04x12 - Don't Get in the Truck

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: a young mother disappears without a trace.

I knew that something was wrong.

This girl is missing and we needed to find her.

Narrator: it's a race against time to track her down.

No idea whether she's okay or she's been harmed.

Narrator: a case that leads to a jaw-dropping confession.

I never would have thought another human being

Would be telling me this face-to-face.

Rennie: surveillance video played the crucial role

To put away a monster.

--Captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

Captions paid for by discovery communications

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♪♪

Narrator: february 28, 2014, bedford, texas.



Has big plans for the weekend.

Okay, you guys be good for nana, okay?

Okay.

I'll be back on sunday. I love you so much.

Emily worked hard, and sometimes she'd want

A little time to let off some steam

And relax a little on the weekends,

And she'd leave the kids with us.

Narrator: as a single mom, life is hectic,

So emily's looking forward to a weekend away

With her boyfriend.

-Hi, girls, come on in. -Look who's here.

When she entered a room, the room just lit up.

She was just that kind of person.

Hi.

Sorry. I'm running a little bit behind.

There you go.

Just so outgoing and funny.

I love you.

Vibrant, I guess is the word.

Thank you so much for taking them.

Appreciate it. -Bye, sweetheart.

Okay, love you.

Have fun, honey. Say hi to robert for us.

Okay, will do. I'll give you guys a shout

When I get there, okay?

-Drive safe. -Okay, love you, bye.

Narrator: the divorcée has been dating



Donna: emily seemed really happy with robert.

One of the things that emily really liked about robert

Was that the children were really attracted to him.

He was really good with them.

Narrator: the only downside to emily's new romance

Is that robert's gotten a job 400 miles away

On an oil rig in carlsbad, new mexico.

But that's not going to keep the couple apart.

She was just gonna go out there,

Have a kind of relaxing, enjoyable weekend

And be back sunday, mid to late afternoon.

♪♪

Narrator: after an 8-hour drive,

Emily meets robert at the stevens inn,

Where he's living whilst he looks

For something more permanent.

-Hey, honey. -Robert.

You made it.

It was a long drive.

Baby, I missed you so much.

Narrator: it's been two weeks since they last saw each other.

And they're eager to make up for lost time.

Let's go right this way, here let me help you.

Thank you.

♪♪

♪♪

Two days later, emily's mom gets an unexpected message.

On sunday morning, when we got out of church,

I had a message from robert on my phone

That said to call him.

[ Cellphone rings ]

Mrs. Koenig?

Robert, is that you?

Is there a problem?

Yeah, it's emily.

I said, "robert, what's going on? What's the bottom line?"

And he said, "emily is missing."

Well, where is she? What's going on?

He was telling me that they had gone

To the bar and they were having a good time

And that emily had left,

And he didn't know where she had gone.

Robert: I don't know, I'm really worried.

They'd gotten in a little tiff, and emily had stormed out.

Narrator: there's no way to reach emily

Because she's left her phone in the room

And her car is parked outside.

I asked him if he had talked to the police,

And he said he had not.

And I said, "well, hang up this phone and call the police."

Narrator: just after noon, robert calls 911.

Donna: it wasn't like emily.

She would have been headed home by then.

She never left her girls,

And she loved her teaching job.

She would have never jeopardized anything like that.

Narrator: carlsbad detectives scot naylor

And blaine rennie immediately head

To the stevens inn.

In carlsbad, we usually don't receive

That many calls on missing adults.

Narrator: the detectives head straight to robert's room.

They want to find out more details

About the events of the day before.

Naylor: he started telling us, they'd spent saturday

Going around to a couple restaurants,

Came back, had dinner, and then they had gone

To the bar there at the motel.

So what time did you go to the bar?

About 9:15, maybe 9:20.

Narrator: robert tells detectives

He and emily were playing pool,

Drinking, and having a good time.

She was getting a lot of attention,

I mean, a lot of attention.

But as the evening wore on, emily's mood soured.

I started playing pool with this other guy

And emily wasn't happy about it.

