Bella, come here.
Hey, guys. My name is Shanann Watts.
I live in Frederick, Colorado.
Say, "Hi, CeCe." Say, "Hi, Bells."
Hi, Bells.
No, you've gotta say, "Hi."
Hi.
And, um...
We can't forget Dieter.
Here comes Dieter.
Daddy won't do it
if you keep falling off.
Baba!
When Chris and I got married,
we moved out here after visiting,
fell in love with the area.
It's gorgeous in Colorado.
We created a life for ourselves out here.
Chris found an amazing job
that takes care of him.
They respect him, which is huge
for any job that you have,
and we love it here.
I'm making some
Italian cookies today.
Gotta be careful 'cause CeCe's allergic
to everything that we love,
like pistachio cookies and walnut cookies.
But this guy right here,
he's gonna do all the dishes.
That's me.
I'd rather bake and he can clean.
-I'll do--
-I can eat it later.
See?
Nice.
We'll come back with CeCe and Bella later.
And we'll do
the "Here we go, Steelers!" chants.
'Cause they love it.
Say, "Go, Steelers!"
All right, guys.
I'll talk to you guys soon. Bye.
My name's Nickole,
and I'm calling
because I'm concerned
about a friend of mine.
I dropped her off at her house
at two in the morning last night.
I haven't been able
to get a hold of her this morning.
I've gone to her house
and her car's there.
But she won't answer the door.
She won't answer phone calls.
She won't answer text messages.
They have two little girls,
three and four.
I mean, there's no movement
in the house whatsoever.
- What's her name?
-Shanann Watts.
Alrighty, we'll have an officer
come out that way as soon as we can.
I would just advise you
to not try to make entry
into the house or anything like that.
- How you guys doing?
-Hi.
- Are you Nickole?
-Yes.
Okay, what's going on?
So, my friend, um, we were out of town
for a business trip this weekend.
- All right.
-I dropped her off
at two o'clock this morning.
She was very distraught over the weekend,
wasn't eating normally, or drinking,
and we kept trying to force it on her.
Shanann, are you home?
She had a doctor's
appointment this morning at 9:00,
and she didn't go
to the doctor's appointment.
Okay, no answer on the phone,
husband's on his way.
Yes.
You can't get in the house
unless you see signs of...
Yep, I've gotta have more unless
I get consent from him to go in.
Um...
It could be grandparents
came and picked them up.
You know, it could be a lot of things.
She left her phone, her phone's dead.
How you doing?
You seen your neighbors today?
- Uh-uh.
- No? Okay.
Why? What's going on?
We're just trying
to get a hold of her.
Felt like she wasn't feeling too good.
They're just concerned.
Is there a key code, Sandi,
to open the garage from the outside?
What is it?
This is her parents.
Frank, what's the key code
for the garage?
Shanann's house. The cops are there.
Well, I can't go in,
but if they... allow you to go in,
I have to have the property
owner's permission to enter.
What's going on?
Okay... well, he's the property owner.
He told me Shanann
was at a girlfriend's house.
- Do we know who that is?
-Do we know who...
Or a phone number?
He didn't say.
Shanann, are you home?
Police department,
if anyone's inside make yourself known!
- Nicky.
- I'm here, keep talking.
- Yeah, keep me on the phone.
-Okay, getting out the way.
- Scott, how you doing?
-How's it going?
So, this is the only vehicle
she would have?
- Only one that... yeah.
- She would drive? Okay.
Can we go in the house?
Well, he can.
I mean, that's up to him.
It's his house because...
Nicky, I'm giving you permission
to walk into my daughter's house.
Mind if I come in, Chris?
- Okay.
- All right.
Yeah.
I'm checking the house,
with consent.
And you checked upstairs?
She's not there?
I just want to make sure she's not
passed out somewhere. Is she diabetic?
No, if she has low
blood sugar, her...
I'll ask her.
Her parents are out of state?
They're across country, North Carolina.
Oh.
Yeah, so that's not happening.
All the girls' blankies are gone.
Um...
Their blankies they sleep with.
They don't leave without them.
Okay...
Nothing else appears to be missing?
Just stuff you'd take for a quick trip?
- Her phone.
- Her phone's here?
Her phone's here.
Does she work?
-Yeah, she works from home.
- From home?
She works and this is her lifeline.
When that thing turns back on,
it's going to start blowing up.
-Oh, yeah, trust me.
- That's what Chris said.
- And it was shut down?
-Yeah.
So, that's 1... 31... 8... 19.
What's the first thing?
'Bout to blow up.
What does she do for work?
She works at a direct sales
company called Thrive.
- This is her purse?
-That's her purse. Is her medication in?
She takes these, uh...
Her medication's still in here.
What about the mobile home?
Hey, everybody.
So, I'm gonna wait till
a couple more people hop on here...
and I just want you guys
to know a little bit of my story.
I was in a place for a long time
where I felt very insecure.
I was married,
went through a really awful divorce,
and that relationship
really took a lot from me.
It took my confidence. It took everything.
It literally took everything.
But I'm not a quitter.
And my goal was to buy a house.
My family doesn't come from money.
We always worked hard for what we had.
And so I worked and worked
and worked and worked.
And I was 25 years old
when I built my first house.
And that was the biggest accomplishment
I felt I've ever done,
because I did it by myself.
I did it by working my tail off.
Then, ten years ago, I went from being
super energetic, super happy...
I started losing a lot of my hair.
I felt like I had the flu all the time.
I felt miserable.
And then I was diagnosed with Lupus,
which is an autoimmune disease.
I went through
one of the darkest times of my life,
and then I met Chris.
And I couldn't have
asked God for a better man.
She doesn't ever black out
or have seizures or anything?
No, I mean, she...
A long, long, long, long time ago.
She got in a car wreck,
and they believe that's what happened.
But Imitrex is something
she takes for migraines.
