Family . Was she afraid of him . She was afraid of him. I just found out theyre investigating me again. Motive outweighed everything in this case. Miles away, buried in the sand, lay one piece of the puzzle. He said, i know where shes at. Period. The rest of the mystery hiding away in a womans heart. She couldnt keep it inside anymore. The killer thought his secret was safe. He was wrong. This is as they say a game changer . Our prime suspect no longer has an alibi. Im lester holt and this is date line heres Dennis Murphy with secrets of the desert its a timeless old west beauty as the setting sun grazes the mountains. And the vast Sonoran Desert fades to dark, covering secrets and old bones for another night. Its as unchanging out here as the heartaches all those people in the valley below sometimes seem to make for themselves. With their jealousies, their rages. I need someone to come out and take a report, my daughters missing. When daily routine, without warning, gives way to stark terror. Shes an adult, but the back door was found unlocked. Theres a broken cup at the entry way. A young woman, vanished. What is your name . Im marilyn cox. Im her mother. That was the start of it all, an anguished mothers cry for help in a case that would take 15 years to untangle. You didnt have a weapon, you didnt have a witness. Thats correct before it was done, thered be multiple murders. They pushed someone who doesnt like to be pushed. And maddeningly, for law enforcement, suspects who just didnt quite fit. The two key people had alibis. A daughter ensnared in a family tragedy like few others. Did you understand what had happened . I dont think i really understood it, like, fully but something bad happened. It all started here, tucson, arizona. The old pueblo, they call it. Nestled in the desert at the foot of the Santa Catalina mountains. Dave watson spent nearly 20 years here with the tucson Fire Department. He fought fires and was trained as an emt. Eventually he made captain. But he never forgot the camaraderie of his early days at the firehouse. Burnin through a lot of adrenaline together, huh . On occasion, yes. Hours of boredom, moments of terror. Yeah, pretty much. Seemed like everything he needed. Until in 1993, she came along. I was out with a friend, it was his birthday and met her at a east side nightclub, and so and walked up to her and asked her to dance. Her name was linda. She was spontaneous, spunky, cute. And we just seemed to hit it off. She was very funny and very s just very sweet. Thats always the word i think to describe her. Marnel camp was one of lindas best friends, daves too. She was also dating daves best friend. The two couples soon made a young, funloving foursome. We didnt have kids yet. We didnt even have a house. You know neither one of us even had a mortgage yet or anything. So it was pretty carefree, looking back. Lots of barbecuing. Swimming. And, yes, a fair amount of drinking too. This was a hardpartying crowd. But there was no denying that dave and linda were in love. They were the ones that were well liked. Cute couple. Mike bratton was another close friend of daves. The kids on the float at high school, huh . Yeah, exactly. So it wasnt a surprise when in 1994, dave and linda married. Good bash . Yeah, oh yeah. It was a party. It was a party. Bartender was busy that night, huh . Oh yes, uhhuh. Yes. Dave and linda scraped together enough to money to buy their first home and take on that first mortgage. It was not in the best neighborhood, for sure. But very cute. It was had a lotta character. Somewhere between a dump and a fixer upper . Yeah, somewhere there. [ laughter ] linda and dave were up for the challenge. They worked to transform that rundown house into a loving home for themselves. And after two years of marriage, baby jordynn came along. At first dave wasnt so sure about having kids, but. When linda gave birth to jordynn it was just all that nervousness was gone. So yeah. It was nice, you know . Kids make a world of difference. Jordynns grown up now, but remembers fine details of that little house and her mom. We had a strawberry patch kind of outside of the house. I remember i was picking strawberries one morning before breakfast, her cooking breakfast. How was linda as a mother . Oh, she loved that little girl. That baby was her whole world. Bobbie kutasy and pat hinkle were lindas aunts. She was very attentive to that little girl. Loved her to pieces. With jordynns arrival, dave and linda got another visitor too. Marilyn came out to be the nanny, because they both worked. Marilyn, was lindas mother. Was that an sos that went out from linda to marilyn to yes. To come . Mom, co i need some help here. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Not an unusual request from a new mother but marilyns response was unusual. She sold her house and drove her car and headed out to take care she did all that for her girl and her granddaughter. She did that for the for the family. And and where was she living . D dave actually built a little a little guesthouse out back for specifically for marilyn. Not every young husband likes to have the motherinlaw around, lets face it. Its funny that, you know, all the guys at work said, ah, thats a big mistake. [ laughter ] they said, its gonna end up in divorce. What was she like . Very pleasant, polite and but as time went on you know, you live with somebody for 24 hours at a time, you get to know more about em and our relationship got strained. And soon that wasnt the only relationship suffering. Lindas friend marnel, who by then was married and living in oregon, noticed the change when she invited dave and linda up for a visit. You were seeing the cracks right before absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Coming apart was a hard reality for dave to accept. I had planned on stayin married forever, you know . That was the deal. But it just didnt turn out that way. I was no more longer in love, but i still loved her. You know, and shes the mother of my child. In 1998, dave and linda separated, sharing custody of jordynn. That same year, dave met someone new. I saw him and his buddy and i nudged my friend and i said, im gonna go ask him to dance, and i made a beeline. Her name was rosemary and she ran a successful karaoke business in town. Shes quite an entertainer, i guess, huh, rosemary . Yeah, she is. She says, if you wanna be successful in this business you you know, you gotta sell it. They fell for each other hard and fast. Their shared love of music. The outdoors. And little jordynn. He loves jordynn very much. I know when i met him, he definitely had, you know, parenting time with her. And it would go back and forth between linda and dave. Rosemary also had a daughter from another relationship. And in june 2000, she and dave took the big step of blending their families. I had my daughters by my side. He had his two good buddies. And we took our vows and celebrated with everybody around us. Linda also seemed to find happiness in a new relationship. His name was carl barton, junior. Though most people knew him as j. R. He was a firefighter too. For the Air National Guard in tucson. Whatd you think . He seemed nice. You know, i met him a handful of times but more than skindeep i didnt know much about him ever. Linda called marnel and gushed about her new flame. He was older. And i remember her commenting about how, you know, he was sexy or Something Like that. Marnel, busy juggling family and career, really didnt pay close attention. If her friend was happy, then so was she. Until the phone rang one morning in august 2000. This phone call i think was one of the lines in the sand where your life was different thereafter. Absolutely. Changed there. Everything changed from there on out. And just got uglier and uglier. On the phone lindas mother. With a question. When we return. She said marnel, its marilyn, and is linda with you . With you . Why would she be with you . It was the strangest call of my life. But things would soon get much stranger. We got there, her car was there, and she wasnt home. Lk through our front doors. And you inspired our new flavors. Introducing mcdonalds signature crafted recipes. Sweet barbecue bacon made with crispy onions. Pico guacamole made with real hass avocados. Maple bacon dijon with thickcut applewood smoked bacon. Purchase any signature crafted recipe sandwich and use the mcdonalds app to get a free medium fries and soft drink. You bring your flavor to the world. We bring ours to you. 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Vacation. vo unlimited 22. 50 per month per line. Thats 50 off verizon unlimited rates. For people with hearing loss, dont let a 1 difference cost you twice as much. Visit sprintrelay. Com. Reporter the week of august 21, 2000, started out like any other, until marnel camps phone rang. It was marilyn, her friend lindas mom. She called and said, marnel, its marilyn, and is linda with you . And reporter with you . Why would she be with you . It was the strangest call of my life. Reporter marilyn said she and linda had gone to Church Sunday evening. The next morning, marilyn couldnt find her. Howd she sound said reporter marilyn . Very stressed. Very stressed. Reporter marilyn also called the pima county sheriff. Shes an adult, but the back door was found unlocked. Theres a broken cup at the entry way. Reporter detective Kelly Anderson wasnt on the case back then, but remembers it well. There are not that many adult missing persons because, frankly, an adult can go wherever they want to. And they dont need permission or they dont have to tell anybody. Reporter still, a deputy was dispatched to lindas house. He doesnt see anything that would indicate foul play reporter nothings been tossed in the house . No. He doesnt see any blood, any indication of of violence or a struggle. The only thing he notices is the broken coffee cup and some property that linda has left behind that may be a little suspicious. Reporter lindas bible was on the counter. Her jeep in the driveway. And, perhaps most telling, she left her pager behind. Remember, this was 17 years ago. When she didnt have her daughter, she would keep her pager so that if anything happened with her daughter that was the way to communicate with her. Reporter so this is important. Thats a link to the daughter. Thats a link to the daughter. Reporter doesnt mean anythings happened here yet though. Not yet. Her purse is gone. So the deputy tells miss cox, lets just wait. Reporter marilyn didnt want to wait. She called her younger sister pat. She tells me, pat, lindas missing. Of course, you know, this dont happen to your family. It happens to other people. Reporter marilyn also called lindas exhusband, dave. Marilyn says that lindas not home, shes missing. She sounded panicked and it was like, give us some time. Its monday morning. Maybe she went somewhere. Reporter three days passed. It was lindas turn to take jordynn. Dave and then 4yearold jordynn drove to lindas house. We got there, her car was there, and she wasnt home. And so, you know, he was, like, oh, thats weird, you know. Shes probably just out with a friend or something. Reporter it didnt sound that farfetched to many people who knew linda. She always liked to party. And supposedly she had a couple relationships with some crazy people and reporter hop in the wrong truck after a night of drinking . Maybe. Yeah. The that was the assumption at the time. Reporter