She gets upset that he's really not paying

That much attention to her.

Narrator: that's when emily started looking

For attention elsewhere.

He said that she was flirting

With some other people and this and that.

They get into an argument.

You know what? I'm out.

She's telling him that a guy's hitting on her,

And he's offered to take her home.

Robert, at that point, says,

"Well, if you're gonna go, go."

Narrator: that's when emily stormed out.

That's the last time robert said he saw her.

Okay, and what did you do?

Narrator: robert says he went back to their room

Figuring emily would come back

As soon as she cooled off.

Heavily intoxicated, he passed out.

But 12 hours later, emily is still missing.

With no other witnesses, detectives go in search

Of security cameras that could shed light

On emily's disappearance.

Surveillance video doesn't lie to you.

It's gonna tell you the truth every time you watch it.

Narrator: the detectives scan

The hotel exterior for cameras.

There is no surveillance around the grounds at the motel.

Narrator: next, they check inside the hotel lobby.

You have any cameras in here?

Just this one right here.

Narrator: if this camera was recording,

It could provide a clue to the disappearance

Of emily lambert.

The hotel bar also has cctv.

We have one here, guys.

Narrator: and another overlooking the entrance.

So there's one up here.

Crucially, it captures every person

Entering and leaving the bar.

Investigators pull the footage,

Then take it back to the station.

Okay, start it up, please.

They start with the camera

Over the entrance to the bar.

They cue up the footage to five minutes

Before robert said emily walked out.

Detectives want to know, does emily lambert

Leave alone, with someone else,

Or was she abducted?

Look.

Narrator: emily lambert's romantic weekend

With boyfriend robert earley has taken a dark turn.

Well, where is she? What's going on?

After an argument in the hotel bar,

Emily's vanished into thin air.

Okay, start it up, please.

She's been missing for more than 12 hours now

And cctv footage may be investigators'

Only hope at picking up her trail.

We wanted to observe whether anybody

Left with emily, whether robert was with her when they left.

Narrator: detectives cue up the footage

Overlooking the entrance to the hotel bar and hit play.

♪♪

Naylor: there's multiple people outside,

Which is known for a place where people

Can go smoke cigarettes and talk.

Narrator: at 11:30 p.m.,

Detective naylor spots someone.

♪♪

Rewind that part right there.

Naylor: I observed a female walking

Out the door pretty briskly.

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♪♪

It's emily lambert leaving by herself.

The way she walked out, it was very apparent

There was something wrong.

Her body language was, "I want to get somewhere fast,"

Very upset looking,

And her focus was straight ahead.

She'd been drinking,

Dressed very nice like she was,

It's very plausible that someone could have

Taken advantage of her mental state at that time.

♪♪

There was a man in a cowboy hat on the video, as emily walks by,

He observes her and you can tell

He kind of watches her go by.

Could he have followed her? Could he be involved?

Narrator: the detectives keep watching.

♪♪

♪♪

At 11:34, a familiar face appears.

Rennie: we observe robert earley come out the bar doors,

And then he goes back in.

♪♪

Narrator: robert hangs around just inside the entrance.

♪♪

♪♪

He appears to be waiting for someone.

Seconds later, he exits...

♪♪

...and takes a cigarette from some other patrons.

Robert approaches the man in the cowboy hat

Who had watched emily leave the bar

And he asks for a light.

♪♪

And just as robert said,

He leaves alone five minutes after emily.

It does back up robert's story

About them getting into an argument.

Narrator: the investigators know

The first 24 hours in a missing person's case are critical.

Rennie: this girl just didn't leave with someone

From the bar.

She was actually missing,

And we needed to find her.

Narrator: back in bedford,

Emily's parents are becoming more and more concerned.

We were so worried. We just piled kids in the car.

Steven: and we were trying to be as low key

As possible because the kids had no idea.

Mommy was just missing, so we didn't want to

Get them into any kind of panic situation.

Narrator: the koenigs decide to make

The 400-mile trip to carlsbad to talk to the police.

