1 00:00:03,294 --> 00:00:04,504 NARRATOR: A young mother of three vanishes 2 00:00:05,547 --> 00:00:07,173 from a remote California suburb. 3 00:00:07,215 --> 00:00:09,801 LINDA: He saw his wife's car by the side of the road 4 00:00:09,843 --> 00:00:11,386 with a flat tire. 5 00:00:11,428 --> 00:00:13,513 NARRATOR: And leaves a disturbing mystery 6 00:00:13,555 --> 00:00:14,723 in her wake. 7 00:00:14,764 --> 00:00:16,683 JEFF: The flat tire didn't look right to him. 8 00:00:16,725 --> 00:00:19,394 NARRATOR: Could she have been looking for a fresh start? 9 00:00:19,436 --> 00:00:20,645 DENNIS: She had said that 10 00:00:20,687 --> 00:00:22,605 she just wanted to leave and disappear. 11 00:00:22,647 --> 00:00:26,901 LINDA: She could have just needed a break or had a break. 12 00:00:26,943 --> 00:00:29,821 LARRY: There's no way that she would leave her kids. 13 00:00:29,863 --> 00:00:33,199 Maybe she had been abducted from that vehicle. 14 00:00:33,241 --> 00:00:37,370 JEFF: There is a series of bodies being found. 15 00:00:37,412 --> 00:00:39,998 LINDA: She would be the victim of a killer 16 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:42,208 that was killing younger women. 17 00:00:42,250 --> 00:00:44,878 NARRATOR: A family waits years for answers. 18 00:00:44,919 --> 00:00:46,421 LARRY: I started getting mad. 19 00:00:46,463 --> 00:00:51,051 I was afraid I might not be able to control myself. 20 00:00:51,092 --> 00:00:52,927 NARRATOR: Until detectives learn the truth 21 00:00:52,969 --> 00:00:56,181 may lie disturbingly close to home. 22 00:00:56,222 --> 00:00:59,392 LINDA: Maybe she had gone off with her boyfriend 23 00:00:59,434 --> 00:01:01,686 who wanted to get rid of her. 24 00:01:01,728 --> 00:01:03,271 JEFF: This is a setup. 25 00:01:03,313 --> 00:01:04,856 LARRY: And I was totally shocked. 26 00:01:04,898 --> 00:01:06,316 JEFF: The youngest child said, 27 00:01:06,358 --> 00:01:07,692 "I know why you're here. 28 00:01:07,734 --> 00:01:10,111 You think my mom's buried in the backyard." 29 00:01:10,153 --> 00:01:13,156 [**] 30 00:01:18,787 --> 00:01:21,289 NARRATOR: Just north of the border with Mexico, 31 00:01:21,331 --> 00:01:25,085 the small town of Jamul offers breathtaking views 32 00:01:25,126 --> 00:01:29,339 of the majestic Southern California desert. 33 00:01:29,381 --> 00:01:32,008 LINDA: Jamul is known as East County San Diego, 34 00:01:32,050 --> 00:01:34,928 and it's about as far east as you can get. 35 00:01:34,969 --> 00:01:36,680 The properties are large. 36 00:01:36,721 --> 00:01:38,264 You can see a lot of rolling hills 37 00:01:38,306 --> 00:01:41,017 and oak trees. 38 00:01:41,059 --> 00:01:42,602 LARRY: The people are real friendly. 39 00:01:42,644 --> 00:01:44,145 They're-- they're-- they're spread out. 40 00:01:44,187 --> 00:01:45,980 They like a privacy. 41 00:01:46,022 --> 00:01:49,359 [**] 42 00:01:51,861 --> 00:01:55,407 NARRATOR: But a few days before Christmas in 1991, 43 00:01:55,448 --> 00:01:58,952 the peace of the hillside community is disrupted 44 00:01:58,993 --> 00:02:00,787 when a throng of law enforcement 45 00:02:00,829 --> 00:02:04,416 descends upon a home on a normally quiet street. 46 00:02:04,457 --> 00:02:06,292 LINDA: On December 21st, 1991, 47 00:02:06,334 --> 00:02:08,753 investigators obtained a search warrant 48 00:02:08,795 --> 00:02:10,255 to search the backyard, 49 00:02:10,296 --> 00:02:12,632 hoping to find a woman who had been missing. 50 00:02:12,674 --> 00:02:15,760 [**] 51 00:02:17,721 --> 00:02:21,182 DENNIS: The property itself is a four-acre 52 00:02:21,224 --> 00:02:24,019 piece of-- of land with a house on it 53 00:02:24,060 --> 00:02:27,647 and ravine behind the property. 54 00:02:27,689 --> 00:02:31,943 One section in the ravine was filled in. 55 00:02:31,985 --> 00:02:35,822 From investigators' standpoint, you'd look at that and say, 56 00:02:35,864 --> 00:02:37,741 "Why would someone fill in 57 00:02:37,782 --> 00:02:40,326 just one 20-foot section of a ravine 58 00:02:40,368 --> 00:02:44,164 that's a natural runoff for water?" 59 00:02:44,205 --> 00:02:45,915 It didn't really make a lot of sense. 60 00:02:47,625 --> 00:02:49,377 JEFF: The backhoe operator was able to dig 61 00:02:49,419 --> 00:02:52,464 a hole down there, probably eight to ten feet deep. 62 00:02:53,757 --> 00:02:56,801 They found a portion of a chain-link fence 63 00:02:56,843 --> 00:02:58,636 down in the hole. 64 00:02:58,678 --> 00:03:01,848 It had been basically nailed into the ground 65 00:03:01,890 --> 00:03:03,433 with two wooden stakes 66 00:03:03,475 --> 00:03:07,771 so it wouldn't wash away if there was ever any flood. 67 00:03:07,812 --> 00:03:10,398 NARRATOR: As detectives step in for a closer look 68 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:12,359 at their strange discovery, 69 00:03:12,400 --> 00:03:14,986 they spot something beneath the chain-link fence 70 00:03:15,028 --> 00:03:17,322 that looks like a blanket. 71 00:03:18,782 --> 00:03:21,534 JEFF: A sheriff's detective pulled out a knife 72 00:03:21,576 --> 00:03:24,579 and dug around the cloth material found in the hole. 73 00:03:26,456 --> 00:03:27,832 And she felt a bone. 74 00:03:29,668 --> 00:03:31,753 Our forensic anthropologist 75 00:03:31,795 --> 00:03:34,673 was able to determine that it was a knee bone. 76 00:03:34,714 --> 00:03:36,466 NARRATOR: The detectives believe 77 00:03:36,508 --> 00:03:40,261 their gruesome discovery may finally end a dark mystery 78 00:03:40,303 --> 00:03:43,682 that has pained a family for four years. 79 00:03:43,723 --> 00:03:46,393 DENNIS: The only identifying thing on the body itself 80 00:03:46,434 --> 00:03:47,894 was the clothing, 81 00:03:47,936 --> 00:03:50,271 but I was confident that it was our missing person. 82 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:54,234 LINDA: When you find a body in a backyard, 83 00:03:54,275 --> 00:03:56,695 you-- you need to know who it is. 84 00:03:57,612 --> 00:03:59,197 But you're also wanting to know 85 00:03:59,239 --> 00:04:00,699 how this person died. 86 00:04:00,740 --> 00:04:03,535 What was it that led to them being buried 87 00:04:03,576 --> 00:04:05,578 so unceremoniously like this? 88 00:04:05,620 --> 00:04:07,580 It's not every day in San Diego County 89 00:04:07,622 --> 00:04:11,751 that you find somebody buried in the backyard. 90 00:04:15,380 --> 00:04:18,842 [**] 91 00:04:20,510 --> 00:04:22,429 LARRY: We grew up in Southern California 92 00:04:22,470 --> 00:04:24,389 for the most of our life. 93 00:04:25,598 --> 00:04:28,351 It was 68-degree weather it seemed like year-round. 94 00:04:28,393 --> 00:04:30,687 It was a beautiful place to grow up. 95 00:04:30,729 --> 00:04:33,565 [**] 96 00:04:35,108 --> 00:04:36,776 LARRY: I'm the oldest of six. 97 00:04:36,818 --> 00:04:39,654 Vickie was the second-oldest in the family. 98 00:04:40,572 --> 00:04:42,240 SANDY: She was beautiful. 99 00:04:42,282 --> 00:04:43,742 Long, dark-brown hair, 100 00:04:43,783 --> 00:04:46,244 and a smile that just could melt your heart. 101 00:04:46,286 --> 00:04:48,997 She was just a beautiful young lady. 102 00:04:49,039 --> 00:04:53,752 Fun, adventurous, willing to try new things. 103 00:04:53,793 --> 00:04:56,421 And she would do something that was really exceptional. 104 00:04:56,463 --> 00:04:57,839 They'd always say, "There she goes, 105 00:04:57,881 --> 00:05:01,092 Vickie Valerie Vess, three V's for victory." 106 00:05:03,970 --> 00:05:05,472 [**] 107 00:05:05,513 --> 00:05:07,474 NARRATOR: The Vess' hometown of San Diego 108 00:05:07,515 --> 00:05:11,478 is also home to the US Navy's Pacific Fleet. 109 00:05:12,354 --> 00:05:15,732 In 1975, at the age of 17, 110 00:05:15,774 --> 00:05:18,276 Vickie meets a sailor stationed there, 111 00:05:18,318 --> 00:05:21,613 Lieutenant Commander Leonard Eddington. 