She took more Imitrex this
last month than she ever had before,
but that's because she was
in North Carolina with the humidity
and everything like that. She was there
for six weeks, and we got back...
Monday or Tuesday, and then
she flew out to Arizona Friday morning.
And then she got back last night...
about 2:00 a.m.
Flight got delayed. She left about 11:00.
She got here at 2:00.
Okay.
I went to work this
morning around 5:15, 5:30.
What do you do?
I work at oil and gas, Anadarko.
What do you do for them?
-Operator.
- Oh.
Her wedding ring's here?
It was on the nightstand
next to her side of the bed.
There was no note
or anything by the wedding ring?
No.
I wasn't looking
for a boyfriend,
and all of a sudden,
I get a friend request.
I said, "What the heck,
I'll never meet him.
He's just a Facebook friend.
I have a million of them."
But thing about Facebook is you
eventually probably meet the person.
When I met Chris, I pushed him away.
I gave him an out every single day.
He went to my colonoscopy.
I tortured him. I rejected him.
But he stuck around.
And he stuck around
because he was the one for me.
I couldn't ask
for a better man for her.
He makes her smile,
and she makes him smile.
God bless you both.
I just want to say I love you both.
You look great together.
She's been looking
her whole life for a good guy.
I couldn't ask for a better one.
I love you guys.
And now we have two kids.
We live in Colorado.
And he's the best thing
that has ever happened to me.
Don't eat Turtle!
Ah, he got Turtle! He's got Turtle!
Definitely an odd one.
I don't know what I should do.
Should I drive around, like,
the normal route that she would be?
- Where does she normally go to?
-I mean, just like...
Drive where, like, she would
normally take the kids to school. Um...
People that I know that live down...
Kristen lives down that way.
That's the only people...
only routes I know she'd take.
Does she go
to their house frequently, or...
Not much, but...
Neighbor over there said he has
a camera that sees out into the street.
Now, is this on continually?
- Yep.
-Recording?
-Yep, any motion that it--
- Okay, so it's motion.
Any motion event
that happens, I got.
But I get cars driving
from this street, from this street.
This is him at 5:17.
I usually park out there on
the side so I can get everything back in.
Be easier instead of lugging everything
out there, tools I had to bring in.
Because if there is any sort
of action out there, I would have got it.
- Right.
-Like, we had issues the other week
when people were stealing stuff
out of garages and stuff like that.
-And I had to park my truck--
-I have you parked right here.
I had seen someone tried
to jimmy with a flathead screwdriver.
-Over there.
- Yeah, I've got nothing.
Nothing for the rest of the day?
No, that's it.
She's pregnant as well, sir.
- How far along?
-Fourteen, 15 weeks.
We did it again.
I like that shirt.
-Really?
- Really.
That's awesome.
So, pink means?
- That's just the test.
-I know.
I was just...
'cause pink is gonna be girls?
I don't know.
-It's just the test.
-That's awesome.
I guess... guess...
guess when you want to, it happens.
Wow.
Guess what, girls?
Guess what, guess what, guess what, CeCe?
There's a baby in mommy's belly.
Belly... a baby.
It's in mommy's belly,
you silly.
It is in my belly.
Boy, boy, Chris wants a boy.
I hope it's a boy for him.
It'll make him happy.
We go for our first ultrasound
at three... ish, 3:15.
And I'm kind of nervous.
'Cause every time you go you're like,
"Is there one? Is there two?
Is there three?"
Hey, Bella, how many babies
do I have in my belly?
Five.
-Whoa!
- Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
That's a lot of babies.
I can't tell you guys
how much I am blessed.
I was told I couldn't have kids.
That CeCe, Bella?
Say, "CeCe."
But I had two beautiful girls,
little baby monsters as I call 'em.
She looks shocked.
Say, "Hi."
CeCe doesn't stop, literally.
Bella is just now getting old enough
to know what she's wanting in life.
She wants to be, um...
Uh, Elsa when she grows up.
- All right, appreciate your time.
-Thank you so much.
- Hopefully something comes up.
-Yeah.
You mind if I...
You just wanna go talk to him?
I'm gonna get his info real quick.
He's not acting right at all.
No?
He's never fidgety.
He's never rocking back and forth.
And if you look here...
He never loads his stuff
in and out of the garage, ever.
Right.
He's normally...
You can ask them.
He's normally quiet, real subdued.
He never talks. So, the fact that
he's over here blabbing his mouth
makes me kind of suspicious of something.
Yeah, but, I mean,
put yourself in his situation.
Oh, I agree.
You know,
anyone's gonna be nervous.
You don't know what to do.
Do all your friends
have kids the same age?
Mmm-hmm.
- It's hard to--
-It's really hard.
I mean, we've exhausted... I've exhausted
every option I know as far as friends go.
Nicky knew more of them because,
uh, she's a woman... and...
that's about as far as we could go as far
as all the friends that we could think of.
- Do you want my card?
- I'll take it.
Just call that number,
someone will answer that phone 24/7. So...
- Okay, sweet.
-And then just leave your contact info,
-and an officer will call you back.
- Thank you.
- All right, thank you.
- Thank you.
I'm just worried sick.
I don't know where she's at.
This is completely unlike her.
This isn't right.
I don't know what to do right now.
If they're not safe, that's what's...
that's what's tearing me apart.
This is Officer Goodman,
Frederick Police Department.
Yeah, this is Chris Watts.
We're just trying to get some of
your wife and kids' information entered in
to put some alerts out there.
Bella, do you know her height,
weight, hair color, and eyes?
Height would be 42 inches.
Okay.
Weight would be 40 pounds.
Hair color would be brown,
eye color would be brown as well.
Okay, does she have
any scars, marks, tattoos?
No.
Okay, and then on Celeste.
She is... 37 inches tall.
Thirty-seven pounds, blond hair.
- Eyes?
- Hazel eyes.
Hazel.