We were hopeful that there was a possibility

We might be able to find her.

Narrator: but emily's parents

Are beginning to fear the worst.

Deep down, as a mom, I knew that there was

Really nothing that would have kept her

From her girls,

So I knew that something was seriously wrong.

This is totally out of character for emily.

She's always in touch.

Will you bring home my mommy, please?

Rennie: emily had two young daughters.

I also have children, so it hits really,

Really close to home and becomes very emotional.

Narrator: as there are no cameras

Outside the hotel, detectives have no way

Of telling where emily went after she left the bar.

With the clock ticking, investigators resort

To canvassing the hotel guests for any leads.

Rennie: they're looking for any witnesses,

Anybody that's seen anything, heard anything.

♪♪

Narrator: it's a fruitless search,

Until they speak to the guest in the room

Next to robert's.

Carlsbad p.d.

Rennie: he said that he had heard a argument,

That he was able to hear coming from

The general area of robert and emily's room.

Narrator: but robert had told police

Emily never came back to the room that night.

In light of this new information,

Detectives bring robert in

For a formal, recorded interview.

In this interview, robert gives us more details,

Which is normal.

The more you interview them,

They'll start giving more details.

He says this time, that when emily does leave the bar...

...he follows her to the room.

He did not tell us that the first interview.

Narrator: robert admits to the drunken argument

In the room that the hotel guest had overheard.

Robert says emily then stormed out of the room.

She got in this white pickup and drove off with this guy.

Narrator: it's a breakthrough.

The investigation now has a clear objective.

Find the white truck and find emily lambert.

Narrator: emily lambert's panicked boyfriend,

Robert earley, says he last saw her

Leaving the hotel with a stranger.

Back at the station,

Detectives push robert for more details

About the vehicle.

Robert described the truck as a typical 4-wheel drive.

Narrator: they ask robert if he can

Identify the driver.

Rennie: he described the guy inside as being a great big guy

And who would actually terrify robert

If he was to get into an altercation with him.

Narrator: this sounds just enough

Like the man outside the bar to cause suspicion.

Robert then tells them he chased emily

And the man in the cowboy hat.

He says he follows this truck. They go east of town.

Narrator: robert describes following the truck

For 11 miles into the countryside.

Says they pull up in this driveway.

Robert pulls up behind them.

Naylor: we don't know whether she was there or not,

Or she's gonna be there, but there could be evidence

At that location to help us identify

Who was driving that truck.

Narrator: robert takes them

Straight to the location.

Rennie: you're actually thinking in your mind,

"Maybe she's injured, maybe we can get her some help."

No, you stay here.

Narrator: concerned with what they might find,

They ask robert to stay by the car.

As detective naylor searches the back of the ranch,

Something catches his attention.

♪♪

It's a woman's wrist watch.

♪♪

♪♪

Blaine!

♪♪

Narrator: lying facedown is the body of a young woman.

Emily lambert is no longer missing.

Detective rennie breaks the news to emily's boyfriend.

We found her. She's deceased.

No, no, no.

She was discarded in a field,

Basically like trash.

♪♪

Narrator: in bedford, emily's parents

Are anxiously waiting for news.

[ Phone ringing ]

Hello?

Mr. Koenig, it's detective rennie.

I'm so sorry.

♪♪

We just hugged each other and said,

"Well, now we're alone."

You're never really expecting it, it just hits you.

It's like somebody hit you with a baseball bat.

Takes your breath away.

♪♪

Narrator: back at the crime scene,

It's clear emily has suffered horrific injuries

As well as blunt-force trauma to the head.

New mexico state police find something else.

You could see that there were

Possible ligature marks on her neck.

Narrator: they discover that emily's body

Had been dragged some 500 feet

To its final resting place.

Carlsbad p.d. Are now working a homicide.

The race is now on to identify the suspect

With the white truck

Who robert earley says emily left the hotel with.

If we could catch an image of that white truck,

That'll corroborate his story.

Narrator: police work the route backwards

From the m*rder site.