112 00:05:21,654 --> 00:05:26,701 LARRY: Leonard was aspiring to go into the officer corps. 113 00:05:26,743 --> 00:05:29,329 SANDY: She was so vivacious and-- and bubbly. 114 00:05:29,371 --> 00:05:32,665 I'm sure that's what caught his eye. 115 00:05:32,707 --> 00:05:34,668 NARRATOR: It's a whirlwind courtship. 116 00:05:34,709 --> 00:05:38,213 Even though Leonard at 29 is much older than Vickie, 117 00:05:38,254 --> 00:05:40,507 her parents give her their blessing. 118 00:05:40,548 --> 00:05:42,342 SANDY: She had already finished high school, 119 00:05:42,384 --> 00:05:44,844 and back in those days, 120 00:05:44,886 --> 00:05:46,805 it just seemed like a normal progression 121 00:05:46,846 --> 00:05:49,140 to find somebody and get married. 122 00:05:49,182 --> 00:05:53,019 [**] 123 00:05:53,061 --> 00:05:54,521 NARRATOR: Vickie and Leonard Eddington 124 00:05:54,562 --> 00:05:55,939 moved to Jamul, 125 00:05:55,980 --> 00:05:58,316 on the remote edge of East San Diego County 126 00:05:58,358 --> 00:06:00,819 to begin their life together. 127 00:06:02,654 --> 00:06:04,155 SANDY: They had three children, 128 00:06:04,197 --> 00:06:07,784 two boys and a girl, and they were her life. 129 00:06:07,826 --> 00:06:11,204 Her whole future was based on doing 130 00:06:11,246 --> 00:06:13,123 what was right by those children. 131 00:06:15,083 --> 00:06:17,752 During the first part of their marriage, 132 00:06:17,794 --> 00:06:20,714 Lenny had several promotions. 133 00:06:20,755 --> 00:06:23,717 LARRY: Leonard wanted to go to dinners and the dances 134 00:06:23,758 --> 00:06:26,553 in order to advance his career, 135 00:06:26,594 --> 00:06:28,722 and he wanted Vickie to be a wife 136 00:06:28,763 --> 00:06:32,392 that would support that kind of activity. 137 00:06:32,434 --> 00:06:35,145 And Vickie was her own woman, 138 00:06:35,186 --> 00:06:36,896 and I think that's where some of the problems 139 00:06:36,938 --> 00:06:39,733 that they had in their marriage started out. 140 00:06:42,110 --> 00:06:44,070 LINDA: Over time, they decided 141 00:06:44,112 --> 00:06:45,405 they were going to separate. 142 00:06:45,447 --> 00:06:47,490 Leonard went to live in a mobile home 143 00:06:47,532 --> 00:06:49,075 that was on his mother's property, 144 00:06:49,117 --> 00:06:52,620 which was actually right next door to their property. 145 00:06:54,456 --> 00:06:56,708 NARRATOR: It's a painful decision for both, 146 00:06:56,750 --> 00:06:58,626 but with Leonard living just next door, 147 00:06:58,668 --> 00:07:02,005 they agreed to remain separated and to co-parent, 148 00:07:02,047 --> 00:07:03,423 raising the children 149 00:07:03,465 --> 00:07:05,717 with as little disruption as possible. 150 00:07:05,759 --> 00:07:08,011 Knowing she'll need to provide for her kids, 151 00:07:08,053 --> 00:07:11,973 Vickie sets her sights on becoming a nurse. 152 00:07:12,015 --> 00:07:16,519 She started working, um, in medical clinics, 153 00:07:16,561 --> 00:07:18,772 and then she started picking up classes, 154 00:07:18,813 --> 00:07:20,690 one or two at a time. 155 00:07:20,732 --> 00:07:22,359 LARRY: She loved to help people. 156 00:07:22,400 --> 00:07:24,903 She was a caring person. 157 00:07:24,944 --> 00:07:27,489 SANDY: So she was going to school, and working, 158 00:07:27,530 --> 00:07:29,449 and then taking care of her children. 159 00:07:29,491 --> 00:07:32,118 [**] 160 00:07:34,662 --> 00:07:37,332 LINDA: Vickie was one credit away 161 00:07:37,374 --> 00:07:40,543 from finishing her medical training. 162 00:07:41,670 --> 00:07:44,172 But everything was just cut short. 163 00:07:44,214 --> 00:07:47,717 [**] 164 00:07:47,759 --> 00:07:50,428 NARRATOR: On a bright and warm summer morning, 165 00:07:50,470 --> 00:07:52,138 the San Diego Sheriff's Department 166 00:07:52,180 --> 00:07:56,434 receives a frantic 911 call from Leonard Eddington. 167 00:07:56,476 --> 00:07:58,144 LINDA: He had seen Vickie's car 168 00:07:58,186 --> 00:08:01,189 by the side of the road with a flat tire. 169 00:08:01,231 --> 00:08:03,441 DENNIS: The car was approximately four miles 170 00:08:03,483 --> 00:08:05,902 from their home on Highway 94. 171 00:08:05,944 --> 00:08:07,570 LINDA: And he saw this as he was taking 172 00:08:07,612 --> 00:08:09,823 his children to swim class. 173 00:08:09,864 --> 00:08:12,617 He actually was calling to report her missing. 174 00:08:13,576 --> 00:08:15,245 DENNIS: Leonard stated that 175 00:08:15,286 --> 00:08:18,707 he had dropped the children off at the YMCA in La Mesa. 176 00:08:18,748 --> 00:08:22,085 He said he signed them in at 8:02 that morning. 177 00:08:22,127 --> 00:08:24,170 [**] 178 00:08:24,212 --> 00:08:27,966 JEFF: From there, he drove back, uh, to the car, 179 00:08:28,008 --> 00:08:32,137 took a closer look at it, and saw, uh, the flat tire. 180 00:08:32,178 --> 00:08:35,306 [**] 181 00:08:38,560 --> 00:08:41,354 JEFF: Leonard called Vickie's first job, 182 00:08:41,396 --> 00:08:43,273 the hospital. 183 00:08:43,314 --> 00:08:47,902 They indicated that she had not shown up for work that evening. 184 00:08:49,070 --> 00:08:51,531 He said he also called Colorspan, 185 00:08:51,573 --> 00:08:53,700 Vickie's second job. 186 00:08:53,742 --> 00:08:56,578 And likewise, they had not seen her that day. 187 00:08:56,619 --> 00:08:58,747 [**] 188 00:08:58,788 --> 00:09:01,166 NARRATOR: The sheriff's office dispatches deputies 189 00:09:01,207 --> 00:09:03,043 to Leonard's home, 190 00:09:03,084 --> 00:09:05,211 and he provides as many details as he can 191 00:09:05,253 --> 00:09:07,964 about Vickie's movements the previous day. 192 00:09:08,006 --> 00:09:09,632 LINDA: He said the night that she disappeared, 193 00:09:09,674 --> 00:09:11,301 her mother was supposed to come over 194 00:09:11,343 --> 00:09:12,677 and take care of the kids 195 00:09:12,719 --> 00:09:14,888 while she went off to her night job, 196 00:09:14,929 --> 00:09:16,723 and her mother couldn't make it. 197 00:09:18,475 --> 00:09:21,603 So Leonard stepped in, he came over to her house, 198 00:09:21,644 --> 00:09:23,605 walked out to her car, 199 00:09:23,646 --> 00:09:25,148 and that's the last he saw her. 200 00:09:25,190 --> 00:09:28,318 [**] 201 00:09:31,905 --> 00:09:34,157 JEFF: Leonard told Deputy Miller, 202 00:09:34,199 --> 00:09:38,370 Vickie had left for work around 10:30 the previous night. 203 00:09:38,411 --> 00:09:41,623 [**] 204 00:09:41,664 --> 00:09:43,708 NARRATOR: After hearing Leonard's story, 205 00:09:43,750 --> 00:09:45,293 deputies head to the location 206 00:09:45,335 --> 00:09:48,505 where he spotted her abandoned station wagon. 207 00:09:48,546 --> 00:09:50,090 LINDA: When investigators arrived, 208 00:09:50,131 --> 00:09:53,385 they did indeed find the car with a flat tire, 209 00:09:53,426 --> 00:09:56,262 just off the side of the road. 210 00:09:56,304 --> 00:09:58,556 JEFF: Deputy Miller found the car was locked 211 00:09:58,598 --> 00:10:00,809 and secured, uh, it looked like someone 212 00:10:00,850 --> 00:10:03,395 had tried to change a flat tire, 213 00:10:03,436 --> 00:10:06,189 but the spare tire was missing. 214 00:10:07,774 --> 00:10:11,277 The flat tire didn't look right to him. 215 00:10:11,319 --> 00:10:15,448 There was no damage to the rim, the metal part of the wheel. 216 00:10:15,490 --> 00:10:17,033 That should be scraped. 217 00:10:17,075 --> 00:10:19,077 You know, where the car was parked 218 00:10:19,119 --> 00:10:20,954 at the time of the disappearance was, 219 00:10:20,995 --> 00:10:22,664 it was off to the side of the road, 220 00:10:22,706 --> 00:10:25,792 there were no street lights, no sidewalks. 221 00:10:27,794 --> 00:10:30,964 Then Vickie walked four miles on a dark, 222 00:10:31,006 --> 00:10:34,759 lonely, curvy road at night, 223 00:10:34,801 --> 00:10:36,469 it didn't make sense. 