Okay, and again,
no scars, marks, tattoos?
- No.
- Okay.
Does Shanann have
any scars, marks, or tattoos?
She has a scar on her forehead
that only pops out every once in a while,
from that car wreck she had
a long time ago, but no tattoos.
Okay, yeah, well,
if you hear something,
obviously let us know as soon as you can,
and if you can think of anything,
of anything that might help us.
-Okay, thank you very much, sir.
- All right, bye.
Bye.
Hi. Officer of the
Frederick Police Department.
We were out earlier
and left a flyer on your door?
Yes.
- Have you seen this lady?
-Oh my gosh, I've seen her on Facebook.
Facebook, okay.
-Does she live in the area?
- She does, yep.
I'll be on the lookout.
Anything different
over the last,
I don't know, two days, three days?
Odd vehicles, odd noises, odd lights?
There was a truck out here yesterday.
In fact, that's why I thought
you were here yesterday.
-Maybe someone complained about...
- Okay.
That I hadn't seen... seen before.
What type of truck?
Um...
it was kind of almost a steel gray.
-Don't ask me the make.
- Okay.
Or year, but that was late afternoon.
The dad has a great
big truck and it's gray.
But this one was smaller.
- Okay.
-This one was smaller.
Hey, Chris.
So, we need to have
everybody step out of the house.
-Okay.
- Um...
Mostly we don't want
the dogs to get confused
-with all the scents.
- Correct.
So, you can leave that there.
You can leave your camera there.
I'll bring it outside.
I don't wanna mess you guys up.
Because my scent has... yeah.
There's an upstairs, yep.
All the bedrooms are upstairs.
You know, maybe I'm just
old-fashioned, but this
almost seems like this place is
a little bit too immaculate to be normal.
It's amazingly clean.
You wanna give me
your first and last name?
I'm Chris Watts. W-A-T-T-S.
Do you think she just took off?
I mean, right now I don't even wanna just,
like, throw anything out there, like...
I hope that she's somewhere safe
right now and with the kids.
But, I mean, could she have
just taken off? I don't know.
But if somebody has her and they're
not safe, like, I want them back now.
This might be a tough question,
but did...
did you guys get
into an argument before she left?
It wasn't like an argument.
We had an emotional conversation,
but I'll leave it at that,
but it's... I just want them back.
Well, police really don't have
a lot of information right now.
We do know that this neighborhood
where Shanann Watts
and her two little girls live
is the last place that anyone
saw the three missing people.
- Do you want this shut?
-Probably, you know.
-Do you have a preference?
-It doesn't matter to me.
All right, let's do this.
So, I know it's hard to talk about.
You mentioned that
there was a hard conversation
the two of you had about your marriage.
Can you really get
into that conversation with me?
I talked to her about how
I was feeling, about how I felt.
What's been going on
with us for the last six weeks,
'cause she was in North Carolina,
and I was down there just the last week.
But, just being apart and just, like,
figuring out who people are...
Honestly, like, the best way
for people to find out who they are
-is to spend time apart.
-I agree.
When we were together, we could feel,
like, it wasn't there, that spark.
I know it's kind of cliché,
but that spark wasn't there anymore.
And that's why I got
so emotional right there.
Okay... emotional for you, too?
-Oh, yeah. I was bawling my eyes out.
-Yeah.
Looking back on that conversation,
can you connect the dots between
both of you being upset and crying...
and here we are now,
she and the kids are gone?
I think about, like, did I cause this?
Like, did I make her feel,
like, she needed to leave?
Maybe she sat there
and thought about it, like,
"Do I really need to stay here right now?
Like, if he doesn't love me,
maybe I should just go."
CeCe!
This way. Come on.
You wanna go see the airplane?
Bella, CeCe, my dad and I are flying
to North Carolina for six weeks.
We're gonna spend time with our families
and friends and everything else.
And Chris will be coming
at the end of July.
One day, Chris can
travel that long with us.
We're going up.
Who's here?
Hi!
Hi, Nana.
Careful, oh, my goodness.
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday, dear Nana!
And on...
Happy birthday to you!
- All right!
- Wow!
Hi, there.
-Are you Nickole? Hi.
- Hello. We're gonna... yeah.
Agent Greg Zettner
with Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Okay.
So, I understand you and Shanann
are pretty good friends.
Yeah, we hang out a lot,
we have kids the same age.
Did Shanann ever say anything
to you about their relationship?
I think it was
the second or third week
she was in North Carolina.
She got in a fight with Chris's mom,
because she went
to Chris's mom's house to visit,
and the grandma, her name's Cindy...
Cindy bought ice cream that has everything
CeCe's allergic to in it.
So, Shanann asked Cindy, "Please do not
give this to CeCe. She cannot have it."
I knew that Shanann and his mom,
Cindy, were fighting again.
This is coming from Cindy
that CeCe had a food allergy.
And Shanann came into the living room
and was just yelling at Cindy,
telling her she's trying to k*ll her baby
or something,
because of the food allergy,
and Cindy claims she had no idea about it.
They had this huge argument
and she ended up kicking
Shanann out of the house.
Can you cut the lights?
So, they argued and Shanann
got back to her parents' house.
As far as I know, she did not
go back and see his parents.
But they celebrated CeCe's birthday
while they were down there,
and the parents
did not come to the birthday party.
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday, dear CeCe
Happy birthday to you
Yay!
There was an incident
where she had some ice cream
that CeCe couldn't have.
That kind of drove Shanann to where, like,
"All right,
they can't come over ever again
if you're gonna have this in this house."
And that's why that happened.
l was hurt. I was like, you know, I wanted
my parents to see their grandbabies.
- "Silly monkeys."
- Monkeys, jumping on the bed!
Growing up and in high school,
if you hurt my feelings,
I never told you,
because I didn't like conflict.
I really wasn't a big conflict person.
I always lived for
other people until recently.
