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
Narrator Joel Patrick Courtney was sitting in jail in albuquerque. It was december 2004. The married father of three was facing decades in prison if convicted of kidnapping, sexual assault, and battery charges. As investigators began checking out the possible link to Brooke Wilbergers case, a call went out to her family. They had waited more than six months for news, any news, about their daughters disappearance. Now, there was a man in custody who they thought might be able to reunite them with their daughter, just as Elizabeth Smart had been returned to her family. What are you thinking in that when you hear this . Actually, i had prayed so faithfully all fall that whoever had done this would make a mistake. And when i heard the news, i thought, they made a mistake. They tried it again. And No One Else knew what id prayed, because i hadnt told anyone else, because it was always, Find Brooke. You know, help us to Find Brooke. I guess that was a selfish prayer, you know, to help whoeve
door, i love you. and that was last time i talked to her. i said worth broke, he said we can t find her. a college student vanishes. i had this chill go through my whole body. they asked us do of the crime scene? no we don t, we have flip-flops in a parking lot. we had a community that was scared, who is going to be the next victim? 1000 miles away, another student in danger. she said he s got a knife and trying to kill me. there was a girl there and there was blood. this is not the first time that he s done this. one case would help solve the other. one man behind two mysteries. this was dynamite to us, that is the smoking gun. you re not going to believe what we found. we ve gotten so close. i want to know where she is. some images are eternal. timeless. one moment of the future seems immeasurable, the possibilities endless. but, in an instance, you can be left with only memories to hold until the end of time. brooke wilbur lived as if she had
he was ready for a trial. if you go to trial at that point, can you win? yes. so you don t need to settle? no. the only reason to settle is to help the family, to get brooke s body? we were prepared to go to trial and to secure a conviction and to pursue the death penalty. still, the judge wasn t quite ready to move on. he asked both sides to try one last time to settle the case before trial. during weeks of tense talks with joel courtney s attorneys, the prosecutor finally discovered the one incentive that might appeal to courtney and give the wilbergers their daughter back. courtney wanted out of oregon. he might admit to murder and reveal the location of brooke s remains if he could serve his prison time near his own family, in new mexico. the wilberger family quickly agreed. anything, they thought, to get brooke back. we needed to have the approval of the oregon governor and we needed to have the