224 00:10:36,511 --> 00:10:40,765 Why would she just disappear and leave her children behind? 225 00:10:40,807 --> 00:10:43,309 I've got this uneasy feeling that, uh, 226 00:10:43,351 --> 00:10:44,352 it may be a crime of violence. 227 00:10:44,394 --> 00:10:47,272 [**] 228 00:10:48,356 --> 00:10:51,276 LINDA: It brought up everybody's deepest fears. 229 00:10:51,317 --> 00:10:53,319 LARRY: You can tell when things aren't right. 230 00:10:53,361 --> 00:10:55,530 I had a lot of that feeling. 231 00:10:55,572 --> 00:10:56,656 JEFF: He was nervous. 232 00:10:56,698 --> 00:10:58,116 He's like a cat on a hot tin roof, 233 00:10:58,158 --> 00:10:59,659 he-- he-- he could not sit still. 234 00:11:10,003 --> 00:11:10,337 [**] 235 00:11:12,339 --> 00:11:15,550 NARRATOR: Vickie Eddington has vanished. 236 00:11:15,592 --> 00:11:18,011 And the condition of the flat tire on her car, 237 00:11:18,053 --> 00:11:21,389 abandoned on a remote and desolate California road 238 00:11:21,431 --> 00:11:24,476 is raising red flags for law enforcement. 239 00:11:25,477 --> 00:11:27,437 [**] 240 00:11:27,479 --> 00:11:29,773 DENNIS: Deputy saw the car on the side of the road, 241 00:11:29,814 --> 00:11:32,067 looked it over, but it didn't look like the tire 242 00:11:32,108 --> 00:11:34,235 had been driven while it was flat. 243 00:11:35,070 --> 00:11:37,113 What you had at this point was, 244 00:11:37,155 --> 00:11:40,533 "Vickie Eddington missing under unusual circumstances." 245 00:11:40,575 --> 00:11:42,911 [**] 246 00:11:42,952 --> 00:11:45,205 NARRATOR: In an age before cell phones, 247 00:11:45,246 --> 00:11:46,873 Vickie could not call for help 248 00:11:46,915 --> 00:11:48,625 in the event of a flat tire, 249 00:11:48,667 --> 00:11:52,504 and investigators know that even if there was no foul play, 250 00:11:52,545 --> 00:11:54,047 she could have run into trouble 251 00:11:54,089 --> 00:11:57,217 late at night on a dark, lonely road. 252 00:11:57,258 --> 00:11:59,469 DENNIS: Sometimes people get disoriented, 253 00:11:59,511 --> 00:12:01,471 especially at night in-- in rural country, 254 00:12:01,513 --> 00:12:04,808 part of their county, and they take off walking. 255 00:12:04,849 --> 00:12:07,268 [**] 256 00:12:07,310 --> 00:12:09,396 DENNIS: And maybe she was trying to perhaps 257 00:12:09,437 --> 00:12:13,066 take a shortcut to go home because her car broke down 258 00:12:13,108 --> 00:12:17,320 and-- and she got injured in a fall. 259 00:12:17,362 --> 00:12:19,322 She could have been walking and hit by a car 260 00:12:19,364 --> 00:12:20,865 and knocked on the side of the road. 261 00:12:20,907 --> 00:12:22,992 [HORN HONKING] 262 00:12:25,078 --> 00:12:27,330 DENNIS: There was a search in the area 263 00:12:27,372 --> 00:12:30,166 and residents in close proximity 264 00:12:30,208 --> 00:12:32,252 to where the car was found were contacted, 265 00:12:32,293 --> 00:12:34,212 but that was with negative results. 266 00:12:36,381 --> 00:12:38,675 JEFF: The sheriff's department did an aerial search 267 00:12:38,717 --> 00:12:40,719 to see if they could find anything 268 00:12:40,760 --> 00:12:43,972 that might look suspicious. 269 00:12:44,014 --> 00:12:46,307 It was negative, they didn't see anything. 270 00:12:48,309 --> 00:12:50,061 NARRATOR: Later that day, 271 00:12:50,103 --> 00:12:52,105 deputies impound Vickie's station wagon 272 00:12:52,147 --> 00:12:54,107 and begin processing it for evidence, 273 00:12:54,149 --> 00:12:56,026 looking for any clue it might yield 274 00:12:56,067 --> 00:12:58,028 that could help lead to her. 275 00:12:58,069 --> 00:13:00,363 DENNIS: We were hoping to find prints of someone stopped 276 00:13:00,405 --> 00:13:04,909 and may have touched her car or other evidence on the car. 277 00:13:04,951 --> 00:13:09,748 JEFF: They lifted latent prints from the flat tire 278 00:13:09,789 --> 00:13:12,042 and they were Leonard Eddington's prints. 279 00:13:12,083 --> 00:13:13,543 DENNIS: So at that point, 280 00:13:13,585 --> 00:13:15,420 the only prints they've gotten off the vehicle 281 00:13:15,462 --> 00:13:20,383 were Vickie's and, uh, Leonard which was suspicious. 282 00:13:20,425 --> 00:13:22,344 NARRATOR: Meanwhile, detectives head back 283 00:13:22,385 --> 00:13:25,555 to Vickie's home to see what clues it might offer. 284 00:13:26,598 --> 00:13:28,725 JEFF: The detective checked around the house 285 00:13:28,767 --> 00:13:32,479 for signs of a struggle, blood, anything out of place. 286 00:13:32,520 --> 00:13:33,396 He saw nothing. 287 00:13:33,438 --> 00:13:36,566 [**] 288 00:13:38,360 --> 00:13:40,111 NARRATOR: That afternoon, 289 00:13:40,153 --> 00:13:42,530 Vickie's family learns of her disappearance, 290 00:13:42,572 --> 00:13:46,534 her mother Alice is beside herself with worry. 291 00:13:46,576 --> 00:13:50,038 Mom called dad, and then dad called us. 292 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:51,915 There was a lot of fear. 293 00:13:51,956 --> 00:13:54,084 We didn't know what to think. 294 00:13:54,125 --> 00:13:56,795 LARRY: After she went missing, it was high stress. 295 00:13:56,836 --> 00:13:59,881 Vickie was not the kind of person that would disappear. 296 00:13:59,923 --> 00:14:02,842 She would have found a way to reach out or we would know more. 297 00:14:02,884 --> 00:14:05,011 You can tell when things aren't right 298 00:14:05,053 --> 00:14:07,472 and I had a lot of that feeling. 299 00:14:07,514 --> 00:14:11,976 Most my worrying was when I came home at night. 300 00:14:13,436 --> 00:14:14,646 I tried to sleep. 301 00:14:16,439 --> 00:14:18,316 I think that would have been about the only time 302 00:14:18,358 --> 00:14:21,486 that I would have let myself focus on that. 303 00:14:23,363 --> 00:14:27,075 NARRATOR: As the family prays for Vickie's safe return home, 304 00:14:27,117 --> 00:14:29,119 police extend their investigation 305 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:31,955 beyond the immediate area where her car was found. 306 00:14:31,996 --> 00:14:35,000 It quickly results in a promising lead, 307 00:14:35,041 --> 00:14:36,876 from the clerk at a convenience store 308 00:14:36,918 --> 00:14:41,297 two miles up the road from Vickie's abandoned car. 309 00:14:41,339 --> 00:14:44,092 JEFF: The worker indicated that a female 310 00:14:44,134 --> 00:14:46,302 came into the store that evening 311 00:14:46,344 --> 00:14:49,222 complaining that she had received a flat tire 312 00:14:49,264 --> 00:14:52,392 and she had $20 and she wanted change 313 00:14:52,434 --> 00:14:55,687 to make a call for somebody to come help her. 314 00:14:58,106 --> 00:15:00,817 He was shown a photograph of Vickie Eddington 315 00:15:00,859 --> 00:15:04,821 and asked if that was the person that came to the store. 316 00:15:04,863 --> 00:15:07,157 And he said that he thought it was her, 317 00:15:07,198 --> 00:15:08,658 it looked like her. 318 00:15:08,700 --> 00:15:11,411 At that point, he gave her, uh, change 319 00:15:11,453 --> 00:15:14,205 and she went off and he didn't see where she went 320 00:15:14,247 --> 00:15:17,042 and he just assumed that she went to make a phone call. 321 00:15:18,585 --> 00:15:20,086 LINDA: Because it was hard to believe 322 00:15:20,128 --> 00:15:21,463 that she had just taken off, 323 00:15:21,504 --> 00:15:24,341 it led to, kind of, an assumption 324 00:15:24,382 --> 00:15:26,343 and that something really bad had happened to her, 325 00:15:26,384 --> 00:15:28,928 possibly involving some stranger. 