We know the route they went.

We start to look for video surveillance.

Narrator: at a wal-mart just 5 miles

From where emily's body was abandoned,

There's a camera facing the highway.

The manager tells them the camera records

Around the clock and the footage is held on-site.

Start it at 11:30 p.m.

They cue up the footage

To the time when emily was last seen on camera

Leaving the bar and hit play.

♪♪

The footage is dimly lit

And the camera is a long way from the road,

But passing traffic is just visible.

♪♪

Detectives spool through the footage

Looking for the white truck.

♪♪

There.

♪♪

Then, at two minutes after midnight,

And 30 minutes after emily left the bar,

They spot something.

We did see a white truck pull into the parking lot

And it goes over by the gas pumps.

♪♪

We can't see occupants in the vehicle.

We can't see a license plate.

No real details of the vehicle.

Narrator: but it is in the area

And at the time that robert said he was chasing the white pickup.

♪♪

♪♪

If emily is in the truck, police believe it's likely

She met the driver at the hotel earlier in the evening.

The detectives return to the station

To review the cctv footage from inside the bar

To see if they can match anyone to the white pickup.

♪♪

At 9:24 detectives see robert and emily together

In the top right of frame.

♪♪

♪♪

The couple appear to be enjoying one another's company.

♪♪

Minutes later, robert leaves.

Emily's now alone.

♪♪

As she picks up her purse and turns from the bar,

A man starts talking to her.

♪♪

Who is this guy and where did he come from?

Narrator: detectives are searching

For the k*ller of 30-year-old single mother, emily lambert.

They need to i.d. The driver of a white pickup,

And they just spotted on cctv an unknown man approach emily

Just hours before her death.

♪♪

Naylor: the video was very dark.

It was very frustrating.

He stays in the shadow the whole time.

Narrator: they can tell the man is stocky

And wearing a black short-sleeved shirt

But cannot make out his face.

They go through the footage, frame by frame,

Looking for the clearest shot

That will help them i.d. The man.

Freeze it.

They take a screen shot of the footage

And head over to the stevens inn hotel

To see if anyone recognizes him from the bar.

♪♪

You recognize that guy?

Yes, I think I do.

The hotel manager thinks it could be a guest.

Here we go, officer.

When investigators take a look at his i.d.,

They make a surprising discovery.

It was robert earley's boss, gabriel jaime,

And the staff knew him

Because they had been staying there for a while.

Narrator: as one of the last men seen speaking with emily

On cctv on the night she was m*rder*d,

Police need to question him.

♪♪

Jaime confirms it's him on the cctv talking to emily,

But he says he was in the bar until after midnight,

Long after emily left.

When they follow up his story,

It's corroborated by hotel staff.

This guy isn't our guy in the white truck.

Narrator: the investigation has hit a dead end.

Detectives return to the final camera angle

Overlooking the hotel reception desk,

Hoping to i.d. The man in the cowboy hat described by robert.

They cue up the footage to 11:48,

Around the time robert said emily got into the white truck.

They see four men at the counter,

But none are wearing cowboy hats

Or have goatees.

Then the detectives' attention is drawn

To the right of frame.

That's robert.

But according to robert's police interview,

At this time, he should be in his room with emily.

So what's he doing in reception?

♪♪

♪♪

Rennie: there are some male subjects

At the end of the counter,

And they appear to be actually watching what he's doing.

Narrator: just off camera,

Robert's clearly creating a scene.

Rennie: the three guys that are watching him are kind of

Taken aback by what he's actually doing.

They're kind of looking at him like, you know,

"Whoa, what are you talking about over there?"

Which kind of piqued our interest.

♪♪

Narrator: 20 seconds pass, and robert returns.

Now he has his cellphone pressed to his right ear.

He hadn't told police about any phone calls.

♪♪

Robert hangs up...

♪♪

...leaves reception,

And eventually heads in the direction of the bar.

They time-match back to the camera footage

Facing the bar entrance,

To see if robert is lying about anything else.

