the chevy suburban has carried many things. Nothing more important than family. Introducing the most versatile and advanced chevy suburban and tahoe ever. Whove got their eczema under control. 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Reporter by the time john heckel returned home from National Guard training in new york state, his wife kathy had been missing for about 36 hours. When my dad came back, he was the one who told us, we cant find your mom. We dont know where your mom is. And that was the first time ive ever seen my dad cry. And i i knew the worst had definitely happened if he was that worried. And that was the first time i saw my dad cry, too. And, you know, he was always this big, strong man. And and when you see that, you its like, okay, this is this is not good. Reporter thats gotta be a terrible thing to tell your kids. cause they want they want you to tell them, this is gonna be okay. Dad always had all the answers. And you cant tell them this is gonna be okay. No. You dont want fabrication. Reporter across town that morning, Pennsylvania State trooper Fred Caldwell was on the case. His first call had been to margaret dolan, kathys mom. I remember asking her if she had noticed any changes recently or anything in her demeanor that was unusual. And she said that in the last four to six weeks or so, she just wasnt herself. Reporter then the trooper asked one of those probing, indelicate questions that cops have to ask. I asked her mom if she had any indication that she was seeing anyone. And she said that she had reestablished contact with an old acquaintance, an old friend from school. That mans name was Dennis Taylor. He and kathy had recently reconnected at a wedding. Taylor had been singing and playing guitar. The trooper jotted down the name Dennis Taylor with the idea of calling him later. Next he dialed the paper plant where kathy was last seen. One of kathys coworkers picked up the phone. She kinda corroborated what her mom had said, that shed been a little different in the last few weeks, personality just seemed a little quieter maybe. Reporter then he asked question number two. I also asked her if she felt that there was a possibility that she may have been having an affair or seeing anyone. And she said she had no evidence but she suspected that she may have been. The coworker wasnt talking about kathys friend, Dennis Taylor. She was talking about a man at the plant named loyd groves. They both played on the same volleyball team. They spent some time after hours together. And i think just the closeness of the two and she just kinda suspected that they may be. Reporter the trooper learned groves was the quiet type. Married with children. Sometimes he led plant tours and gave papermaking presentations to local schools. A call to groves office revealed he wasnt in yet. So the trooper left a call back message. And not long after, the trooper says mr. Groves showed up in person at the state police barracks. He was very calm. He said that he knew her. They share they worked in the same office areas. He said they were friends. I did ask him if he had any type of physical relationship with her and he said no. Reporter shortly after loyd groves left the state police barracks, the other man on trooper caldwells list walked in. Dennis taylor, the guitar man. Like groves, taylor was married man with children. And right off the bat, he told the trooper he had a confession to make. He did admit that they had had a physical relationship briefly. And it had only been a few days before she disappeared, as i recall, the first contact, physical contact. Reporter like a balladeer who knows his audience is hanging on every lyric, the guitar man kept singing to the cops. Taylor told the trooper kathy heckel had called him at work the day she disappeared. Her voice, he said, had a strange tone. She called him just before lunchtime and was upset or anxious and said that she had something she wanted to talk to him about. And he was busy. And he said, i cant talk. Ill call you back, and hung up. He did try to call back then sometime later. And she had gone for lunch. Reporter taylor said hed played golf with friends that afternoon and had planned to meet up with kathy later that night. Denny goes to their location where theyre gonna meet. Kathy doesnt show up. He was concerned that something may have happened. Reporter it was then the guitar man struck a familiar chord. Kathy heckel, he said, had also been seeing another man. A guy named loyd groves. According to taylor, this fellow groves was a bit of a stalker. He said that he had met kathy at a park, a nearby park. He said that there was a gray van parked nearby. He recalled seeing the van. And the next time he talked to kathy she said, did you see that van . That was loyd. And he was following her. Reporter was the guitar man being helpful, or was he trying to implicate a rival to save his own skin . The trooper knew this much. If kathy heckel had been juggling simultaneous affairs with married men, there could be a lot of people who wanted her to disappear including her husband. He was definitely a person of interest. Reporter exactly how much did john heckel know about what was going on in his wifes life . Coming up were Police Looking for a runaway wife or her killer . There were just no answers. And that was that was the worst part. Did you feel like you were ever a suspect . Never worried about it. I knew they would try to find where kathy was and what had happened, and if that included questioning me i had no problems with that. When dateline continues. Tha. When dateline continues reporter any investigation in which someone goes missing or turns up dead just about guarantees family members will be considered suspects. Kathy heckels