326 00:15:28,970 --> 00:15:30,180 My thought was that was that, 327 00:15:30,221 --> 00:15:31,848 after she left the convenience store 328 00:15:31,890 --> 00:15:34,184 presumably walking back to her car, 329 00:15:34,225 --> 00:15:37,187 that somebody stopped, 330 00:15:37,228 --> 00:15:38,980 and either picked her up, 331 00:15:39,022 --> 00:15:41,733 or forcibly picked her up. 332 00:15:45,695 --> 00:15:48,615 DENNIS: The next question would come to mind would be, 333 00:15:48,656 --> 00:15:52,619 "Who would she have called to help her?" 334 00:15:52,660 --> 00:15:55,830 And also, if she was there that night, 335 00:15:57,582 --> 00:15:58,750 where is she now? 336 00:16:02,629 --> 00:16:05,173 JEFF: Leonard Eddington said, "She would call me," 337 00:16:05,215 --> 00:16:07,050 uh, that's who she would call 338 00:16:07,092 --> 00:16:09,260 if in fact she got some change 339 00:16:09,302 --> 00:16:10,595 and was able to make a call, 340 00:16:10,637 --> 00:16:14,349 and he said that that call was never made. 341 00:16:14,391 --> 00:16:16,393 NARRATOR: But he admits there is possibly 342 00:16:16,434 --> 00:16:19,729 someone else she may have tried to contact. 343 00:16:19,771 --> 00:16:23,650 So Leonard told investigators that Vickie had a boyfriend. 344 00:16:24,818 --> 00:16:26,236 He was a CHP officer, 345 00:16:26,277 --> 00:16:28,363 California Highway Patrol officer. 346 00:16:28,405 --> 00:16:32,575 Leonard suggested that detectives look at that person. 347 00:16:34,452 --> 00:16:36,413 NARRATOR: The detectives are surprised, 348 00:16:36,454 --> 00:16:39,541 it's the first they've heard that Vickie has a boyfriend. 349 00:16:41,126 --> 00:16:43,086 JEFF: He told that detective 350 00:16:43,128 --> 00:16:45,088 that the marriage, uh, was stormy. 351 00:16:45,130 --> 00:16:48,425 They were having a hard time. 352 00:16:48,466 --> 00:16:50,468 LINDA: Vickie was separated from her husband. 353 00:16:50,510 --> 00:16:52,679 They had talked about getting divorced 354 00:16:52,721 --> 00:16:55,098 and they had decided on staying separated. 355 00:16:55,140 --> 00:16:59,602 So she had been separated for a couple of years at this point. 356 00:16:59,644 --> 00:17:04,441 JEFF: Detectives needed to interview, uh, the CHP officer. 357 00:17:04,482 --> 00:17:07,569 LINDA: Maybe if she had gone off with her boyfriend, 358 00:17:19,914 --> 00:17:20,248 [**] 359 00:17:22,417 --> 00:17:24,711 NARRATOR: There has been no sign of Vickie Eddington, 360 00:17:24,753 --> 00:17:28,715 a young mother of three for twenty-four hours. 361 00:17:28,757 --> 00:17:31,634 Police have been talking to the people closest to Vickie 362 00:17:31,676 --> 00:17:34,054 and have just learned that with a troubled marriage, 363 00:17:34,095 --> 00:17:36,264 she may have a boyfriend 364 00:17:36,306 --> 00:17:39,184 who is a California Highway Patrol Officer. 365 00:17:39,225 --> 00:17:42,145 Certainly the detectives needed to interview, 366 00:17:42,187 --> 00:17:44,230 uh, the CHP officer. And they did so, 367 00:17:44,272 --> 00:17:45,982 but they need to do it face-to-face 368 00:17:46,024 --> 00:17:47,400 so you can read the person 369 00:17:47,442 --> 00:17:48,693 as they're giving the answers. 370 00:17:48,735 --> 00:17:50,278 And they found out from the officer 371 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:52,405 that in fact, he did know Vickie Eddington. 372 00:17:52,447 --> 00:17:56,201 They had met about 1985, 373 00:17:56,242 --> 00:17:59,496 two years before he was working 374 00:17:59,537 --> 00:18:01,748 some sort of patrol unit up in the mountains. 375 00:18:01,790 --> 00:18:06,294 And he and Vickie made contact in a traffic stop. 376 00:18:06,336 --> 00:18:09,089 He was assigned to the area of San Diego County 377 00:18:09,130 --> 00:18:11,341 where Vickie lived, his county. 378 00:18:11,383 --> 00:18:13,259 And she would see him occasionally 379 00:18:13,301 --> 00:18:14,761 while he was patrolling. 380 00:18:14,803 --> 00:18:18,264 At the time, he was going through a divorce, 381 00:18:18,306 --> 00:18:21,601 Vickie was going through a divorce, 382 00:18:21,643 --> 00:18:24,729 and somehow the connection was made about that. 383 00:18:24,771 --> 00:18:27,649 DENNIS: It was a very friendly relationship. 384 00:18:27,691 --> 00:18:31,069 He went over to the house one time for iced tea. 385 00:18:31,111 --> 00:18:32,612 He had met her children. 386 00:18:32,654 --> 00:18:35,031 JEFF: The CHP officer, he liked her. 387 00:18:35,073 --> 00:18:38,034 He had hopes of maybe cultivating a relationship 388 00:18:38,076 --> 00:18:39,411 if both of them could get out 389 00:18:39,452 --> 00:18:41,955 of their respective divorce proceedings. 390 00:18:41,996 --> 00:18:45,291 DENNIS: At that point, she was separated from Leonard, 391 00:18:45,333 --> 00:18:48,253 but they mutually agreed that the relationship 392 00:18:48,294 --> 00:18:49,629 probably couldn't go much further 393 00:18:49,671 --> 00:18:52,549 because of their marital situations. 394 00:18:53,967 --> 00:18:56,052 NARRATOR: The officer tells the investigators 395 00:18:56,094 --> 00:18:57,637 Vickie did not call him 396 00:18:57,679 --> 00:18:59,889 on the night of her disappearance. 397 00:18:59,931 --> 00:19:03,727 He had not seen her socially for over two years. 398 00:19:03,768 --> 00:19:07,063 At the time, he had been happily married to his wife 399 00:19:07,105 --> 00:19:08,606 for six months. 400 00:19:08,648 --> 00:19:11,151 And he heard about Vickie's disappearance 401 00:19:11,192 --> 00:19:12,485 from his wife. 402 00:19:12,527 --> 00:19:15,113 Apparently, she had seen it on the TV, 403 00:19:15,155 --> 00:19:19,534 which told me that he had been forthcoming with his wife 404 00:19:19,576 --> 00:19:21,494 and that he had nothing to hide. 405 00:19:21,536 --> 00:19:25,331 As far as an alibi for the night of Vickie's disappearance, 406 00:19:25,373 --> 00:19:28,460 the CHP officer, he was working that night. 407 00:19:30,545 --> 00:19:32,839 It was checked into it. 408 00:19:32,881 --> 00:19:35,800 His supervisors, they confirmed he was working 409 00:19:35,842 --> 00:19:40,096 a different area and so he was ruled out as a suspect. 410 00:19:42,557 --> 00:19:44,517 NARRATOR: Now, the investigators wonder 411 00:19:44,559 --> 00:19:47,437 if Vickie didn't call her husband Leonard that night 412 00:19:47,479 --> 00:19:49,647 and didn't call her boyfriend, 413 00:19:49,689 --> 00:19:51,566 then who did she call with the change 414 00:19:51,608 --> 00:19:54,027 the convenience store clerk gave her. 415 00:19:54,069 --> 00:19:57,155 And why did she disappear right afterward? 416 00:20:00,658 --> 00:20:02,535 To help answer these questions, 417 00:20:02,577 --> 00:20:05,372 law enforcement mounts a publicity campaign, 418 00:20:05,413 --> 00:20:07,165 hoping to generate tips. 419 00:20:07,207 --> 00:20:09,668 DENNIS: It's very important to get the media involved 420 00:20:09,709 --> 00:20:12,003 as quickly as you can in these types of cases. 421 00:20:12,045 --> 00:20:14,839 People are generally helpful and they'll give you a call 422 00:20:14,881 --> 00:20:16,549 and say, "Hey, this is what I saw," 423 00:20:16,591 --> 00:20:18,635 and they can break a case wide open. 424 00:20:20,261 --> 00:20:22,389 Vickie's disappearance was actually all over the news, 425 00:20:22,430 --> 00:20:24,724 not just in San Diego County. 426 00:20:24,766 --> 00:20:26,851 The people in Jamul were quite concerned 427 00:20:26,893 --> 00:20:30,855 because they knew Vickie as a very responsible individual 428 00:20:30,897 --> 00:20:33,066 and this is not the kind of thing that would happen. 429 00:20:33,108 --> 00:20:34,984 She would not just disappear. 430 00:20:35,026 --> 00:20:37,320 She was a young mother 431 00:20:37,362 --> 00:20:39,531 and she had her life ahead of her. 432 00:20:39,572 --> 00:20:42,158 It brought up everybody's deepest fears. 433 00:20:45,036 --> 00:20:46,746 NARRATOR: After hearing from the community 434 00:20:46,788 --> 00:20:48,581 and talking more with Leonard, 435 00:20:48,623 --> 00:20:50,917 the detectives realized they can't rule out 436 00:20:50,959 --> 00:20:54,421 the possibility that despite her family's concerns, 437 00:20:54,462 --> 00:20:57,757 Vickie's disappearance may be voluntary. 