02x02 - Madison Nygard

[bunniefuu]

[dramatic music]

- Madison and I--we planned
to go to that party that night.

- I wasn't able to
give her a ride home.

She told me that she had
lived right up the road.

I'll be fine.
I'll text you once I'm there.

- I seen a sheriff's
car in my driveway,

And instantly my heart sank.

- And they just basically
told me

That there was a girl abducted
and I was a suspect.

Tried to reach out to madison,

And I didn't
get any answers from her.

I was like, oh, my
god, is maddie gone?

Was it her?

- I was scared.

- Investigators found a van
best described

As an abduction/r*pe van.

- I was just thinking, why?
Who? What?

- Probably the most terrifying
five minutes of her life.

- This is 911, okay?
What happened?

- [crying] I want my mom,
my mom, my mom.

- "I want my mom,
my mom, my mom."

It's heartbreaking that you
weren't there for your kid.

[sniffles]

♪ ♪

- A young woman
is missing tonight

After leaving a bar
with a stranger,

Then texting "help"
to a friend.

♪ ♪

- You are watching
her terrifying abduction.

♪ ♪

- A missing woman's nude body
was discovered in this ravine.

- Miraculously,
the young woman survived.

♪ ♪

[camera shutter clicking]

- There is an alarming crisis
of violence,

Kidnapping, and m*rder
against innocent women.

- The senseless m*rder
has struck a chord

With thousands of women.

♪

- This has sparked
a global movement online

Of women sharing
their own fears.

They're united
under a hashtag--

#textmewhenyougethome,

A phrase that women
are all too familiar with.

♪ ♪

- In April of 2016,

Madison nygard
is a genial

And well-liked
16-year-old girl

Living in muskegon county,
michigan.

- Madison was a good kid.

She was very outgoing.

She did a lot of sports.

She danced.

She did tap and ballet

And hip-hop, softball,
basketball.

She was the only child.

We were very close.

We did everything together.

There was a lot of struggles
in me being a single mom,

So I had to work a lot.

She was at day care a lot, so,
you know, it was pretty rough.

- We met in middle school,
me and madison.

And it was around
seventh grade,

And at first, it was
more friend of a friend,

And then it was just
us being best friends.

From the moment me and madison
met, we were inseparable.

[upbeat music]

We liked to do
the same things,

Like not be bored
in the house, go outside,

And just,
like, enjoy ourselves.

♪ ♪

- We're friends
from a lot of mutual

Get-togethers and parties.

Madison was a very
fun, outgoing,

Friends-with-everybody
kind of girl,

And I needed good
friends at the time,

So that's what drew me to her.

♪ ♪

- Madison was raised
in north muskegon, michigan.

It was a very safe,
comfortable place.

You could go anywhere,
walk down the street.

No one would bother you
or anything like that.

I mean, it's where I grew up.

- Muskegon county is
in the western part

Of the state of michigan.

- Community that we
were in

Was really rural, lots of
farmhouses and stuff like that.

- It's sort of a microcosm
of the state of michigan.

We have our urban areas,

We have suburban areas,

And we have rural areas.

And, you know,
for the most part,

It's a very safe and fun place

To certainly
live, work, and play.

- Madison has a large
group of friends with whom

She likes to hang out.

- Madison was a typical teen.

She just wanted to be
with her friends at that time,

You know, which, pretty normal.

- Me and madison would often
have friends pick us up,

And we would just drive
around, go by the lake,

Go to, like, different areas
that we thought would be cool--

Anything to get
out of the house.

[upbeat music]

- Madison did
have a cell phone.

She was very attached to it.

However, I would not
pay her monthly bill

So she just could only use
her phone when she had wi-fi.

- You usually could
get a hold of her.

She was very active
on her phone.

Seemed like if she
wasn't on her phone,

It was dead or missing.

- At the time, texting
and social media

Was pretty big for both of us.

24-7 we would text.

We would talk about
everything and everything.

Me and madison would
use snapchat a lot,

Instagram, facebook--
facebook mostly.

We always, like, planned
to go to parties together.

- By the time madison
is 16 years old,

She and her friends meet up at
local parties on the weekends.

They use a group chat
to tell each other

Where the party is that night.