husband john was no exception. We did consider that john may have known that his wife was having an affair and that he may have taken some action on his own. Did you feel like you were ever a suspect . Never worried about it. I knew they were tryin to find where kathy was and what had happened. And if that included questioning me, i have no problems with that. At some point somebody said to you, we believe she was having a relationship with some other people. Was that shocking to hear . It was surprising, because that wasnt the way kathy was. Reporter in his interview with trooper caldwell, john heckel said hed noticed a change in his wifes demeanor in recent weeks and wondered if she might be having an affair. He was emotional. Theres times when john and i just sat together with my arm around him and he would cry. He was concerned about his wife. And i felt very bad for the man. Reporter john heckels alibi checked out. And police found no evidence hed paid anyone to hurt his wife. By now, kathy had been missing for two full days and john heckel feared the worst. Kathy heckel would never on this earth abandon those two children. Reporter trooper caldwell still didnt know if he was working a missing persons case, an abduction or a homicide. Then on the evening of the third day investigators got a big break. They found kathy heckels car parked behind the local hospital. The keys were missing. I think they recovered one print. But i dont know that it was ever identified. It was from the exterior of the car. Reporter investigators were now pretty sure that someone, possibly her killer, had moved kathy heckels car to the hospital parking lot. And then the case hit a dead end. Days turned to weeks. Those weeks stretched into months. Kathy heckel was somewhere in the wind. We had cadaver dogs come down often. And we would have troopers go out and we would search the area looking for remains or whatever. Reporter while some investigators focused on finding kathy heckel, others concentrated on finding evidence of a crime. As far as investigators could tell, the guitar man, Dennis Taylor, had been honest, confessing his affair with kathy heckel. Loyd groves, on the other hand, had seemed a bit dodgy. Troopers had searched loyd groves home office and van. And while some items of interest were found, the local prosecutor didnt think police had enough to make an arrest. There was a big hole from an investigative standpoint. Reporter ted mcknight was Clinton CountyDistrict Attorney at the time. If you can imagine a yardstick, and probable cause is probably at the two inch mark, and beyond a reasonable doubt is probably at the 34 inch mark. And Everything Else in between is the difference between are you gonna get a conviction or arent ya. Which means you dont go forward unless youre reasonably sure you have the evidence for a conviction. Correct. Reporter he says the fact that kathy heckels body had not been found was a big problem. How do we prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she is dead . If she was killed, where did the killing occur . What county did it occur in . Maybe its not even your jurisdiction . Correct. Reporter for the heckel family, kathys disappearance was a defining event. I remember being depressed. I didnt know what that meant when i was nine years old. But just thinking about how low and sad i felt all of the time. I think people deal with things differently. And i certainly chose, i think, the avoidance method. Not think about it. And not think about it. There were just no answers. And that was that was the worst part. Reporter in 1998, seven years after kathy disappeared, john heckel had his wife declared legally dead. That did not make the mystery any easier for him to understand. Can you accept the idea that, maybe, there were needs that she felt that she had to meet with men who were not you . But that she still loved you. Oh, no. I believe she did love me. She had a secret life that she wasnt showin anybody else. But you dont know how long that secret life was, and neither do i. It could have been her plan to wanna end that the day when she asked me why i had to leave so early. I dont know. But im not gonna hate her for being human. Do you blame yourself . Little bit. Reporter 22 summers came and went. John heckel remarried. The kids grew up. They started new lives out west. Alicia became a ski pro, john, a fishing guide. But through it all, their mother was never far from their thoughts. She missed all those childhood memories. I mean things like going to the prom, and boyfriends, and kisses and just just everything. Yeah, she missed our weddings. I mean she missed our graduations. She doesnt know her only grandchild. And you probably thought about her at each one of those. Mmhmm. Mmhmm. Reporter Clinton County never forgot kathy heckel either. Shed become a part of history that just wouldnt go away. And as one generation of lawmen retired, another rose to take up the Unfinished Business and discovered enticing details buried in a very old file. Coming up when i came to this case it was 22 years old. And it had passed through other hands. 68 investigators. He was 8 when kathy disappeared. Now he was in charge of her case. What i remember growing up is where was she . Where was kathy at during all this time . And a leading suspect suddenly leaves town. About 3 weeks after the disappearance of kathy he moved his family back. When dateline continues. S fa. When dateline continues this is time that matters. A window of time to help protect the ones you love. Your preteen benefits from staying uptodate with their well visits. This is your window of protection. Schedule their well visit now. For skin as alive as you are. Dont settle for silver gold bond champion your skin heart monito