investigators continued to poke around anyway. They wanted to talk to lindas boyfriend, j. R. Marilyn brought him up when she reported linda missing. Does he live near there . No. He lives over at silverbell. Reporter silverbell road. A twolane blacktop that meanders from tucson out into the vast desert. A detective went to j. R. s home. He cooperated in every way that was asked of him. Reporter j. R. Told the same story others did that linda was a heavy drinker. We had a seriously rocky relationship for over two years. All about all of our problems revolved directly around her alcoholism. Reporter the drinking was why, j. R. Said, he recently broke up with linda. She wigs out bad and things right now are rougher than ive ever seen em for her, you know . She just lost her job. Reporter he said too much alcohol cost linda her job. And, j. R said, linda faced an even bigger loss. Shes lookin at losin her daughter. Reporter turns out linda and dave hadnt yet come to terms on custody of jordynn. And they had an Important Court hearing coming up. Are you going for full custody . I didnt want to take all the rights away from linda, by no means, cause you know, every child needs both parents. Reporter but after his break up with linda, j. R did something unexpected. He volunteered to testify at the custody hearing on daves behalf. So heres a strange thing he now has your back in family court . Not so much mine. Im sure he could give two shakes about me. But he cared about jordynn so he was doin it for her, not me. Reporter more pressure on linda. She had joined a 12step program. Still, shortly before she disappeared, she went out drinking with her cousin jay, pats son, at a place away from the bright lights of tucson a bar called the circle s saloon. Jay was over there and and she was needing to get around some family cause, you know, things was a little tough for her, so s he told her, well, come on out. Reporter linda tried to climb back on the wagon. About 10 00 p. M. The night she disappeared, she called her church sponsor and asked to meet the next morning. But she didnt show up for the meeting, and hadnt been seen since. There seemed to be every reason to believe she was on another bender. Except for one thing, something marilyn mentioned in that initial 911 call. Yeah, hes threatened her before. Hes threatened me, too. Coming up and had linda asked for help a little too late . Its linda. He was over here this morning beating on my windows. Calling me. I need to know, should i go down and put a restraining order on him . When dateline continues. And i couldnt wait to get my pie chart. The most shocking result was that im 26 native american. I had no idea. Just to know this is what im made of, this is where my ancestors came from. And i absolutely want to know more about my native american heritage. Its opened up a whole new world for me. Discover the story only your dna can tell. Order your kit now at ancestrydna. Com. 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Aj most people think addicts are beyond help. When i see an addict, i see hope. Chris christie dont suffer. Dont wait. Call 844 reach nj or visit reachnj. Gov. Reporter before she disappeared, investigators learned linda watson was facing the most trying time of her life. She was broken up. She was upset at jr. She was going through a a custody battle. Jr told detectives the custody issue was weighing heavily on linda. Shes told me more than once that and this is the scary thing, if she lost her daughter she would shoot herself. Reporter so jr said. Lindas mom shared her doubts with her sister pat. What did marilyn think about this guy, jr, the boyfriend whos in and out of the picture . She didnt like him. She said that hes very controlling. Reporter which is why when marilyn couldnt find linda. Her mind immediately jumped to j. R. That very first day, she told her suspicions to the 911 operator. Shes been threatened by this guy that she broke off with. I called him. I said, wheres my daughter . Reporter investigators learned that after marilyn called j. R. To ask about linda, j. R. Called lindas attorney from her custody case and left this message. Shes probably out on a drunken binge and her mom is blowing this all out of proportion. You know, i had nothing to do with anything. I dont know what to do. I thought i was hoping maybe you knew where she is. Reporter he phoned someone else as well. He called me up, told me that marilyn had called him, accused him, blamed him and asking, you know, wheres my daughter . Reporter was j. R. Protesting too much . Detectives learned, while he was dating linda j. R. Sometimes went with her to pick up or drop off jordynn. Thats how he knew dave. He was also a firefighter. He had met dave not through firefighting. But while he was, linda doing child custody exchanges of jordynn he had met david and Rosemary Watson at that point. Reporter rosemary, daves new wife of two months. Keep your eye on that name. Keep your eye on that name, yes. What is j. R. s alibi for the night that linda goes missing . On the night that linda went missing, j. R. Was with his girlfriend. Reporter his new girlfriend. Jr was already moving on, he said, but he still seemed concerned about linda. Jr was very helpful, offering different ideas or people to talk to. But i think cynically sometimes, detective, guys inveigle themselves into an investigation when, in fact, theyre part of the the scheme. Sure. That that could certainly happen. Reporter detectives also had more concrete reasons to suspect j. R. There was a domestic incident that they were involved in shortly prior to this. Reporter just two days before linda disappeared. She had called the pima county Sheriffs Department. Sh