- Everybody was
looking to party,

It seemed, back in the day,
so people from grand haven,

From spring lake, from
muskegon, from twin lake,

From whitehall--they would
all try to figure out a way

To link up with each other
and figure out where

The party was going to be.

Eventually they
made a party chat.

Whoever you wanted to
hang out with that night

Was added to a group chat.

"text me when you're there,
and I'll find you."

It was pretty much what
ran our whole party scene.

♪ ♪

- I see madison that
Friday afternoon,

And I knew she asked
to go out that night,

So I knew she was
going to a party.

And I did not expect her
home Friday night at all.

- At home, madison does
not have many restrictions.

She does not have a curfew.

- She didn't really
have any rules.

Madison would just ask
if she can go somewhere.

I pretty much said yes.

I guess my parents were very
easygoing on me growing up,

So I guess that's
kind of how I was.

Pretty lax, you know?

She could go and do whatever
she wanted,

As long as she
kept in contact with me.

But I hated when she
went out, you know?

I just hated it,
because I never--

You know,
you don't know if she's safe.

You don't know
what she's doing.

So I'd often ask her to
text me when she got home

Or to text me when she
arrived at her destination.

There wasn't really any
fears of anything happening.

Just don't go with strangers.

- Madison and I--
we planned to go

To that party that night
together

And had all the details
worked out and everything.

And when it came
time to ask my mom,

She said no, absolutely not.
[chuckles]

My parents were really strict,

So I didn't get to go
to as many parties.

♪ ♪

- Later that night,
madison nygard arrives

At a party with her friends.

- Parties that I was at,
girls were protected.

I didn't think there was
any harm out there for them.

It seemed like everybody
knew everybody in some sense.

It seemed very safe.

- Around midnight,
madison texts her mom

To let her know
the first party

Was broken up by cops.

She goes to a second party
located at a house

On a large piece of land.

- It was a big field
that we were partying in,

So it was probably about half
a mile to a mile each way

To each next residency.

- The location
of the party was really--

There was a lot
of fields around there,

A pretty quiet neighborhood.

- People all gathered around
a fire with their cars

And trucks blaring music.

[electronic music]

She seemed to be having
a really good time.

- The party continues
throughout the night.

It's still dark when madison
is finally ready to leave,

And she quickly realizes she
doesn't have a ride home.

- Everybody just kind of
left, so me and madison

Found ourselves being a couple
of the only people left there.

And I asked her,
if she wanted to,

We could stay in my car
and wait for me to sober up,

And I would drive us
to wherever,

And she was ready to go home
at that point.

We were sitting
around the fire,

And she told me that she
had lived right up the road.

- Madison tells jake

She thinks she lives
close to the party

And can walk home alone.

She has no idea

She's actually
five miles from her house.

- Me being intoxicated,
I wasn't really aware

Of my surroundings the best,

So I kind of figured
she knew where she was.

And she swore, I'll be fine.
I'm walking right up the road.

I'll text you once I'm there.
My phone's fine.

Blah, blah, blah.

- No one let me know

That she did not have a ride
or anything.

It was very unlike her
to do that.

She was always very well aware
of her surroundings.

♪ ♪

I always told her,
if anything happens, scream.

Scream as loud as you can.

[suspenseful music]

- 16-year-old madison nygard
left an overnight party

Thinking she was close enough
to walk home.

She's been walking
for over an hour

And is completely lost.

- It's just, like,
a rural, rural place.

There's not a whole lot of
houses out in that area.

If they are, they're
pretty scattered.

Just a lot of open fields,
really.

- The only person who knows
madison has left the party

Is her friend jake, who
stayed behind to sober up.

- I don't know who she actually
came to the party with.

I don't know where her
friends were that night.

I asked her if she wanted to,
we could stay in my car

And wait for me to sober up,

And I would drive us
to wherever.

But then my friend had locked
himself into my vehicle,

So I wasn't able to give her
a ride home.

And she swore, I'll be fine.
I'm walking right up the road.

I'll text you once I'm there.

I went into the house and
just passed out on the couch.

- Madison has her
cell phone with her,

But it isn't working.

- She didn't have service
on her phone,

And she can only use it
when she had wi-fi.

I would never advise
her to walk home.