Now I live for me and for my
family, my kids. I live for them.
Does your gut tell you that
Shanann and the kids walked out,
or that they were taken out?
At first, I really thought maybe
she was just at somebody's house,
-just decompressing.
-Just blowing off steam.
Yeah, but after today, like,
with the onslaught of all the cars,
I mean, all the police cars,
all the news, all the K-9 units,
it's making me lean the other direction
about someone took her.
-Okay.
-But this is... if someone took her,
it would have to have been
someone she knew,
because there's no sign of anything,
like, being disturbed or broken.
And it's freaking me out.
She texted me and said things were bad
and that she didn't know what she did.
Or what was going on with Chris
and she thought that it was his parents.
The only other time he's ever
acted like this in the marriage
was right after they got married.
- I will love you.
-I will love you.
-And stand by you.
-And stand by you.
-As long as we both shall live.
-As long as we both shall live.
And it was because his parents
didn't go to their wedding.
So, his parents did not like her?
No, they do not like her.
Yeah, they do not like her.
His parents do not.
Chris, you may kiss your wife.
- Do you know the reason for that?
- She can be bossy.
But in a good way.
I mean, it's not like... I've teased her,
because I'm like, "You're so bossy."
But it's... she's trying to push you
to do good things and, like, motivate you.
It's not like a... bitchy bossy.
My mom just never
thought she was good enough.
So, what was the blow up
at the wedding about?
It was just... my mom.
And very much my sister.
They just didn't like her.
Oh.
They just thought that Shanann
had taken me away from them
and taken me off to Colorado.
I'm definitely the...
dominant one in the relationship.
Um, he's very... sweet.
He's very calm. Um...
I'm the high-strung one
in the relationship.
Santa's here,
but the kids are freaking out.
Hey, Santa, where's your phone?
-In the garage.
- I wanted it.
Oh.
I always say I have more
patience for children than I do adults,
and I guess that goes for my husband.
He's such a great guy
to put up with me over the years.
Sit down, Santa. Have a seat.
I'll try to get the kids.
Ho, ho, ho!
- You're Santa?
-Yes.
Where's the phone?
On top of your car in the garage.
I needed it for pictures,
hold on.
I gotta get the phone.
This is hard as one parent.
I wanna get the phone,
so I can get pictures. Hold, please.
...period garage door.
My husband's a genius.
Doesn't listen.
Is there anyone that you think
that maybe your wife got close with?
If she did, it was very, like,
secretive then, if that was the case.
'Cause I had no inkling.
No, it wasn't even a suspicion.
Not one guy? Or girl.
I'm... if that was the case, I mean,
I didn't have one suspicion about it.
Like, if it happened...
it wasn't even like...
I wasn't aware.
-Now, let's talk about you.
-Okay.
I see pictures of you
from a few years ago,
and I see you standing before me now.
-Okay.
-You've gotten pretty fit.
You can imagine when guys start cheating
or want to cheat, that's what happens.
-So, tell me about it.
-I did not cheat on my wife.
-I went from 245 pounds to about--
- You were 245?
-I was 245 pounds.
- Jeez, you look great, man.
Thank you, I'm 185, 180 right now.
Okay, and I've got to imagine that maybe
there was a girl that inspired that.
No, I have never cheated on my wife.
Okay, you know that we have to get
to the bottom of this.
-You know that.
-Yeah.
Okay.
-Would you take a polygraph?
-Sure.
Okay.
My name is Chris Watts.
I'm doing my speech
on relationship deterioration and repair.
You have to ask yourself three questions
when you're in a relationship.
"Do I have a desire to keep
this relationship going?"
"Do I have a moral obligation
to stay in this relationship?"
Or, "Is it a necessity for me
to stay in this relationship?"
Sometimes a necessity could be children.
Sometimes, when you have children,
and your relationship
starts to deteriorate,
a child could help repair it.
When somebody
is not faithful to their partner,
the partners realize that
the relationship cannot be sustained.
Gradual would be
if you met somebody at work
or a new friendship
has occurred, and you...
as it goes on you see that maybe
this relationship has more potential.
Anadarko,
this is Luke.
Hi, Luke, this is Agent Lee calling
from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
Are you Chris's supervisor?
Yeah, I'm his direct
supervisor, yes.
Do you have any idea
if, like, he has like a girlfriend,
or if he thought his wife
had a boyfriend or anything like that?
He never indicated or said anything
to me that would make me think that.
He never came out
and said that for him or his wife.
Sure, okay, can you explain
to me Monday morning?
Where would he go
to go to his job site?
He was out on
what's called the Cervi Ranch.
- Cervi, is that what you said?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
- We have several wells out there.
He and a few of my other guys were
out there pretty much all day with him.
Do you have any concerns about him?
I don't, other than what
he's going through right now.
Go ahead and have
a seat right here, Chris.
-Sit on this?
-Yep, I know.
I'll explain what that is in a little bit,
but you don't have to worry.
It's not on or anything right now.
It's not gonna...
It's not gonna buzz you or anything.
I've never done this before.
I know, a lot of people
haven't had polygraphs before.
It's not a normal thing
that people go through.
We're gonna first start by going over
from the beginning and telling someone.
Maybe, you know,
a friend that you hadn't talked to
since any of this has happened,
and you're basically going to relay
all the details of exactly what happened.
So, like, I woke her up
after I got ready and everything,
and then we had a talk about, like, uh...
selling the house, and about separation.
Did she accuse you of anything?
I mean, being a woman, I mean,
she's like, "Is there somebody else?"
I'm like, "No, there's nobody else.
I mean, this is...
This is me talking to you about it.
This isn't, like, somebody
came into my life and took me from you.
This is, you know, me talking to you."
Okay. So I want you to have confidence
in the fact that you had nothing to do
with this disappearance.
We're gonna find that out today.
