Kate Snow Voiceover a College Student vanishes. I had this Chill Go through my whole body. They asked us, well, do you have a Crime Scene . No, we dont, other than flipflops in a Parking Lot. We had a community that was scared whos going to be the next victim. Kate Snow Voiceover 1,000 Miles Away, another student in danger. She said hes got a knife. Hes trying to kill me. There were guns, and there was a girl there, and there was blood. This is not the first time hes done this. Kate Snow Voiceover one case would help solve the other, one man behind two mysteries. This was dynamite to us. Thats the smoking gun. Youre not going to believe what we found. Wed gotten so close. I want to know where she is. Kate Snow Voiceover some images are eternal, timeless. Happy day Kate Snow voiceover one moment, the future seems immeasurable, the possibilities endless. But in an instant, you can be left with only memories to hold till the end of time. Brooke wilberger lived as if she had all the time i
responsible for this, we re looking at, is our bad guy here? it s not uncommon for people who commit the crime to circle right back around, be present, learn, see what s going on. by this time, the fbi had also entered the investigation. supervisory special agent joe boyers first question, had brooke been taken by someone who lived at the apartment complex? and could that person be among the tens of thousands of oregon state students who would soon be leaving town for the summer? agent boyer asked fbi profilers for help. they asked us, do you have a crime scene? no, we don t, other than flip-flops in a parking lot. do you have any witnesses? no, we don t. do you have a vehicle description? no, we don t. do you have a body? no, we don t. they said, frankly, there s very little we could do for you at this point. with so little evidence, investigators found themselves
and parked right here on this dead-end street was a red, two-door honda with a stuffed animal stuck to the window. so i waited a little bit and a few minutes later i noticed three individuals walking out of that white house and walking towards me. i called out to them as joe. i said, joe, and he acknowledged me. and as he got closer, i said, is this your vehicle? he said yes. i had him turn around and i placed him into custody. did you find anything on him? i find a glass pipe used to smoke crack cocaine and a small knife. did he ever ask you why he was under arrest? no, didn t say anything. i think he knew he was caught. caught was this man, joel patrick courtney, soon identified by his victim and arrested on criminal sexual penetration, kidnapping and aggravated battery. joel courtney was 38 years old. he lived in this albuquerque
incredibly detailed description of the man and of his car. she described the car seats down to the detail. she described the tinted windows. she described the fact that the car was two-door, that it was red. and the victim remembered something else, a small, stuffed animal on the car side window. enter albuquerque police officer ed taylor. he showed up at the scene, ready to help track down the bad guy. first stop, the apartments where the victim escaped from her kidnapper. so you go to the door of the apartment. who answers? it s a female. but we went inside the apartment and right off the bat, you could tell she was not going to be helpful at all. not cooperative? not cooperative. she did tell us that she knew him as joe and he spoke spanish and that was about it. the name joe, he spoke spanish, would it be enough to find him? and four states away, as you re about to see, would it be enough
on a november night in 2004, albuquerque police were on a manhunt. a man had kidnapped a 22-year-old student off the street and sexually assaulted her. but when he carelessly tied her up and left her in his car in this apartment parking lot, she bolted, run naked into traffic and, thankfully, been rescued by this woman. that could be my daughter. she s a human being. she did not deserve to be running down the road with no clothes on. now albuquerque police officer ed taylor was among those looking for a suspect, a white male with a shaved head wearing a cap. police learned from a woman who lived in the apartments where the victim escaped that the man s name was joe, that he spoke spanish. she would say no more. i went back to the substation. i spoke to my supervisor. i told him, i believe if i went by myself, she will tell me more information. why? why did you have that feeling? i thought i had a connection with her. so i returned to the location and i told her, i said, this