- Since I didn't end up going
to the party with madison,

I did not stay in contact
with her that night

Because her phone
didn't have wi-fi,

And it wasn't active.

- That morning madison isn't
home when her mom wakes up.

- She just normally would come
home the next day.

So, if something happened
where she wasn't home

When, you know,
she was supposed to be,

Then I would obviously call
her or message her.

- Although madison has
stayed out overnight before,

Her mom can't help but think
about what happened

In their town
three years earlier.

- One night in April of 2013,

A customer had actually walked
in the store,

Saw that there was
nobody there--

No clerks, no nothing,
nothing looked disturbed,

And called 911, phoned it in.

- Jessica heeringa
went to work

On a normal shift for her.

She was in the process
of closing that store up

When she went missing.

- Jessica's last customer
was at 10:54 p.M.

The 911 caller discovers the
abandoned store at 11:07 p.M.

When police arrive, they find
her cigarettes and lighter

Next to the cash register.

No money or any
of her belongings

Are taken from the store.

- Jessica's purse
was still there.

Her coat was still there.
Her car was still there.

Everything looked as though
it should have looked.

Investigators showed up
and really didn't see anything

Other than, just outside
the service door,

A pool of blood and what
looked like watch batteries

And a small, little cover,
like a battery cover.

That was it.

That search-and-rescue effort
went on for months,

Involving national media,

State police,
federal investigators.

A task force was formed.

- Very uncommon around here.

That did shake the community.

- I went to school with a girl

Who knew jessica heeringa
personally,

And this is when
all the posters

Were going up and everything

And everybody was first
starting to look for her.

That is when I became
aware of it.

- You just don't hear
about that kind of stuff

Around here.

It doesn't happen a lot.

- Yeah, that's usually
a safe, quiet area.

- As detectives
continue to search

Around the convenience
store for clues,

An eyewitness comes forward

To say they saw a van parked
at the store around the time

Of her disappearance.

- Through some conversations
with some folks that had been

Around the area near the
time that she went missing,

There was a van seen parked
behind the convenience store

Near where
that service door was.

The silver van became
a potential lead.

That van was seen
leaving and driving

In a northward location.

- My mom's friend,
he actually--

His wife used to work
at that gas station.

She was the manager.

And her and him, they
saw the van and the guy,

So he actually did
a sketch of him,

Of who might have taken
jessica.

- A very vague description--
what the driver looked like.

Male with some really,
I guess,

Ruddy facial features,
and that was it.

♪ ♪

- For months,
investigators search

For that silver van and
the man in the police sketch

But come up empty-handed.

♪ ♪

- Investigators weren't
sure whether or not

She had left on her own,

'cause she had
kind of a sketchy past--

Whether this was just part
of her past, if you will.

- There was the rumor
that had gone around

That she just took off
and left

And that she didn't want to be
found and things like that.

- And her whereabouts
was never discovered.

Ultimately, that case went
unsolved

From the time she was abducted
in April 2013

Until they decided to just
kind of follow up on leads

As they came in.

♪

- Three years after
jessica heeringa's

Mysterious disappearance,

Madison nygard still hasn't
made it home from the party.

Madison's mom is
still trying to figure out

Where her daughter is when
she hears an alarming sound.

- It was early in the morning,

And there was just pounding
on my door and pounding.

So I looked out the window,

And I seen a sheriff's car
in my driveway,

And instantly my heart sank

Because I knew she was
at a party the night before.

- 16-year-old madison nygard

Left an overnight party
before dawn.

She tried to walk home
and never made it.

Hours later, madison's mom
sees a sheriff's car

Parked in front of her home.

- It was quite early when the
sheriffs knocked on the door.

[suspenseful music]

I go to the door, and then
the sheriff explained to me

That my daughter got
in the car with someone

That she didn't know.

- Sheriff's deputies
tell madison's mom

To go to the local hospital.

- And that's all I knew
of the whole story.

♪

- While madison's mom
scrambles to find out

What happened to her daughter,

Another case of a young woman

Walking on the same stretch
of road comes to mind.

- Rebekah bletsch was
a married woman, a mother.

Rebekah had been shot
three times in the head area

By a small-caliber g*n.

What we know from
one of the neighbors--

They remember seeing
her walking down the road

In kind of her workout attire
like she normally would.