And obviously, I mean,
I hope that you know
if you did have something
to do with their disappearance,
it would be really stupid for you
to come in and take a polygraph today.
-Exactly.
-Right? Like, it would be really dumb.
Like, you should not be here
right now sitting in this chair
if you had anything to do with Shanann
and the little girls' disappearance. Okay?
We're just handing out
flyers on this missing person.
Uh, okay.
If you see them, know them,
or if you have cameras on your house
that might have seen something...
- It's a mess.
- It is.
-Do they think she's in the area?
- We don't know. I don't...
I got nothing for you on that one, so...
...a flyer with a missing lady
and her kiddos? Do you know her?
There's a phone number
at the bottom,
give us a call if you find anything, okay?
Police are canvassing
a small town with a big mystery.
The disappearance of a pregnant
Frederick woman and her two children
has captured the nation's attention.
This is a very visible effort
on the part of Frederick police
to make sure the word
is out about Shanann.
Obviously, they said,
"We want to leave no stone unturned.
We don't want to rule anything out."
Neighbors I talked to say this is scary.
They want some answers,
but right now all we have
are a lot of questions.
I'm just concerned,
and Shanann, if you're hearing this
or you're out there,
please, please let somebody know
you're okay.
The coolest thing about this is right now,
there's only one person in this room
that knows what the truth is,
and in about five minutes,
there's gonna be two of us.
That's the coolest part, okay?
And then I'm gonna go
share that with them out there.
-Okay?
-Okay.
The test is about to begin.
Please remain still.
Regarding Shanann's disappearance,
do you intend to answer
-all of the questions truthfully?
-Yes.
-Is your first name Christopher?
-Yes.
Did you physically cause
Shanann's disappearance?
No.
Are you lying about the last time
you saw Shanann?
No.
I really need your breathing to be normal.
You are, like, all over the place so far.
I'm sorry.
-That's okay.
-Like, sometimes I feel, like,
I'm not breathing enough,
and I'm, like, uh...
-Like that. I don't want it to be that.
-Yeah, yeah.
Before 2018, did you ever say
anything out of anger to a loved one?
Yes. Uh, no.
-Do you know where Shanann is now?
-No.
Did you physically cause
Shanann's disappearance?
No.
Are you lying about the last time
you saw Shanann?
No.
All right, how'd you feel?
Same through all of it?
I think I was the same through everything.
Good for you.
-It's kind of hard to relax.
-I know. I get it.
I'm in North Carolina,
those of you that are watching.
Go get Uncle Frankie!
Go get Uncle Frankie!
Go get him!
Shanann and the kids were
in North Carolina to see my family,
and obviously her family,
and just kind of, like...
'Cause they hadn't seen
the kids in a while.
And I was here
just going to work and working out
and just keeping the house up.
- Can I see, CeCe?
- CeCe, let Bella have one.
CeCe, let me see the frog.
She's not getting her.
She's like, "You growl, bark at me?"
My daddy is a hero
He helps me grow up strong
He reads me books
He ties my shoes
You're a hero, through and through
My flight was July 31st.
And I flew out there for a week,
so I could fly back with them.
Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!
Can't run.
-Now, I can hug you. Come here.
-Daddy.
Come here, little girls.
Hey. Hey.
Daddy was on a plane.
Airplane?
I know.
You went on an airplane?
I did.
You did?
Yes, I did.
Hey, everybody. So, this is the girls'
first time to the beach.
Come here, girls. Get on the sand.
Wowee. Look at that.
You like the sand, CeCe?
Yeah? You wanna go by the lifeguard?
Not yet, Bella.
CeCe, come here.
Bella, come here first.
Let's go over here. Let's go find...
a spot so we can sit.
-No, no no!
Turn her slightly this way.
I wanna get a picture.
Turn her slightly this way.
Good job, B!
No, no, CeCe, let Pop Pop help you.
All right, CeCe.
I brought Graham in here, 'cause we wanted
to talk to you about the results, okay?
So, um, it is completely clear that you
were not honest during the testing,
and I think you already know that.
Um, you did not pass the polygraph test.
Okay.
Okay, so, now we need to talk about
what actually happened,
and I feel like
you're probably ready to do that.
I didn't... I didn't lie to you
on that polygraph, I promise.
-Chris--
-I'm... I'm not...
Time to stop.
-It's time.
-I'm...
Just stop for a minute,
take a deep breath.
I want you to take
a deep breath right now.
There's a reason
you feel sick to your stomach.
When people hold stuff inside,
it makes you physically ill.
I can just tell on your face. I could
tell from the second that you walked in
that you were wanting to...
just come clean
and just be done with this.
And I appreciate that, because you knew,
sitting down in that chair,
that you weren't gonna pass today.
And you knew I was gonna find out,
'cause I told you that,
and then you continued to stay,
knowing that you could at the end say,
"You know, what?
I just need to get this off my chest.
Like, I just wanna tell you
what happened."
We're not here to play games.
We're not here to do any of that with you.
We just want to know what happened.
So, can you start from the beginning
and tell us what happened?
Everything that I told you...
I did not lie on this polygraph.
I am... I don't know how much I could...
I... could tell you right now.
-Like, I did not--
-Chris, it's not even an option right now.
You did not pass the polygraph.
I know you were being deceptive.
So, that's not even an issue right now.
The issue right now is
what happened to Shanann...
Bella, and Celeste.
That's the issue right now.
-Okay.
-Okay, so, let's talk about that.
CeCe, you're making me more sad,
because I miss Uncle Frankie.
I miss him.
Can we go visit Frankie?
What's wrong, baby?
I miss Uncle Frankie.
You miss Uncle Frankie?
Yes.
Where's the truck going?
To the airplane!
That's the wrong way, Bella.
Wrong way.
That would've been funny.
Turn your bag so it's easy.
This way. You gotta carry it.
Missed you, Dieter.
I love my Dieter dog.
Today's date is
August 15, 2018.