438 00:20:57,799 --> 00:20:59,676 DENNIS: Leonard said Vickie had told him 439 00:20:59,718 --> 00:21:01,803 that she just wanted to leave and disappear 440 00:21:01,845 --> 00:21:04,889 because she was stressed out and needed a break. 441 00:21:04,931 --> 00:21:08,435 LINDA: So, what we were hearing in terms of theories was 442 00:21:08,476 --> 00:21:12,564 she was tired and wanted her own space 443 00:21:12,605 --> 00:21:16,443 and just left-- left the family. 444 00:21:16,484 --> 00:21:19,529 It seemed like it was possible that this woman 445 00:21:19,571 --> 00:21:20,864 who was working two jobs 446 00:21:20,905 --> 00:21:23,783 and dealing with a separated husband, 447 00:21:23,825 --> 00:21:26,578 raising three children that she could have 448 00:21:26,619 --> 00:21:31,791 just needed a break or had a break. 449 00:21:33,668 --> 00:21:35,962 NARRATOR: But Vickie's family finds that theory 450 00:21:36,004 --> 00:21:37,464 hard to accept. 451 00:21:37,505 --> 00:21:40,342 My sister would never leave her kids. 452 00:21:40,383 --> 00:21:42,260 That's unthinkable. 453 00:21:42,302 --> 00:21:45,513 She loved her kids. Her kids were everything to her. 454 00:21:53,188 --> 00:21:55,148 LINDA: At the time, there was quite a bit of pressure 455 00:21:55,190 --> 00:21:56,691 on these detectives to 456 00:21:56,733 --> 00:21:59,277 really figure out what was going on. 457 00:21:59,319 --> 00:22:01,321 There was community pressure. 458 00:22:01,363 --> 00:22:02,739 People wanted to know 459 00:22:02,781 --> 00:22:04,824 what happened to Vickie Eddington. 460 00:22:04,866 --> 00:22:07,786 NARRATOR: With Vickie's disappearance making headlines, 461 00:22:07,827 --> 00:22:09,454 she's never far from the thoughts 462 00:22:09,496 --> 00:22:11,706 of her neighbors in Jamul. 463 00:22:11,748 --> 00:22:14,167 They even organized their own search parties. 464 00:22:14,209 --> 00:22:16,961 At this point, everybody was seeing her photo everywhere. 465 00:22:17,003 --> 00:22:19,214 It was even up in the convenience store 466 00:22:19,255 --> 00:22:20,882 that she supposedly stopped at. 467 00:22:24,719 --> 00:22:26,179 NARRATOR: The effort pays off. 468 00:22:26,221 --> 00:22:28,515 A potential witness comes forward 469 00:22:28,556 --> 00:22:31,184 and his story sets off new alarms. 470 00:22:32,018 --> 00:22:33,687 On the night Vickie vanished, 471 00:22:33,728 --> 00:22:35,689 he tells the police he saw a man 472 00:22:35,730 --> 00:22:37,899 lurking around the convenience store. 473 00:22:37,941 --> 00:22:43,071 The nervous way the man acted made him seem very suspicious. 474 00:22:43,113 --> 00:22:47,283 JEFF: We heard from witness that he was antsy, pacing. 475 00:22:47,325 --> 00:22:48,535 He was nervous. 476 00:22:48,576 --> 00:22:50,912 He-- like a cat on a hot tin roof. 477 00:22:52,038 --> 00:22:53,832 NARRATOR: With little to go on, 478 00:22:53,873 --> 00:22:55,875 police immediately begin trying to track down the man 479 00:22:55,917 --> 00:22:59,170 seen at the convenience store. 480 00:22:59,212 --> 00:23:00,797 Has she been kidnapped, 481 00:23:01,631 --> 00:23:03,174 held against her will? 482 00:23:03,216 --> 00:23:05,385 Time can be of the essence in a case like this, 483 00:23:05,427 --> 00:23:08,221 so you really do want to try and figure out what happened 484 00:23:08,263 --> 00:23:09,639 as quickly as possible. 485 00:23:12,142 --> 00:23:16,688 LINDA: He had ads placed in the San Diego Union Tribune 486 00:23:16,730 --> 00:23:21,234 and was actively seeking relationships with women. 487 00:23:21,276 --> 00:23:23,820 JEFF: Looks like somebody had flattened the tire. 488 00:23:23,862 --> 00:23:26,990 LARRY: I start getting mad and when I got mad, 489 00:23:40,128 --> 00:23:40,462 [**] 490 00:23:41,796 --> 00:23:43,256 NARRATOR: There's a new witness 491 00:23:43,298 --> 00:23:45,967 in the search for Vickie Eddington. 492 00:23:46,009 --> 00:23:49,429 And police find his story alarming. 493 00:23:49,471 --> 00:23:52,182 It concerns something he saw at the convenience store 494 00:23:52,223 --> 00:23:54,517 where Vickie was reportedly seen late 495 00:23:54,559 --> 00:23:56,811 on the night she vanished. 496 00:23:58,146 --> 00:24:00,190 DENNIS: Someone called in from Jamul 497 00:24:00,231 --> 00:24:04,027 and said that on the evening of Vickie's disappearance, 498 00:24:04,069 --> 00:24:06,529 they had seen a man by a parked car, 499 00:24:06,571 --> 00:24:08,114 drinking some beer. 500 00:24:08,156 --> 00:24:12,952 His behavior, he was perspiring, nervous. 501 00:24:12,994 --> 00:24:14,871 That's when he said he became alarmed 502 00:24:14,913 --> 00:24:18,208 or suspicious of this person. 503 00:24:18,249 --> 00:24:20,377 NARRATOR: The witness says the suspicious man 504 00:24:20,418 --> 00:24:24,214 was sitting in a green Volkswagen. 505 00:24:24,255 --> 00:24:26,841 Police start trying to track down the vehicle 506 00:24:26,883 --> 00:24:29,886 and again ask the public for its help. 507 00:24:29,928 --> 00:24:32,972 And the community were all involved in searching. 508 00:24:33,014 --> 00:24:35,308 Someone called in to tell the sheriff 509 00:24:35,350 --> 00:24:36,810 they had seen a vehicle. 510 00:24:38,853 --> 00:24:40,855 NARRATOR: The call helps detectives identify 511 00:24:40,897 --> 00:24:42,899 the owner of the green Volkswagen 512 00:24:42,941 --> 00:24:44,943 and they quickly track him down. 513 00:24:47,112 --> 00:24:49,280 DENNIS: It turned out that he just was a fellow 514 00:24:49,322 --> 00:24:51,032 who was drinking beer by his car, 515 00:24:51,074 --> 00:24:53,493 who stopped and want to decompress little bit 516 00:24:53,535 --> 00:24:54,869 before he got home. 517 00:24:54,911 --> 00:24:57,372 It was checked into. 518 00:24:57,414 --> 00:25:00,291 He had a reasonable answer for why he was there. 519 00:25:02,168 --> 00:25:04,379 NARRATOR: The search for Vickie Eddington 520 00:25:04,421 --> 00:25:06,214 is back at square one. 521 00:25:06,256 --> 00:25:09,676 And the odds of bringing a missing person home safely 522 00:25:09,718 --> 00:25:12,470 grow slimmer with each passing hour. 523 00:25:14,139 --> 00:25:16,266 Looking for anything they might have missed, 524 00:25:16,307 --> 00:25:19,269 the detectives ask Vickie's supervisors at the hospital 525 00:25:19,310 --> 00:25:22,939 to dig into their memories for every detail they can recall 526 00:25:22,981 --> 00:25:26,317 about the morning she was reported missing. 527 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:28,945 DENNIS: The hospital kept a log 528 00:25:28,987 --> 00:25:31,448 of what time the calls came in 529 00:25:31,489 --> 00:25:34,451 and they received a call from Leonard Eddington 530 00:25:34,492 --> 00:25:37,120 at 7:00 that morning 531 00:25:37,162 --> 00:25:39,414 asking if Vickie was there. 532 00:25:39,456 --> 00:25:43,585 And they received a second call at 7:10 that morning 533 00:25:43,626 --> 00:25:45,003 asking if Vickie had been to work, 534 00:25:45,045 --> 00:25:47,464 and they were told she had not. 535 00:25:48,923 --> 00:25:50,633 NARRATOR: Something about those calls 536 00:25:50,675 --> 00:25:52,469 stands out to the detectives. 537 00:25:52,510 --> 00:25:55,096 Leonard Eddington told them he called the hospital 538 00:25:55,138 --> 00:25:56,973 looking for his wife that morning 539 00:25:57,015 --> 00:25:59,142 after he dropped his children off. 540 00:25:59,184 --> 00:26:01,728 JEFF: He said he did not see the car 541 00:26:01,770 --> 00:26:04,981 with a flat tire till 7:30 542 00:26:05,023 --> 00:26:09,277 and he did not drop his kids off at the YMCA till 8:00, 543 00:26:09,319 --> 00:26:11,029 which means he didn't get back to the house 544 00:26:11,071 --> 00:26:13,948 till some time 8:30 or so. 545 00:26:13,990 --> 00:26:18,036 So he was calling asking about Vickie Eddington 546 00:26:18,078 --> 00:26:22,832 before he claimed he knew she was even missing. 