Ultimately, on her way back,
about a quarter mile

From her house,

Her body was discovered
by another person

That lived in the area

Who happened to be driving down
that road,

And 911 was called.

- Sadly, rebekah
did not survive.

Two years after her death,
madison nygard

Would go missing
on the same road,

Walking home from the party.

The last person to see
madison leave the party

Is her friend jake.

- When I was woken up
in the morning,

It was by
a michigan state police officer

Saying that I was a suspect
in a abduction.

♪ ♪

Asked me a bunch of questions

About where I was
between certain hours.

I had basically told
them, I've been here.

They thought it was possibly
me until I cleared it up.

That's when I was like,
oh, my god, is maddie gone?

Was it her?

- Of course, I immediately
got to the hospital.

My heart was just broke.

- I was just thinking, why?
Who? What?

♪ ♪

- It was something
you never want your child

Or anybody to go through.

[sighs]

♪ ♪

- I'm madison nygard,
and I escaped my abductor.

♪ ♪

I was supposed to go out
with my friend alyssa,

And I ended up going out
with my other friend.

And we had went to this
one party out in the woods.

The cops had came.

So we got an address
to a house party,

And we had went there.

We partied all night
until sunrise came.

♪ ♪

Jake was supposed to bring
me home from that party.

When it was time
for me to go home,

His other friend
had locked himself

In the car with the keys.

♪ ♪

We did try to wake up
his friend in the car,

And he just was not waking up.

At this point, I just
wanted to get home,

And I figured...

I didn't think
I was that far from my house.

So I thought
if I just started walking,

I'd be able to figure it out.

Where we were partying at,
it was kind of isolated.

There wasn't really
people around,

Wasn't many houses around.

I felt I was close to home,
but I didn't know 100%.

You could probably walk for
miles without seeing anybody.

♪ ♪

All the roads looked the same,

And I realized I didn't really
know which way to go

Or how to get home.

♪ ♪

At the time, my cell phone
was not active.

I had no way to
contact anybody.

♪ ♪

At that point, I felt like
I was walking for hours.

I just wanted to get home.

Feeling lost,
helpless, crying.

I just kept walking.

♪ ♪

As I'm walking down the road,
a van had approached me.

♪ ♪

There was definitely
a moment of relief.

♪ ♪

He had asked me if I wanted
a lift, and I had told him no,

And I asked him
if I could just use his phone

To call my mother.

♪ ♪

- The driver tells madison
he has a cell phone

And she's welcome to use it.

- I was very excited
when he had told me

I could use his phone.

Like, I'm like, oh, I'm finally
going to be able

To get home now.

He had told me to just hop
in, and I could use his phone.

♪ ♪

I didn't really feel
threatened by him at all.

I don't think I was really
even thinking much into it.

I was hopeless and
desperate to get home,

And I had felt like he wasn't
going to put me in any harm,

So I figured just
to get in the van.

♪ ♪

And as soon as I got
into his van,

He had rolled up his windows
and locked the doors.

♪ ♪

At that point, I kind of knew
something was off.

I didn't want to seem rude,
so I'd ask him nicely,

And I told him, I said,
I don't mean to be rude and--

Just please roll
the windows back down.

And he didn't say anything.

And then I had asked him,
as he was turning on to a road,

To use his cell phone.

And at that point,
he had told me

That his cell phone was dead.

I told him,
let me out of this van.

And at that point,
he's just staring at me

And not saying completely
anything to me.

I did not have a curfew.

Nobody knew where I was,
what I was doing.

No one was expecting me.
I just felt hopeless.

♪ ♪

At this point,
I know I'm in danger.

My nerves were all
over the place.

And I knew, obviously,
this guy did not have

Good intentions with me.

I keep telling him,
like, let me out,

Let me out, let me out.

He had reached under his seat
and pulled out a g*n.

♪

I noticed that there was
an orange tip on it,

So I thought maybe it wasn't
a real g*n,

But I definitely wasn't going
to take my chances

If it was or wasn't.

At that point,
I knew I had to get

Out of his van
one way or another.

I unlocked the door,
and I just jumped out.

♪ ♪

I knew I didn't have
a second to spare,

So fight or flight kicked in,
and I just took off.