Interviewing, uh... Nichol Kessinger.
There's a whole bunch of us
working on this,
and we will until we resolve it.
He has no idea that I'm talking
to you guys. Nobody does.
I think he's a really good guy,
and, you know, I'm worried
about his wife and kids.
And we appreciate any insight.
So, I met Chris at work,
probably around the beginning of June.
And he informed me
that he did have two daughters.
Um, he also told me
that he was currently in the process
of the separation from his wife,
and that's how it started.
Sure, okay,
and then did your relationship develop
beyond friendship?
Yes.
You're so damn sexy.
Thank you so much for coming
out here with me, Christopher.
I'm having a wonderful time.
You mean a lot to me.
And I'm glad that you're having a blast.
I am so out of breath.
One thing I did wanna
let you guys know is that...
I found out that she is 15 weeks pregnant.
I did not know that. Uh, I had
to find that out through the media.
It's really concerning me that this woman
and her children cannot be located.
It's... it's not okay. It scares me,
and I'm worried for all of them.
This is where
the rubber meets the road, Chris.
Like, don't let this
continue any longer, please.
I'm not trying to make anything continue.
I want them back home like...
But you know they're not
coming back home. You know that.
I don't know... in the back of my head
I hope they come back home.
-But you know they're not.
-Uh, I hope they come back home.
We just can't figure out...
why there's two Chrises.
So we need to talk about that, okay?
I cheated on her.
I know.
That five weeks I was alone,
I was with her most of the time.
She's a wonderful person.
I mean, she knew I was married, yes.
I told her we were going
through issues, yes.
I told her that we were gonna get...
At the end, we were gonna be separated.
Like, once I figured out what that was.
I didn't know what that was gonna be.
I saw her, took my breath away, and...
I'd never thought
in a million years that could happen.
I'm not proud of it.
Shanann accused me of it, I denied it.
I didn't hurt her. I cheated on her.
I hurt her emotionally. I cheated on her.
Here's the challenge that we have.
We knew about Nikki and so we didn't need
to ask you about her in the polygraph.
I don't think this girl
did anything to hurt anybody.
-We can leave her out of it.
- Okay. Okay.
And get back
to your wife and daughters.
-These are your baby girls.
-My girls.
And you have not shed one tear.
Don't look into that, like,
I don't love my kids or my wife.
Explain to me. You're crying
with your wife that you're leaving her.
Yeah.
But you don't cry that your two little
baby girls are missing?
I'm hoping they're
still around somewhere.
But you don't have them right now.
You're not reading
stories to them at night.
-I know.
-You're not giving them midnight snacks.
-I love those girls to death.
-Then show us that.
Show us that.
-Chris, did Shanann do something to them?
-No, I don't know.
-I'm serious.
-I have no clue.
No, you would've known,
'cause they didn't leave the house.
-I think when--
-Did Shanann do something to them?
And then did you feel like you
had to do something to Shanann?
Chicks are crazy.
Can I talk to my dad or something?
Absolutely. Do you want
to bring him in here?
No, I just can't talk to my dad.
Like, he flew across the country.
-Hey, Chris. How about this?
-I can't... I'm...
If we bring your dad in here,
would you please tell him what happened?
Can I just go talk to him out there?
I've been in here for like,
five or six hours and I'm, like...
Absolutely.
He deserves an answer.
He's your best friend.
Hey, Chris, we're gonna let you
have as much time you need, okay?
Okay.
You're gonna leave us in here?
- Uh, yes.
- Yeah.
Okay.
-I'm not gonna tell anyone.
- I know.
You gonna tell me what's going on, or...
I messed up the polygraph.
I failed it.
-Failed it?
-Yeah, because there's--
Too much emotions?
So, I mean they're...
not gonna let me go.
Is there any reason why they shouldn't?
They know I had an affair.
They... they... they know.
I came clean about that.
Is there anything else you wanna tell me?
What's going on or what happened,
or anything you can think of?
When...
we had that conversation that morning,
it was emotional, and...
I told her about the separation
and everything like that.
Mmm-hmm.
-I don't want to protect her.
-What?
I don't want to protect her.
You don't want to protect her?
I don't know what else to say.
Do you know what happened?
What?
-Did she hurt them?
-Yeah.
And then I had to k*ll her.
What now?
-I have to tell them I hurt her.
-You hurt her?
So, she started hurting the kids?
Help me, Chris.
What happened?
She...
-She...
-What?
-She smothered them.
-She smothered them?
Or choked them?
Did she k*ll them?
They were... they were blue.
Both of them?
She choked both of them to death?
I freaked out
and did the same thing to her.
Oh, my God.
So, she k*lled both CeCe and Bella,
choked them to death?
And you lost it
and then choked her, or...
Mmm-hmm. I just... that was just...
rage. I mean, I hadn't...
Good God almighty, son.
I am live right now outside the home
of Chris Watts and Shanann Watts,
and you can see behind me,
police are here right now, processing
the evidence inside the home.
Folks are here
to pick up the dog.
I'll try to catch her first.
Yep.
Police have been towing a truck
that was parked
just a couple of houses down.
We didn't know it's connected
to the house, but they towed that as well.
And they just came out
with the family's dog in a cage.
Police have also went in there
with evidence bags.
- What's that?
-Tell them.
You doing okay? You sure?
You did the hard part.
All you have left
is to tell us where they're at.
We can help you get them out of the cold.
They're gone.
There's no bringing them back.
Well, where are they?
They're at the first location
I went to that day.
Where did you put them out there?
Chris, that's really important.
-I didn't know what else to do.
-I know, just tell me, where are the kids?
I know.
I didn't know what else to do.
I was so scared.
I know.
Will you show us?
What's going to happen?
We're gonna help them get out of there.
Chris, I know they're gone,
but they're still your babies.
-You're still their dad.
-You don't want them out there.