547 00:26:22,874 --> 00:26:24,834 NARRATOR: A week into the investigation, 548 00:26:24,876 --> 00:26:26,586 the new questions about Leonard's story 549 00:26:26,628 --> 00:26:29,047 prompt the detectives to take a closer look 550 00:26:29,089 --> 00:26:31,174 at everything he's told them. 551 00:26:31,216 --> 00:26:34,886 And they discover another discrepancy. 552 00:26:34,928 --> 00:26:36,221 DENNIS: The hospital was concerned 553 00:26:36,262 --> 00:26:38,223 that Vickie didn't show up for work. 554 00:26:38,264 --> 00:26:41,935 JEFF: They started calling every 10, 15 minutes 555 00:26:41,976 --> 00:26:44,479 or three or four hours, let the phone ring. 556 00:26:45,897 --> 00:26:47,565 Nobody ever picked up. 557 00:26:48,817 --> 00:26:50,902 But Leonard had told law enforcement 558 00:26:50,944 --> 00:26:53,238 he was sleeping at Vickie's house that night. 559 00:26:53,279 --> 00:26:55,407 And he didn't get any phone calls. 560 00:26:57,659 --> 00:27:00,370 NARRATOR: As the investigation begins to focus on Leonard 561 00:27:00,412 --> 00:27:03,289 as a possible suspect in his wife's disappearance, 562 00:27:03,331 --> 00:27:07,210 Vickie's family finds itself in an agonizing position. 563 00:27:07,252 --> 00:27:10,547 SANDY: It was very tense at times 564 00:27:10,588 --> 00:27:11,840 because we had to play nice 565 00:27:11,881 --> 00:27:13,675 in order to be with the children. 566 00:27:13,717 --> 00:27:17,095 LARRY: The first couple times that we came to the house 567 00:27:17,137 --> 00:27:18,888 and we'd be in the backyard 568 00:27:18,930 --> 00:27:21,307 and every time we got near the back, 569 00:27:21,349 --> 00:27:23,143 he would steer us out of there. 570 00:27:23,184 --> 00:27:25,603 And finally, we confronted him and said, 571 00:27:25,645 --> 00:27:27,272 "Oh, why can't we walk around?" 572 00:27:27,313 --> 00:27:29,065 "No, you have to leave now." 573 00:27:29,107 --> 00:27:32,068 He just-- he kicked us off the property. 574 00:27:32,110 --> 00:27:33,737 We told the investigators 575 00:27:33,778 --> 00:27:36,448 and they said it's just not enough to get a warrant. 576 00:27:36,489 --> 00:27:37,949 And we couldn't gather any proof 577 00:27:37,991 --> 00:27:39,534 because we couldn't go there. 578 00:27:39,576 --> 00:27:41,536 We were restricted from the property altogether. 579 00:27:41,578 --> 00:27:45,373 If we wanted to see the kids, the kids were brought to us. 580 00:27:46,541 --> 00:27:48,084 I started getting mad 581 00:27:48,126 --> 00:27:50,378 and when I got mad, 582 00:27:50,420 --> 00:27:55,050 I was afraid I might not be able to control... 583 00:27:55,091 --> 00:27:59,095 uh, myself around Leonard 584 00:27:59,137 --> 00:28:00,638 and I might do something 585 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:02,640 that would make it even worse for the family. 586 00:28:02,682 --> 00:28:05,977 [**] 587 00:28:06,019 --> 00:28:09,606 JEFF: Leonard Eddington was intensely tied 588 00:28:09,647 --> 00:28:11,107 to his property. 589 00:28:11,149 --> 00:28:13,151 Although the house was built 590 00:28:13,193 --> 00:28:15,320 while he and Vickie were married, 591 00:28:15,362 --> 00:28:19,157 uh, he still considered it his and his pride and joy, 592 00:28:19,199 --> 00:28:22,952 and he did not want to lose possession of it 593 00:28:22,994 --> 00:28:24,662 or have to divide it or sell it. 594 00:28:24,704 --> 00:28:29,542 In fact made numerous statements to his Navy coworkers 595 00:28:29,584 --> 00:28:33,254 that he would not give up that house willingly, 596 00:28:33,296 --> 00:28:35,173 cut it in half with a chainsaw 597 00:28:35,215 --> 00:28:40,428 if the court ordered it to be split. 598 00:28:40,470 --> 00:28:42,639 NARRATOR: Despite the air of suspicion about him, 599 00:28:42,681 --> 00:28:46,685 Leonard seems to be doing all he can to help find Vickie. 600 00:28:46,726 --> 00:28:49,813 LINDA: Leonard actually appeared on television, 601 00:28:49,854 --> 00:28:51,481 pleading very emotionally 602 00:28:51,523 --> 00:28:53,775 for anybody with any kind of information 603 00:28:53,817 --> 00:28:56,152 to please come forward. 604 00:28:56,194 --> 00:28:57,987 NARRATOR: But it doesn't have the result 605 00:28:58,029 --> 00:29:00,115 he may have been hoping for. 606 00:29:01,366 --> 00:29:03,159 DENNIS: We were contacted by a lady 607 00:29:03,201 --> 00:29:07,205 who said that at the time of Vickie's disappearance, 608 00:29:07,247 --> 00:29:09,040 she was engaged to Leonard. 609 00:29:11,042 --> 00:29:14,004 Leonard had told her that he'd been divorced 610 00:29:14,045 --> 00:29:15,505 for a couple of years. 611 00:29:18,341 --> 00:29:22,512 What started to come to light was that Leonard was actively 612 00:29:22,554 --> 00:29:26,057 seeking relationships with women. 613 00:29:26,099 --> 00:29:30,186 He had ads placed in the San Diego Union Tribune 614 00:29:30,228 --> 00:29:34,816 and had some encounters and involvements. 615 00:29:38,361 --> 00:29:40,447 When this information started coming out 616 00:29:40,488 --> 00:29:43,783 after Vickie's disappearance, 617 00:29:43,825 --> 00:29:45,326 it really opened the door 618 00:29:45,368 --> 00:29:47,370 to the possibility that he wanted to get rid of her. 619 00:30:00,925 --> 00:30:02,469 NARRATOR: It's been a month since Vickie Eddington vanished 620 00:30:04,471 --> 00:30:07,557 and suspicions are growing about her husband Leonard. 621 00:30:09,351 --> 00:30:11,519 DENNIS: Even though there was a lot of suspicion 622 00:30:11,561 --> 00:30:13,480 that points finger at Leonard 623 00:30:13,521 --> 00:30:16,524 for being somehow involved in Vickie's disappearance, 624 00:30:16,566 --> 00:30:18,777 there's really no hard evidence that he is. 625 00:30:18,818 --> 00:30:21,529 The case kind of comes to a standstill 626 00:30:21,571 --> 00:30:25,575 when there's really nothing more definitive than suspicion. 627 00:30:28,578 --> 00:30:31,039 NARRATOR: Detectives keep their sights on Leonard 628 00:30:31,081 --> 00:30:33,958 but months go by, then a year, 629 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:35,669 and they can still find nothing 630 00:30:35,710 --> 00:30:38,004 that connects him to Vickie's disappearance. 631 00:30:43,259 --> 00:30:46,930 Then a frightening new possibility arises. 632 00:30:49,933 --> 00:30:53,395 On the afternoon of July 15th, 1982, 633 00:30:53,436 --> 00:30:55,939 two boys on a bike ride discovered the body 634 00:30:55,980 --> 00:30:58,108 of 16-year-old Wendy Caulfield 635 00:30:58,149 --> 00:31:00,110 in the Green River in Washington. 636 00:31:00,151 --> 00:31:03,863 Within a month, four more bodies would be found. 637 00:31:06,783 --> 00:31:10,912 SANDY: In Washington, young women were disappearing. 638 00:31:10,954 --> 00:31:13,915 And their bodies were being found along the Green River. 639 00:31:15,667 --> 00:31:17,711 Well, it turns out in San Diego, 640 00:31:17,752 --> 00:31:22,674 the same pattern had started to develop down there. 641 00:31:22,716 --> 00:31:26,469 JEFF: At the time, there was a series of bodies of women 642 00:31:26,511 --> 00:31:30,932 being found in the east county portion of San Diego. 643 00:31:30,974 --> 00:31:33,018 Uh, a lot of them prostitutes, 644 00:31:33,059 --> 00:31:35,854 runaways, hitchhikers. 645 00:31:37,981 --> 00:31:41,151 DENNIS: Vickie disappeared 1987 and people brought up the-- 646 00:31:41,192 --> 00:31:45,613 the issue of the Green River Killer. 647 00:31:45,655 --> 00:31:49,826 So the Seattle group contacted the San Diego group 648 00:31:49,868 --> 00:31:53,663 and they started correlating their information 649 00:31:53,705 --> 00:31:56,624 to figure out if there was a connection. 