♪ ♪

I had looked behind me
to see if he was still there,

And he was standing
right behind his van

With his g*n aimed at me.

♪ ♪

[dramatic music]

- In muskegon, michigan,

16-year-old madison nygard
has narrowly escaped

A man attempting
to abduct her.

- He had yelled at me and
told me he was just kidding

And it was all a joke
and to come back.

I knew, obviously, I'm not
going to turn back around,

So I just kept running.

I'm running,
and I'm wondering,

Like, why is he
not sh**ting me,

But I'm not even taking any
risk, and I just keep running.

♪ ♪

Saw a house, and it was
the first house I saw.

And there was a girl
sitting out there on her porch.

♪ ♪

And she had heard me
screaming.

She had opened up her door
enough for me to come in

And kept telling me
to come into her house.

♪ ♪

I am telling the girl
whose house I ran into,

Like, we need to hide,
we need to hide.

There is a guy out there
with a g*n.

The woman just seemed
kind of shocked

And didn't really know
what was going on.

- Madison asks the woman
to call 911.

- 911,
where is your emergency?

- Please come immediately.

We have a man that has picked
up a girl, and he has a g*n,

And he's outside the house.

- Okay, we're going to
get help there, okay?

Stay on the line with me.
Stay on the line with me.

Who has a g*n?
- Well, there was a girl.

She just ran up
into my yard, and--

- Can I talk to her?
- Yeah, here she is.

- Hello.

- Hi, this is 911, okay?

What happened?

- [crying] I want my mom,
my mom, my mom.

- Okay.

- I do remember calling
for my mom--

My best friend at that time,

And I think that's all I wanted
and who I wanted.

I need to go to the hospital.

I jumped out of his car
while it was moving.

- Okay.
Do you want an ambulance?

- Yes.

- Madison hides in the house
until an ambulance arrives

And takes her to the hospital.

The driver and his van
are nowhere to be found.

- And then the sheriff
explained to me

That my daughter was
at the hospital right now.

So, of course,
I immediately got dressed

And headed to the hospital.

♪ ♪

And as soon as I walked in
there...

[voice breaking] she just
looked at me and cried...

♪ ♪

And said, I'm just so happy
to see you, mom.

[cries, sighs]

It was terrible.
[sniffles]

- When I saw my mom, I was
finally relieved and happy.

And I thought she
was mad at me,

And she reassured me
she wasn't mad.

And I just felt relieved
she was finally there.

♪ ♪

- Madison looked like a wreck
when I seen her.

She--just crying hysterically.

♪ ♪

She had road rash
all down her shoulder area,

Down her back,
all down her side.

She was in a lot of pain.

♪ ♪

- I don't really remember
the feeling of jumping out

Because my adrenaline
was just going.

- She was just hysterical.

She just needed to feel safe.

♪ ♪

- At the hospital,
madison tells her mom

And investigators everything
that happened to her.

She describes the silver van
and the driver

As a heavy-set man
with facial hair.

- The evidence that we had
was really very small.

A lot of silver vans
in the area, certainly,

A lot of males
with facial hair,

And so there's very little
to work with

At that initial stage
of the investigation.

- Madison's abduction is
uncommon for muskegon county.

- So, as it relates
to violence against women

Or random attacks on women,

We don't see that
all that often.

It's pretty rare that
we have an instance

Where the victim of a crime

Doesn't know
who their assailant was.

- As authorities search for
the man who kidnapped madison,

Word spreads
about her abduction.

♪ ♪

- When madison told me
what happened to her,

I was shocked.

I didn't know what
to think, or...

I didn't even know what to say.

Emotionally, she was kind of--

She was scared, you know?

It's just, you don't really
hear about that happening,

And so it happening to her
hits really close to home.

- Although madison
did not identify jake

As someone involved
in her abduction,

Investigators want to talk
to him themselves.

- And that's when I finally
kind of started to get word

That it was madison
that had been taken.

I didn't get any text back.

I wanted to tell her
how sorry I was

That I wasn't
able to keep her safe

And that I didn't get her
home safe.

- Later, investigators revisit
the site where madison said

She jumped out of the van.

- Obviously the gravel
and the shoulder was disturbed.

Investigators
did, in fact, find

Two .22-caliber b*ll*ts that
were unspent or unfired

Lying on the shoulder.

