marie was a very loving person. she had a heart of gold. what happened to this woman? my job is to be a truth teller and seek out the truth. i wanted to solve it. reporter: her case was a mystery for years. the mom with the tender heart and tough-as-nails career. she was part of the sheriff s department. her ultimate goal was to try to get into the fbi. reporter: she d found a new sense of purpose in the church. her pastor and his wife, like family. they had taken her in, they were helping her out. i was like, i m proud of you, you re finding god. reporter: then, one baffling text. and she was gone. i go, i know i probably watch a lot of law and order but i have this really gut feeling. because i was a mom, i just knew she didn t leave on her own. there was no way she left that baby. reporter: two moms at opposite ends of a mystery. could one get justice for the other? this case for sure was an investigator s worst nightmare. reporter: soon, clues to a
Gave her vulnerable heart, and stored her secrets. until, well, what happened. but she was always that way, was marie. from the time of the very first secret in her life. she was born in the philippines to a single mother, then taken h in by the family of an american serviceman. and it was years later when she learned that kind serviceman was actually her father. which meant that esta bridges, the best friend she grew up with, was also her sister. what was that like to find that out, that she was i was happy. was actually your sister? i was really happy, because i always thought she was, since we were little girls.y, reporter: when they got older esta and marie moved to florida and lived together. the location ideal.o we chose an apartment that was behind a karaoke club, so that we could perfect. just go there all the time. like we were stars. reporter: and she wore pink.
Have wild mood swings, and they knew she had a diagnosed mood disorder. reporter: did they tell you that she was bipolar? yes, told me she was bipolar. she had been taking medication, and was off of her medication, probably because of her giving birth to the child. reporter: but there was another prescription bottle too. and then they also showed us a bottle that was empty, you know, that maybe alluding to the fact that she had taken medication and was going to use it to hurt herself. reporter: the day she left? james told the detectives he was so worried about her state of mind, he stayed home from work to keep an eye on her. james says that she was acting up. and he didn t want to let marie take the baby. reporter: he was afraid the baby might be harmed or something. right. reporter: then, late that afternoon, said pastor james, marie said she was tired, went to lie down, tanya took the baby out shopping so marie could rest. the pastor said he waited around for a bi
the cell phone tower information put her away from the area. reporter: no. nowhere near marie. so then they checked the cell towers for james phone, and what do you know. when marie sent that mass text message saying she was leaving town, both her phone and the pastor s were pinging off the same cell tower two blocks from his house. and when marie s mazda was dropped at the airport? we ve got james flanders cellphone touching towers near the airport. why would his phone be near the airport? reporter: well, either james innocently drove marie to the airport, and neglected to reveal that, or he drove her car there to cover up a crime. no way to prove it either way. so they were stuck again. which is when jason, the youth pastor, remember him? out of the blue jason came to call. he had something the detectives needed to hear, he said.
maybe not. but just before the trial they made a deal. and james agreed to tell them what he did to marie and where he put her. marie s family agreed. that was the hardest thing. i didn t want to go years and years and not know. as much as i hated to agree with it, i knew i was probably going away. first as part of the deal the pastor told the story of marie. of the polygamy arrangement. we never had a ceremony or anything like that. he said marie even had a name for their relationship. marie called it a thruple. then the pastor offered his