I don't want them out there.
And you don't want someone else to find
them out there. You don't, I promise you.
Can you give us a second,
so we can get some... things arranged?
Can you do that?
Ronnie, do you want
to stay in here with him?
The problem is I don't even know
if they believe me or not.
-Are they buried in something or...
-Shanann is.
What about the babies?
That's what I'm worried about.
They're in a freaking oil t*nk.
I didn't know what else to do.
Please, God... forgive me.
I think we have a picture of,
is it Cervi 319?
Does that look familiar to you?
What is that?
That's Cervi 319.
Okay.
Whereabouts...
is Shanann and the girls?
How old is this picture?
- Today.
- Oh, it's today?
Shanann's right here.
Is that "S" for Shanann, okay,
and where are the girls at?
They're in here.
Are they in the tanks?
They're like...
there's just a hatch on the top,
and they're, like, 20 foot tanks.
- There was a sheet found down here.
- Mmm-hmm.
What is that from?
That was
what Shanann was wrapped in.
You're good with the public
knowing Shanann k*lled her daughters?
I did not hurt these girls.
You okay with the public
knowing that Shanann--
Yes, because I did not hurt these girls.
What it looks like is that...
you got a new life...
and the only way to get that new life
was to get rid of the old life.
And I think that you k*lled these girls
before their mom came home
-and then k*lled Shanann.
- No, no, no.
It just doesn't make sense.
It just doesn't add up.
So... either you're this monster,
"So, I just want this young,
hot girlfriend,
so I'm gonna k*ll everyone
and hope it works out," or something.
So, I think we're
very, very close to the truth,
but not quite there yet.
-So, if you're not that monster--
-I'm not a monster.
I didn't...
k*ll my babies.
Okay.
On August 10, Shanann
flew out to Arizona with Nickole.
And I had the kids
from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
How long have you known Shanann?
Three to four years,
I would say.
So, you guys... was there, like,
a convention this last weekend?
There was a training in Arizona
that some of the top leaders
of the company were putting on.
Okay.
So, you picked her up from her house.
She was waiting
on the front porch.
Oh, she was, okay.
Then we drove to the airport.
Do you remember
when you picked her up?
It was around 4:30.
- In the morning?
-Mmm-hmm.
Chris, come stand up for me.
I'm gonna have you
face that wall over there.
That one, just face it.
Lift up your hands.
In just the last ten minutes,
we have confirmed that Shanann's husband
and the father of her two children,
Chris Watts, has confessed.
Neighbors here, some of them are still
outside tonight. They're all on edge.
They are saddened by this horrific news
if this indeed is the case.
Sir. Can you step over here
for me, please?
Face this bar right here.
Sir, you got anything on you?
At this point,
we have been able to recover
a body that we're quite certain
is Shanann Watts' body.
We have strong reason to believe
that we know where the bodies
of the children are,
and recovery efforts
are in process on that.
This is absolutely the worst possible
outcome that any of us could imagine.
Thank you everyone
for coming out to the candlelight vigil,
and saying all your prayers.
They are greatly appreciated.
And keep the prayers coming
for our family.
You talk about...
children, and he's got his own kids,
and that makes you uncomfortable,
because you'd like to have
your own family.
Put that in context for me.
Is that... is that a fair statement,
the way I'm saying it?
I mean, I guess, but that was never
anything I, like, said to him, though.
Okay, that's what I wanted to know.
Did you ever say anything to him about...
Never, never...
-Anything about his kids being a problem?
-No.
-Anything about his wife being a problem?
-Never, never.
This shocked me just as much as
I think it shocked the rest of the world.
All of it.
Like, he lies so much.
Now, I go back and think of all the sh*t,
and I'm like, "It's lies."
I really thought she left. I was like...
"Let her f*cking go.
You know, she'll come back in a day."
"She'll get right. Let her cool down.
She'll be here. It'll be okay."
You know, like, had me convinced, like,
"I think she's just upset."
And then... and then...
Um, all right,
we can move past that.
Did you meet at your house?
Did you guys go to any restaurants?
Did you go to establishments?
He came to my house,
and this past Saturday, we went to, um...
What's the name of that bar
that we used to go to?
It's not the same... the Lazy Dog.
So, he had to get a babysitter that night.
Chris said he went
to a Rockies game on Saturday night.
They got a babysitter.
And then she checked her bank statement
and he went out to dinner,
which, that's not odd,
but the total was 60-some dollars.
- You remember where that was?
-The Lazy Dog in Westminster.
-It's like a bar and grill type--
-You'd have to work at it to get 65 bucks.
Yeah, well, that's what
we were talking about.
So, then she gets off the phone with him,
and we come back.
She's upset and she was like,
"Well, what did he spend that on?"
And I'm-- "Food. Like, I don't know,"
and she looked up the menu.
He said he had salmon and a beer,
and she's like, "That's only 30 bucks.
Where's the other 40 dollars?"
So, then she started
going through their bank statement
to see if there was any other
kind of charges while she was gone.
We went back to my house for
a little bit, and then he had to leave.
Do you recall
the time he left?
I remember he was, like,
gonna be late to be back at 10:00.
I think there's a text message where he
starts texting me when he's at his house.
I remember, I texted him back,
and I was like, "Damn, that was quick."
He's like, "Yeah, I even had time to stop
at the gas station to get money
to pay the babysitter."
He didn't get home until 10:30,
which she found that to be odd,
because it was well after dinner.
And she knows when he gets home,
because their security system
tells you when you open the door.
A Colorado man charged in the murders
of his pregnant wife and two daughters
will be back in court today,
but in an unsealed affidavit, he says
he is not the one who k*lled his children.
I was just hoping
he would be man enough today
to just be like, "Know what?
This is what happened."
There's no doubt in my mind.
My sister would never,
ever, ever hurt her children.
She loved her kids, loved them
more than anything in this world.