Based off of what madison
had told investigators,

As she's running away,
she looks back,

She sees this gentleman,
this male figure raise the g*n,

And it looks like
it's pointing at her.

It's clear
from that description

And what investigators found

That he was trying to fire
this weapon

At madison nygard,
and by whatever--

Divine intervention
or manufacturing defect--

The two times he tried,
the g*n jammed.

♪ ♪

As law enforcement
was doing their best

To work with the limited
information that they had,

One of the detectives
made the decision

To kind of drive along
the route that she took,

That she walked, essentially.

♪

Lo and behold,
there was a blueberry farm

Not too far from where
she was abducted from.

♪ ♪

On that property,
in the main entrance,

It had a u-shaped driveway.

There were two security
cameras kind of surveilling

That u-shaped area.

The detective sat
and reviewed that tape

And was able to see
not only a silver van

Going down the roadway

And then circling
and coming back,

The video was clear enough

To notice some very distinct
markings on the van itself.

- For detectives,
the silver van is familiar.

- What was interesting--based
on detectives' knowledge

Of a silver van
and jessica heeringa

Starting to reveal to us
a person that was involved

In much more than
the attempted abduction

Of madison nygard.

And that's when
pandora's box opened up.

- Ten days after a man
abducted madison nygard,

Authorities
are investigating her case.

She was able to escape
her kidnapper by jumping

Out of a moving silver van.

After madison reported
the abduction,

Detectives are able to find
surveillance video of the van.

- From the surveillance video,

Investigators were able to not
only get the make and model

Of the particular van.

They then looked
at the aftermarket features

That were found
on this particular van.

There was a satellite
radio antenna

That had been put on
aftermarket.

It wasn't something that came
standard with the vehicle,

But it was quite visible
in this video.

♪ ♪

From there, investigators were
able to take all the features

That they had
of the particular van

And go through a vin list

And essentially narrow
down from that list

Vans registered to people here
in the muskegon county area.

So that list went from
roughly 32,000 vehicles

Down to about 20
to 25 vehicles.

- While investigators
begin tracking down

Every resident on the list,

Madison recovers
in the hospital.

- She just told me
everything that happened,

And we just sat on that bed
at the hospital,

And I just held her.

She told me that,
when I was running,

And he pointed a g*n at her,
and she said,

And I turned around and
looked at him and said,

Please don't k*ll me.

I have a mom.

It's heartbreaking that you
weren't there for your kid,

Especially at a time
she needs you the most.

You weren't there.
[sniffles]

♪ ♪

- At the hospital, it
was hard for me to sleep.

I had anxiety all the time.

Terrified this guy was going
to end up finding me again.

♪ ♪

- Knowing that the guy
was still out there

And nobody knows
who this man is,

It was really scary.

- I was definitely not
going through the best time.

- Over two weeks
after madison's abduction,

Investigators track down
every person in the area

Who owns a silver van.

One man, jeffrey willis,
stands out.

- He worked
for a local manufacturer.

His van was in the parking lot,

And investigators
were able to kind of look

Inside the vehicle
through the window

And see from the inside

Certain things that madison
had described to investigators

That were unusual or that were
something that would separate

This van from other vans.

Based upon all that,
investigators put together

What we call a photo lineup.

- I'd recognized him.

I told them
I was sure that was him.

- She immediately picked
out jeff willis as the guy

Who had tried to abduct her.

♪ ♪

- It was absolutely quite
nerve-racking to see his face.

We had no idea who he was.

Never met him in my life.

- Investigators
bring jeffrey willis

Down to the station
for questioning.

- In his interview,
he recalls seeing this girl,

Talking to this girl.

- He then decided
to not talk anymore

And ultimately
shut investigators down.

- But he never admitted
to having a g*n,

Never admitted to really doing
anything ill*gal, if you will,

As it related
to madison nygard.

- Based on all
the evidence so far--

The matching van,
the photo lineup,

And now jeffrey willis

Admitting he knew
madison nygard--

Investigators obtain a search
warrant for his house and van.

♪ ♪

- During the search warrant
of mr. Willis's house,

Investigators
were really interested

In the computer equipment
that was there.

We grabbed the desktops
and the tower computers

From the house.

