and so she decided she was going to come over and cook some fried chicken. reporter: well, mississippi s the place to be for that mississippi and every southern lady ought to be able to cook some fried chicken. and little did she know that, you know, when you took it out of the freezer you d have to let it thaw. reporter: frozen fried chicken aside, toni was someone who set goals and made them happen after college she went to medical school, and in 1988 graduated in the top 10% of her class. then she settled into a new practice and a new marriage with a young dentist. but the woman who could do it all couldn t save a relationship that wasn t working. she tried. but after seven years the marriage ended i don t think my sister took failure well and so i think that was a disappointing time in her life reporter: todd s wife rhonda remembers how toni continued to thrive at work, but her love life stalled her career was extremely important, and so there was a time issue there
was struggling with infertility. how was harold through the bad times, when she was losing the baby was he very supportive i asked her how this was going, that this had to be incredibly stressful and she said, her exact comments i ll never forget these words. life with harold is hard reporter: brother todd and sister-in-law rhonda also looked back and thought how difficult it could be to get toni on the phone without harold listening in you call their home number, you call her cell phone number, and you could call his cell phone number reporter: and he would answer he would answer when we spoke to her it was never just her it was always him and her in the background reporter: tammi recalled how harold used to come into toni s office as if he owned the place and how in his presence, toni, the self-confident doctor, seemed to melt away somehow. she said i ve just learned long ago it s just better to let harold be right. reporter: did that make you
she didn t have a lot of time to probably go places to meet guys. she went to church, and she went to her job and to be honest, i really don t think that there was very good pickings possibly. reporter: and the clock was ticking when it came to starting a family so in her late 30s, toni turned to a place many do to find a mate the internet she chose a christian dating site finding a man who shared her faith was very important to her. she didn t tell her little brother or his wife rhonda right away about her online adventure. but she did share her secret with her good friend allison talley did she give you updates on how it was going and if she was meeting anybody? i didn t really ask but i did know that she had met a couple of guys reporter: then toni met the one. handsome guy, little bit older than her, charming, incredibly charming. just extended a hand immediately and well-dressed and very polished and well spoken, very
things are not right. reporter: tammi says that even though toni seemed to adore her daughter haley, she often gave up mommy time, staying late at the office instead. we would be done. patients gone, staff gone. and she would still be on her computer. but it wasn t work-related. it was playing games. and so we thought, that s so odd. why does she stick around the office? we started to think that maybe she just didn t want to go home and maybe because of harold. reporter: if there was trouble in the marriage toni never said so directly. not to friends, not even to family. todd and rhonda worried maybe she was afraid to say too much. i think he had held control over toni with haley, you know? his parents heard conversation that they weren t meant to hear that he held, you know, divorce over her head. i ll divorce you. yeah. and you won t see haley and, you know, that kind of thing. reporter: that s probably the one thing that would cut the deepest with her. right. repor
they suffered a lot of fertility issues and had miscarriages. it was a sadness to her. reporter: back in mississippi, toni s brother todd and sister-in-law rhonda were also struggling to have a baby. but then after years of disappointment for both couples, all their prayers were answered. we both ended up pregnant at the same time. reporter: that must have been a really happy time given what you went through to get there. absolutely. all of sudden, you know, good news here, good news here, and, you know, get ready because, you know, you re going to have a houseful. reporter: in june of 2005, toni and harold welcomed their baby girl, haley. by then, todd and rhonda already had anna kate. when the girls were a little over a year old, the henthorns came to mississippi and the who cousins got to meet. it was a very happy occasion. and i do remember toni just being so happy to have haley, so and so was harold.