650 00:31:58,418 --> 00:32:00,670 LINDA: What we were hearing in terms of theories 651 00:32:00,712 --> 00:32:05,383 was that Vickie could be a victim of that person 652 00:32:05,425 --> 00:32:06,801 who was killing younger women. 653 00:32:06,843 --> 00:32:09,054 [**] 654 00:32:11,681 --> 00:32:14,142 NARRATOR: Investigators pour over every bit of evidence 655 00:32:14,184 --> 00:32:16,686 they have collected since Vickie Eddington vanished 656 00:32:16,728 --> 00:32:20,482 from a desolate road in July 1987. 657 00:32:20,523 --> 00:32:23,151 But there's nothing to connect her to the other cases 658 00:32:23,193 --> 00:32:24,652 in San Diego County 659 00:32:24,694 --> 00:32:26,863 or to the Green River Killer. 660 00:32:26,905 --> 00:32:30,200 Police conclude the timing of Vickie's disappearance 661 00:32:30,241 --> 00:32:32,786 is just an eerie coincidence. 662 00:32:35,372 --> 00:32:37,165 Vickie's family is losing hope 663 00:32:37,207 --> 00:32:39,751 that they will ever learn what happened to her. 664 00:32:42,212 --> 00:32:43,755 After the first year, 665 00:32:43,797 --> 00:32:45,674 we accepted the fact that she was dead and gone. 666 00:32:45,715 --> 00:32:48,760 It was very frustrating, 667 00:32:48,802 --> 00:32:51,846 but until the body is found, what else can you do? 668 00:32:51,888 --> 00:32:55,558 [**] 669 00:32:57,560 --> 00:32:59,312 LINDA: Four and a half years go by 670 00:32:59,354 --> 00:33:01,981 from when she first went missing. 671 00:33:02,023 --> 00:33:03,483 Case is completely cold 672 00:33:03,525 --> 00:33:06,152 but there's still a lot of interest in the community 673 00:33:06,194 --> 00:33:07,487 in finding out what happened, 674 00:33:07,529 --> 00:33:10,198 so much so that a member of the community 675 00:33:10,240 --> 00:33:11,825 actually brought it up to a detective 676 00:33:11,866 --> 00:33:13,910 who was working a different case. 677 00:33:13,952 --> 00:33:17,914 [**] 678 00:33:20,250 --> 00:33:22,711 DENNIS: I was assigned to the San Diego Metropolitan 679 00:33:22,752 --> 00:33:26,506 Homicide Task Force and I was in the Jamul area 680 00:33:26,548 --> 00:33:29,968 of San Diego County investigating another homicide. 681 00:33:31,302 --> 00:33:35,724 JEFF: Uh, the proprietor had a feed store in Jamul, 682 00:33:35,765 --> 00:33:38,810 didn't know anything about the, uh, the Jane Doe case 683 00:33:38,852 --> 00:33:42,063 but he brought up, "What about Vickie Eddington? 684 00:33:42,105 --> 00:33:43,565 Why don't you check that out?" 685 00:33:44,858 --> 00:33:46,568 DENNIS: At the time, I didn't know 686 00:33:46,609 --> 00:33:48,528 who Vickie Eddington was. 687 00:33:48,570 --> 00:33:51,239 So that day, I went back to the office 688 00:33:51,281 --> 00:33:53,116 and I pulled her case. 689 00:33:55,785 --> 00:33:57,662 NARRATOR: Like the original investigators, 690 00:33:57,704 --> 00:34:00,040 Detective Brugos quickly becomes suspicious 691 00:34:00,081 --> 00:34:03,335 of the story told by Vickie's estranged husband Leonard 692 00:34:03,376 --> 00:34:07,005 about finding Vickie's car abandoned with a flat tire. 693 00:34:07,047 --> 00:34:10,508 The original team had noticed something strange 694 00:34:10,550 --> 00:34:12,135 about the tire. 695 00:34:12,177 --> 00:34:15,096 DENNIS: Deputy Miller reported that there was no wear 696 00:34:15,138 --> 00:34:17,265 on the tire like there always is when, uh, 697 00:34:17,307 --> 00:34:18,767 someone has a flat tire on the road. 698 00:34:19,934 --> 00:34:21,561 NARRATOR: Detective Brugos learns 699 00:34:21,603 --> 00:34:23,271 that even after four years, 700 00:34:23,313 --> 00:34:26,775 Vickie's car is still in a police impound lot. 701 00:34:26,816 --> 00:34:29,277 DENNIS: That made me decide that the tires should be sent 702 00:34:29,319 --> 00:34:33,114 back to the manufacturer for examination. 703 00:34:33,156 --> 00:34:37,202 And their experts said the flat was not from the result 704 00:34:37,243 --> 00:34:39,746 of any type of road damage. 705 00:34:40,914 --> 00:34:43,500 JEFF: Then they got inside the tire 706 00:34:43,541 --> 00:34:47,379 and found why it went flat. 707 00:34:47,420 --> 00:34:49,005 There were two puncture holes 708 00:34:49,047 --> 00:34:51,800 on the inside of the tire right next each other. 709 00:34:51,841 --> 00:34:55,887 So it looked like somebody flattened the tire. 710 00:34:55,929 --> 00:34:59,849 You know, that tells me that this is a setup. 711 00:35:01,017 --> 00:35:02,769 NARRATOR: The new discovery 712 00:35:02,811 --> 00:35:04,771 combined with what the original detectives 713 00:35:04,813 --> 00:35:08,733 found in Vickie's car paint a damning picture. 714 00:35:08,775 --> 00:35:11,152 JEFF: Only Leonard Eddington's prints 715 00:35:11,194 --> 00:35:13,154 were on the spare tire, 716 00:35:14,656 --> 00:35:16,324 on the jack, 717 00:35:16,366 --> 00:35:19,077 inside the door, 718 00:35:19,119 --> 00:35:23,707 and on the frame that concealed the spare tire. 719 00:35:23,748 --> 00:35:26,751 Her fingerprints were inside the car. 720 00:35:27,919 --> 00:35:29,671 NARRATOR: The new evidence once again 721 00:35:29,713 --> 00:35:32,257 makes Leonard Eddington a prime suspect 722 00:35:32,298 --> 00:35:35,176 in his wife's disappearance. 723 00:35:35,218 --> 00:35:37,762 Detective Brugos begins digging deeper 724 00:35:37,804 --> 00:35:39,848 into his relationship with Vickie, 725 00:35:39,889 --> 00:35:43,059 looking for the proof he needs. 726 00:35:43,101 --> 00:35:45,103 His interviews include a neighbor 727 00:35:45,145 --> 00:35:47,605 who tells the detectives something that sets off 728 00:35:47,647 --> 00:35:49,733 a major alarm. 729 00:35:49,774 --> 00:35:51,985 DENNIS: They said about two months after her disappearance, 730 00:35:52,027 --> 00:35:53,987 Leonard brought in some heavy equipment 731 00:35:54,029 --> 00:35:56,823 to fill in a ravine behind the house 732 00:35:56,865 --> 00:35:58,950 for no logical reason. 733 00:35:58,992 --> 00:36:00,910 He actually had told neighbors he was gonna put 734 00:36:00,952 --> 00:36:04,789 his motorhome on the property which he never did. 735 00:36:06,416 --> 00:36:08,043 NARRATOR: Aerial photos confirmed 736 00:36:08,084 --> 00:36:10,628 there's a suspicious spot in Leonard's backyard 737 00:36:10,670 --> 00:36:13,006 along with the new evidence pointing to him, 738 00:36:13,048 --> 00:36:16,176 it's enough for investigators to get a search warrant. 739 00:36:16,217 --> 00:36:19,971 [**] 740 00:36:23,099 --> 00:36:24,726 NARRATOR: On the morning of Saturday 741 00:36:24,768 --> 00:36:27,270 December 21st, 1991, 742 00:36:27,312 --> 00:36:29,898 Detective Brugos and a team of investigators 743 00:36:29,939 --> 00:36:34,027 and forensic techs descend on the Eddington home. 744 00:36:34,069 --> 00:36:36,112 [**] 745 00:36:36,154 --> 00:36:38,073 DENNIS: Leonard came to the door 746 00:36:38,114 --> 00:36:41,493 and, uh, explained to him that we had a search warrant, 747 00:36:41,534 --> 00:36:44,120 and he was very nervous. 748 00:36:44,162 --> 00:36:47,832 JEFF: He could not look the police officer in the eye. 749 00:36:47,874 --> 00:36:50,085 One of the female deputies 750 00:36:50,126 --> 00:36:52,796 was assigned to take control of the children. 751 00:36:53,672 --> 00:36:55,757 When she got the children, 752 00:36:55,799 --> 00:36:59,511 she explained who she was and the youngest child, 753 00:36:59,552 --> 00:37:02,055 I think she was four years old at the time, 754 00:37:03,390 --> 00:37:06,267 told her, "I know why you're here. 755 00:37:06,309 --> 00:37:09,145 You think my mom is buried in the backyard." 756 00:37:21,825 --> 00:37:23,076 NARRATOR: Four years after Leonard Eddington 757 00:37:24,119 --> 00:37:25,453 reported his wife Vickie missing, 758 00:37:25,495 --> 00:37:29,040 California police are searching his backyard. 