They were able to find
some external hard drives.

The other interesting piece
of evidence that was found

Was a computer printout--
list of serial K*llers.

There was a little tick marker
next to the--

In california, they were called
the tool box K*llers.

And they were known
for abducting

And raping and k*lling women

And having their tools
in a toolbox.

♪ ♪

- At the same
time investigators

Are searching
jeffrey willis's home,

They also go through his van.

- The search warrant ex*cuted
on jeffrey willis's van

And the phone call I received
during that search

Is something
I'll never forget.

What they described to me was
a van that was best described

As an abduction/r*pe van.

♪ ♪

He had a very--

A pretty large toolbox
that had a lock on it.

Inside that toolbox,

Investigators found things
like rubber gloves,

Ball gags, sex toys.

♪ ♪

They found a bottle of insulin
and some insulin needles

With insulin liquid

Already kind of pulled
into the needle itself,

As though it
was ready to be used.

- And the orange tip of
the g*n that madison described

To investigators could be
a pre-filled insulin needle

Used to subdue his victims.

- More significantly,

Investigators find underneath
the driver's seat

A small case that held
a walther .22 p*stol

With some ammunition

And loaded, obviously.

- The b*llet casing found
at the location

Where madison jumped
from the car

Was also
from a walther .22 p*stol.

♪ ♪

One month after the attack,

Jeffrey willis
is arrested and charged

With the abduction
of madison nygard.

♪ ♪

- I got a phone call
from the detective,

And he had told me
that they got him.

That's all he said, you know--
"we got him."

♪ ♪

- I was pretty relieved
once he got into custody.

- Major reality kicked in
at that point,

Knowing what exactly
could have happened.

He's got all this weird,
creepy stuff in his car,

And my daughter
was in that car.

It could have ended
so differently.

He told me, and he said, this
is still under wraps yet,

But this could be linked
to a couple other cases

In the area.

- Jessica heeringa
went missing

In nearby norton shores,
michigan,

Three years
before madison's abduction.

♪ ♪

- Witnesses had
described silver van.

We had some surveillance video

Which seemed to indicate
silver van.

And so silver van
was a key piece of evidence

In the disappearance
of jessica heeringa.

[dramatic music]

- In muskegon county,
michigan,

Jeffrey willis
has been arrested

For the abduction
of madison nygard.

Authorities also believe
he's responsible

For the 2013 disappearance
of jessica heeringa

And may be linked
to the 2014 death

Of rebekah bletsch.

♪ ♪

- What was peculiar
about the crime scene--

We had her body
on one side of the road,

And on the other
side of the road

Was discovered
rebekah's cell phone,

Earbuds, and sunglasses.

We had really good physical
evidence from the crime scene.

We had three shell casings,

b*llet fragments that were
taken at the autopsy

From rebekah.

All those were
forensically examined

By our state police crime lab.

We were able to then pinpoint
down the make and model

Of the weapon
that we were looking for--

.22-caliber walther.

The g*n, after recovered
from the search warrant--

When that was
forensically looked at,

It was determined that
the shell casings found

At rebekah's scene,

The b*llet fragments taken
from her head

Were fired
from that particular weapon.

- And in the parking lot
outside where jessica heeringa

Went missing was a battery
cover to a laser sight

For a .22-caliber p*stol.

- There was little bits
of evidence

At each one of those particular
scenes and investigations

That all wrapped around
this particular handgun.

And, really, the linchpin
to all three of those cases

Turned out to be
a walther .22 p*stol

And essentially connected
madison's investigation

To the m*rder
of rebekah bletsch

And the abduction
of jessica heeringa.

- Investigators get
another big break

When dna found on items
belonging to jeffrey willis

Also comes back
as a match for rebekah.

And during the search warrant,

Willis's computer
was confiscated and searched.

Detectives found a folder
on the drive labeled "vics."

It contained links
to information

About jessica and rebekah.

- It was clear that we had
stumbled upon a person

Who made it his job
to k*ll women

And certainly had proven,
at least on two occasions,

Where he had been successful
at it--

In the 2014 sh**ting death
of rebekah bletsch

And 2013 abduction
of jessica heeringa.

It was at that point in time
that we knew

That we had a serial k*ller
on our hands.

♪ ♪

Those two women did not know
each other.