♪♪

At 11:50 p.m.,

Just seconds after leaving the reception desk,

Robert walks through frame again,

Contradicting his earlier statement.

♪♪

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He comes out, he's holding his phone,

He's staring at his phone,

He's no longer interested in anybody around him

Like he was before.

♪♪

Narrator: with robert earley's entire testimony

Unraveling in front of their eyes,

The detectives track him back to the reception.

He's back.

Rennie: he keeps looking around.

It's obvious that he's agitated or upset about something.

♪♪

As she hands the key up,

He grabs it and immediately turns and leaves.

Narrator: the cctv footage completely contradicts

Robert's story that he was in the room at this time,

Arguing with emily.

Police now have a theory.

I'm starting to think that he had to go back

And get a room key 'cause he's locked out.

Now he's calling her on the phone.

And he's angry with her because now he's locked out.

I'm starting to think that he knows a whole lot more

Than what he's telling us.

Narrator: now investigators need to find out

Who robert is talking to and why.

They subpoena both emily and robert's cellphone records.

I got something for ya.

They also access emily's voicemail..

...and find one message left just minutes

After robert left reception.

And when detectives listen to the recording,

It could tell them everything they need to know

About what happened.

Narrator: investigators have retrieved

A voicemail message left on emily lambert's phone

On the night she was m*rder*d.

It's from her boyfriend, robert earley,

And it doesn't sound like a friendly call.

[ Earley speaking indistinctly ]

At first it caught us off guard,

And it was hard to understand, it was real gargled.

It was very eerie.

[ Earley speaking indistinctly ]

What we initially found out,

That voicemail came from robert earley's cellphone.

His cellphone had been in his pocket,

And it called her cellphone.

Narrator: then they hear something that's crystal clear.

You hear emily screaming, "never, never again"

And "get away from me."

[ Indistinct conversation ]

There's an obvious struggle going on.

It changed our outlook on the whole situation,

In hearing her, pretty much blood-curdling scream at him

To leave her alone.

Rennie: my instant thoughts are,

"Now we got to get it out of him.'

Narrator: robert earley is now the prime suspect.

Investigators assign a new detective to interview him,

Detective allen sanchez.

Sanchez: the very first thing I wanted to do

Is just build a rapport with him.

I wanted to make sure that the truth came out.

Narrator: sensing robert is about to open up,

Sanchez offers him a cigarette break.

♪♪

Narrator: at 11:30 p.m., Emily storms out of the bar.

Robert then returns to their room.

Rennie: at that point, she is in the room,

She's locked the door and wouldn't let him back in.

Narrator: locked out, robert goes to reception

And gets a key card.

Emily just wanted to go home.

Sanchez: I couldn't believe it.

I never would have thought

Another human being would be telling me this face-to-face,

That they did this to someone that they "love."

Narrator: robert invented the man in the white cowboy hat

Out of thin air,

And his account of the white truck was pure fiction.

There's a lot of white trucks in carlsbad,

Including the one spotted, coincidentally, at walmart.

Robert confesses he loaded emily into his car

And took her to the ranch.

Even hardened detectives are mortified

By what he does next.

He takes emily lambert's unconscious body,

She's alive,

Puts her out on the ground, ties a rope around her neck,

Shuts the rope in the back passenger door of the car...

...and drags her 510 feet on a glitchy, rocky road.

♪♪

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Narrator: on may 15, 2015,

After deliberating for just a few hours,

The jury finds robert earley guilty of kidnapping

And m*rder in the first degree.

He's sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Rennie: surveillance video plays a crucial role

In being able to provide, not only justice to the family,

But to put away a monster.

Narrator: as emily's parents raise their grandchildren,

They take consolation knowing their daughter's bright spirit

Lives on, but the pain of their loss will never go away.

Emily was such a vibrant person, and such a great mom,

It's just so sad to know that they'll never really know her.

Steven: life without emily is difficult.

It's just really tough most days.

Donna: you never get really used to losing a child.

I think that's probably the hardest thing.