759 00:37:29,082 --> 00:37:31,292 New evidence and a tip from a neighbor 760 00:37:31,334 --> 00:37:33,878 suggest Vickie maybe buried there, 761 00:37:33,920 --> 00:37:37,716 a hunch even her own children have picked up on. 762 00:37:37,757 --> 00:37:39,342 DENNIS: I asked that the backhoe operator 763 00:37:39,384 --> 00:37:43,304 dig in a specific spot on the property at the ravine 764 00:37:43,346 --> 00:37:45,598 that Leonard Eddington had filled in shortly 765 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:47,726 after his wife's disappearance. 766 00:37:47,767 --> 00:37:51,187 [**] 767 00:37:52,772 --> 00:37:57,318 JEFF: Ultimately, we found a portion of a chain-link fence 768 00:37:57,360 --> 00:38:00,071 down in the hole, it was flat, 769 00:38:00,113 --> 00:38:02,991 we were able to see that there was some cloth 770 00:38:03,033 --> 00:38:04,534 down into the hole next. 771 00:38:04,576 --> 00:38:07,454 [**] 772 00:38:08,955 --> 00:38:10,331 And then the bones. 773 00:38:10,373 --> 00:38:14,085 [**] 774 00:38:16,921 --> 00:38:18,923 JEFF: We'd obtained Vickie's dental records 775 00:38:18,965 --> 00:38:20,425 from her dentist 776 00:38:20,467 --> 00:38:21,885 and eventually the autopsy 777 00:38:21,926 --> 00:38:23,803 was able to match records 778 00:38:23,845 --> 00:38:26,723 with the records of the-- of the body. 779 00:38:26,765 --> 00:38:29,559 [**] 780 00:38:33,229 --> 00:38:35,774 DENNIS: And then Leonard Eddington was transported 781 00:38:35,815 --> 00:38:38,568 to, uh, county jail and charged with murder. 782 00:38:38,610 --> 00:38:41,946 [**] 783 00:38:47,035 --> 00:38:48,828 LARRY: I was numb, 784 00:38:49,954 --> 00:38:52,499 but it was a relief when I... 785 00:38:52,540 --> 00:38:54,793 heard that they had found her. 786 00:38:54,834 --> 00:38:57,545 I knew that we could put her body to rest 787 00:38:57,587 --> 00:39:02,342 and that we could move on from that point. 788 00:39:02,384 --> 00:39:05,345 [**] 789 00:39:08,890 --> 00:39:10,517 DENNIS: The medical examiner 790 00:39:10,558 --> 00:39:11,893 determined that Vickie died 791 00:39:11,935 --> 00:39:13,520 blunt force trauma to the head. 792 00:39:15,397 --> 00:39:17,190 NARRATOR: As they prepared for a trial, 793 00:39:17,232 --> 00:39:19,693 prosecutors are finally able to put together 794 00:39:19,734 --> 00:39:21,444 a clear picture of what happened 795 00:39:21,486 --> 00:39:22,654 to Vickie Eddington 796 00:39:22,696 --> 00:39:26,282 on the night of July 30th, 1987. 797 00:39:26,324 --> 00:39:28,284 [**] 798 00:39:28,326 --> 00:39:31,121 JEFF: Leonard Eddington said he was in Vickie's house 799 00:39:31,162 --> 00:39:33,540 consensually on the night of her disappearance. 800 00:39:34,874 --> 00:39:36,334 Kids were asleep 801 00:39:36,376 --> 00:39:38,336 and Vickie eventually went to sleep 802 00:39:38,378 --> 00:39:42,507 to get ready for her 11:00 shift at the hospital. 803 00:39:43,675 --> 00:39:45,885 While she was sleeping... 804 00:39:45,927 --> 00:39:47,971 he beat her badly. 805 00:39:48,013 --> 00:39:51,599 [**] 806 00:39:54,728 --> 00:39:58,732 JEFF: He wrapped her up in the items that were there, 807 00:39:58,773 --> 00:40:02,527 the sheets, some other bedding that may have been there. 808 00:40:02,569 --> 00:40:04,446 [**] 809 00:40:04,487 --> 00:40:07,449 JEFF: When he buries her, he puts the chain-link fence 810 00:40:07,490 --> 00:40:10,952 over the top so that when the rains come, 811 00:40:10,994 --> 00:40:13,288 even if it erodes the top layer of dirt, 812 00:40:13,329 --> 00:40:15,498 the body's not gonna come floating off. 813 00:40:15,540 --> 00:40:18,376 [**] 814 00:40:18,418 --> 00:40:21,087 NARRATOR: After burying Vickie, prosecutors say 815 00:40:21,129 --> 00:40:23,089 Leonard drove her car four miles down 816 00:40:23,131 --> 00:40:26,176 an isolated road. 817 00:40:26,217 --> 00:40:28,720 He staged it with the tire he had already punctured 818 00:40:28,762 --> 00:40:31,389 to make it look like an accident. 819 00:40:31,431 --> 00:40:34,309 Then he walked back to the house. 820 00:40:34,351 --> 00:40:36,853 LINDA: A young woman, 29 years old, 821 00:40:36,895 --> 00:40:41,399 is brutally murdered buried in her backyard. 822 00:40:41,441 --> 00:40:43,109 It was so disturbing 823 00:40:43,151 --> 00:40:46,321 to know that her husband had killed 824 00:40:46,363 --> 00:40:49,240 the mother of their three children. 825 00:40:49,282 --> 00:40:51,076 NARRATOR: The reported sighting of Vickie 826 00:40:51,117 --> 00:40:52,619 at a convenience store 827 00:40:52,660 --> 00:40:53,995 is determined to be a case 828 00:40:54,037 --> 00:40:56,081 of mistaken identification 829 00:40:56,122 --> 00:40:58,667 and a strange coincidence. 830 00:40:58,708 --> 00:41:02,837 JEFF: Ultimately, we were able to locate a woman 831 00:41:02,879 --> 00:41:04,381 who looked like Vickie 832 00:41:04,422 --> 00:41:07,258 and claimed she went to that 7-Eleven 833 00:41:07,300 --> 00:41:10,261 either that night or close to that night 834 00:41:10,303 --> 00:41:12,180 claiming she had a flat tire and she needed change 835 00:41:12,222 --> 00:41:13,598 to call somebody for a flat. 836 00:41:13,640 --> 00:41:17,018 [**] 837 00:41:19,312 --> 00:41:22,107 NARRATOR: Five years after Vickie Eddington vanished, 838 00:41:22,148 --> 00:41:24,526 Leonard goes on trial for her murder. 839 00:41:24,567 --> 00:41:27,987 JEFF: Leonard Eddington's motive in this case was money, 840 00:41:28,029 --> 00:41:30,240 greed, financial gain. 841 00:41:30,281 --> 00:41:32,575 He knew a divorce was going to happen 842 00:41:32,617 --> 00:41:36,079 but there was a dispute over how the property 843 00:41:36,121 --> 00:41:38,998 and the assets were gonna be divided. 844 00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:41,543 He did not want to divide up his house, 845 00:41:41,584 --> 00:41:46,214 his property, his pension, and share it with Vickie. 846 00:41:46,256 --> 00:41:49,968 So instead of doing that, he made her disappear. 847 00:41:50,010 --> 00:41:54,764 [**] 848 00:41:54,806 --> 00:41:56,725 NARRATOR: The jury deliberates less than a day 849 00:41:56,766 --> 00:42:00,395 before finding Leonard Eddington guilty. 850 00:42:01,688 --> 00:42:04,190 JEFF: He was sentenced to life in prison 851 00:42:04,232 --> 00:42:06,526 without the possibility of parole. 852 00:42:09,029 --> 00:42:10,905 SANDY: It was a relief, 853 00:42:10,947 --> 00:42:12,866 we pretty much knew he was guilty 854 00:42:12,907 --> 00:42:16,619 and the fact that they were able 855 00:42:16,661 --> 00:42:18,496 to prove it so clearly, 856 00:42:18,538 --> 00:42:22,959 it really let us change our focus now 857 00:42:23,001 --> 00:42:25,295 from mourning Vickie 858 00:42:25,337 --> 00:42:27,672 to taking care of Vickie's kids. 859 00:42:27,714 --> 00:42:30,175 [**] 860 00:42:30,216 --> 00:42:33,386 NARRATOR: But Vickie's family receives another blow. 861 00:42:33,428 --> 00:42:36,514 After a court hearing, Leonard Eddington's sister 862 00:42:36,556 --> 00:42:39,017 is awarded custody of the children. 863 00:42:39,059 --> 00:42:41,269 (Sobbing) 864 00:42:41,311 --> 00:42:43,396 It didn't seem just. 865 00:42:45,982 --> 00:42:48,151 They need to know that they are loved. 866 00:42:49,069 --> 00:42:50,820 I miss Vickie. 867 00:42:53,156 --> 00:42:55,367 It's a hole in my heart, 868 00:42:57,077 --> 00:42:59,746 one that can never be filled. 869 00:43:01,247 --> 00:43:04,125 And anybody that has a loss 870 00:43:04,167 --> 00:43:06,211 will understand that. 871 00:43:06,252 --> 00:43:08,546 It just makes no sense. 872 00:43:08,588 --> 00:43:10,382 [**] 873 00:43:10,423 --> 00:43:13,843 LARRY: The world is missing a very bright individual 874 00:43:13,885 --> 00:43:18,723 that's loving and caring, and was full of life. 875 00:43:18,765 --> 00:43:22,310 She was a positive influence no matter where she went. 876 00:43:23,186 --> 00:43:26,481 [**]