They didn't hang in
social circles together.

They didn't have
mutual friends together.

There was no connection

Other than they were female
and in isolated areas.

- For madison,

Escaping a serial k*ller
weighs heavily on her mind.

- I think at that point,
reality did set in.

Like, that could have been me.

Where he had shot
rebekah bletsch

Was in the same general area
of where I was,

So he obviously surveyed
or prowled that area.

I was just at the wrong place
at the wrong time.

- He was very fixated
on finding

These young females
in positions

Where they were
obviously not in groups--

The convenience store,
which was isolated,

And the roadway,
which was isolated--

And gave him the opportunity

To pull off
his particular scheme

Of how he would abduct them.

- I think that's when I got
really angry in general.

Made me think of what he would
have done with my friend.

- I did struggle
with my own thoughts

About losing my daughter.

♪ ♪

You know, what if
she didn't get out?

You know, what if, what if?

There's quite a few what-ifs
from that day.

♪ ♪

- In October of 2017,

Jeffrey willis goes on trial

For the m*rder
of rebekah bletsch.

- Mr. Willis thought
he was smarter

Than everybody in the room.

He had some phone records that
seemed to suggest

That he was on the phone
at his house

At the time
that rebekah was k*lled.

And what we did was
we ran deputy cars

In the only directions that
you can go from that location

Back to mr. Willis's house
and timed it--

That not only did he have
the time to k*ll rebekah,

But he had all the time
in the world

To go from that location
to his house

And still make that phone call

To try to create
this false sense of alibi.

- The trial process was hard.
I didn't want to testify.

It wasn't ideal to look at
somebody who tried to m*rder me

And testify against them.

I didn't really look at him
until I had to look at him

To point him out
in the courtroom.

- And is the person
that did all this to you

On that day, April 16, 2016--

Is that person
in the courtroom?

- Yes.

- Could you point him out
and describe him, please?

- Right there
in the suit and glasses.

He was being pretty arrogant.

- His false sense of security
and his own arrogance,

I think, were probably some
of his downfalls

During this case.

Victim's family is all there.

They're prepared to make
their statements to the court.

And so, as he's leaving
the courtroom

And walking out the door,

To the victim's family
who were sitting

Behind me in the gallery,

He blew a kiss.

- Oh, he blew a kiss!

He blew a kiss.
- Coward.

- In may of 2018,

Jeffrey willis
goes back on trial

For the disappearance
and assumed m*rder

Of jessica heeringa.

He is found guilty
of murdering both women

And receives two consecutive
life sentences without parole.

- We don't have
the death penalty

Here in the state of michigan,

And, ultimately,
he got the highest sentence.

He'll never see
the light of day.

He'll be behind bars
until he's dead.

- I definitely think he got
the sentencing he deserves.

It was a good feeling
knowing he was going to get

Locked up for good.

- Madison's case
never goes to court.

- The abduction charge does
not carry the same penalty,

And so, ultimately, anything
that he would have received

Would have been eaten up

In the two
life-without-parole sentences.

- I was also disappointed
that her case was not heard.

She never got
her victim-impact statement.

She never got to
say anything to him--

Nothing.

♪ ♪

- After her brave testimony

That helped lock
jeffrey willis away for life,

Madison concentrates

On putting her life
back together.

- My outlook on life
has changed.

I think I appreciate life

More than what I did
when I was younger.

Before all of this,

I had absolutely no care
in the world.

Never been scared of things.

I do have anxiety now, and
I never, ever had that before.

- And I knew life was precious,

But you just don't know
how precious

Until you're faced
with something like that.

And then you just
want to hold your kid

Near and dear forever.

- What happened to
madison changes the way

Her friends think
about their group texts.

- New group chats
had popped up

That you had to be
invite only to.

Group chats were
a lot more filtered

And cleaned of people
who wouldn't answer,

People who had never been
actually heard of

Or met at these parties.

I'm sober now

Because I want to be able
to help somebody

If they ever need
out of a situation like that.

- I'm definitely
in a better place

Than what I was when I was 16.

Although I do still
have struggles,

Obviously, I think it has
definitely made me stronger,

And I have definitely learned
how to cope with things.

I'm looking forward to
just putting this behind me

And moving forward in my life.