carter cervantez did not work for him and he doesn t even know who she is. well, so much for that story. yes, sir. reporter: cedillo turned his attention to finding carter cervantez. no luck. you didn t see her at all in there? no, sir. reporter: did anybody see her? no, sir. reporter: so, cedillo had a disgruntled employee coming back to the mall where she d been fired. her boyfriend was telling lies about a job she didn t have, and a car that looked like hers had been spotted at the scene of a murder. detective pate still had david mallory out in the parking lot and was looking for a reason to hold him. he said that he had a driver s license. but he didn t have his driver s license with him. reporter: reason enough. he arrested mallory and brought him in for questioning. but carter? seemed to have vanished. wasn t anywhere in the mall. but then police went to her apartment complex, and there she was. where was she in the apartment complex? well, she initially wa
talked to a neighbor who lived directly below ashlea. he had heard noises, heavy breathing coming from ashlea s apartment just before 8:00 a.m. a few minutes later the fire alarm started goin off. water started comin down into his apartment. reporter: and that s when the neighbor saw a black infiniti g-35 driving away. armed with this new information, cedillo went back to alexis torres. i asked her if she knew anyone or if ashlea knew anyone that drove a infiniti g-35. i never gave her a color. i simply asked her about a g-35. alexis said, no. after he was done asking the questions, i walked outside and sat down on the brick. and i believe it was chris that was there. reporter: that would be chris cravey, ashlea s boss at american eagle. alexis told him that police were asking about an infiniti sedan. and chris made a beeline for detective cedillo.
woman dressed in darkish clothes, headed inside. she fit the description he d been given of 25-year-old carter cervantez, a former co-worker of ashlea harris. the male driver stayed in the car. cedillo called his partner, ernie pate asked him to check up on the guy. when i approached the car, then the person identified themself as david mallory. reporter: david mallory was carter s live-in boyfriend. he too was a former employee of american eagle. i asked him, what are you doing here at the mall? he said that he had dropped his girlfriend off to pick up some papers at aeropostale where she was a manager. reporter: so perhaps it was just that. david giving carter a ride to pick up some paperwork at her new job at aeropostale. cedillo decided to go inside. the mall was open but the stores were still closed. and i happened to go up to aeropostale and there is a manager that s actually in there working. and i was able to confirm that
okay. all right. this morning. okay, what time did you get up? about 7:30. 7:45. okay and then what happened then? and then we talked and i went back to sleep. when i woke up he wasn t there. okay. reporter: he d heard enough. i know that s a lie. no, it s no, it s not. do you know why i know it s a lie? why do you know it s a lie? because i saw you come out of your apartment and get in the passenger seat of that car and i saw him drive out of there. that s why i know it s a lie. reporter: cedillo was tough. but carter cervantez wasn t giving an inch. coming up there s an actual human grave that s been dug. fresh grave. fresh grave. when dateline continues. cty month with heartgard plus, the #1 choice of dogs. digestive and neurological side effects have rarely been reported. ask your vet for heartgard plus.