Chris Watts learned
that he could get life in prison
without the possibility
of parole or death.
Lots of you have asked about when
the death penalty decision will be made.
That is not something that's going
to happen, even in the next few weeks.
There is so much being said online
in the dozens of Facebook groups
and the tens of thousands of followers
of these Facebook groups, these members.
Everyone is tearing each piece
of interaction between this couple apart.
I just have to wonder
if she even wanted Bella and CeCe.
Her parent-raising ideas
were disturbing.
The one that I would
label the narcissist is Shanann.
I think she drove him
to lose his sh*t.
Oh, my God,
she did not drive him to do this sh*t.
She did, she did.
You don't know what
went on behind closed doors.
She drove him insane.
Come on,
why are you victim-blaming?
She was a bitch.
There are people out there
who believe he is innocent.
And those conspiracy theorists
are using social media
to relentlessly att*ck Shanann's family.
Shanann's father, Frank Rzucek,
says his daughter and his grandchildren
have been ridiculed,
demeaned, slandered, and mocked
in the most vicious ways you can imagine.
Please just stop.
Get on with your lives.
Leave ours alone.
One, two, three. Four, Daddy!
Five!
Six.
She called him that night
when we were at the airport.
She's like, "Will you watch my stuff,
I'm gonna go talk to Chris real quick."
She came back, it couldn't
have been more than five minutes.
I said, "Are you okay?" She's like, "No."
She's like, "I haven't talked to him
all day or hardly at all this weekend,
and he wants to work out.
He started working out
while he was on the phone with me.
So, I just let him go!"
I dropped her off around 1:45.
Then I went home
and I didn't talk to her again that night.
Good afternoon, everyone.
For those of you not present
in the courtroom today,
I want to take a minute to summarize
the nature of the proceedings
on People v. Christopher Watts
this afternoon.
Mr. Watts entered a plea of guilty
to all nine counts. Those counts include
m*rder in the first degree
after deliberation as to Shanann Watts,
m*rder in the first degree
as to Bella Watts,
m*rder in the first degree
as to Celeste Watts,
unlawful termination of a pregnancy
as it relates to Nico Watts,
and three counts of unlawful,
tampering with a deceased human body.
As a result of his plea of guilty,
he will not face the death penalty.
Sandi said it very, very poignantly to me.
"He made the choice to take those lives.
I do not want to be in a position
of making the choice to take his."
The last thing we talked
about was where the girls were.
But we never really got
to talk about that night.
She got home,
like, at two o'clock.
I just had a feeling that she knew, like,
you know, what I did.
Saturday night was the last straw.
Going out with somebody
and using our actual bank account card,
and just, like,
not trying to hide it at all.
I felt her get into bed.
She started rubbing her hand on me,
and we ended up having sex.
When I woke up later on in the morning,
like, you know, I pretty much,
you know, told her, like,
you know, I didn't think
it was gonna work anymore.
And she was like, "What happened?
What was last night?" You know?
She was like,
"I knew there was somebody else."
I couldn't just say,
"Yes, there is somebody else."
Then she said, "You're never
going to see your kids again.
You're never going to see them again.
Get off me."
If I'd never met Nikki, would I ever
have thought our relationship was bad?
Probably not.
So, then, when did it turn?
I told her
I didn't love her anymore.
That's when it happened.
What happened?
She told me to get off her,
and then I put my hands around her.
I don't even wanna say
I felt like I had to.
I felt like it was already something
in my mind that was implanted.
I was gonna do it when I woke up
that morning, and it was gonna happen.
I had no control over it.
Why couldn't I just let go?
What was she doing?
She wasn't fighting.
Then Bella came in the room.
What did she say?
"What's wrong with Mommy?"
She had her little pink blanket with her.
And where was
Shanann at that point?
Pretty much on the bed,
but she was face down.
I put Shanann in that sheet,
carried her downstairs.
I pulled my truck up.
So, you put Shanann in the truck
and then you put
the two girls in the truck?
Sitting in the back with the...
like, in that... that bench seat.
So, Shanann was back there, too?
On the floor.
What did they say about
Shanann being on the floor?
"Is Mommy okay?"
What'd you tell them?
"She'll be fine."
When I was driving up there,
they were just sitting there,
kind of asleep or kind of
just holding onto each other,
laying in each other's laps.
Honestly, like, I try to picture
that whole ride.
It's like 45 minutes
to an hour ride out there.
And it's just like...
couldn't I have, like...
saved my girls' life?
Couldn't I have done something?
Why did I do it? I don't know.
I wanted all my life was to be a dad,
just to have, you know, kids
and they love me, they... all that.
I just haven't... nothing made sense.
So what happened
when you got out there?
CeCe was... first.
I put the blanket over her head.
Did she struggle at all?
I don't think so...
Then what happened to Bella?
Tell me what happened there.
She said, "What happened to CeCe?"
Every time I close my eyes,
I start to see her saying, "Daddy, no,"
and that was it.
I hear that every day.
After he disposed of
their bodies, he made several phone calls.
One was to the school, telling the school
that they were being unenrolled.
He contacted a realtor to start
discussing the selling of his house,
and he texted
with his girlfriend about their future.
None of this answers
the questions of why, however.
If he was this happy
and wanted a new start, get a divorce.
You don't annihilate your family
and throw them away like garbage.
Why did Nico, Celeste, Bella,
and Shanann have to lose their lives...
in order for him to get what he wanted?
Your Honor, Sandi Rzucek
would like to address the court.
I wanted to say thank you
for this moment.
We loved you like a son. We trusted you.
Your faithful wife trusted you.
Your children adored you,
and they also trusted you.
Your daughter Bella Marie
sang a song proudly.
I don't know if you got to see it,
but it was "Daddy, You're My Hero."
I have no idea...
who gave you
the right to take their lives.
But I know...
God and his mighty angels were there...
at that moment
to bring them home to paradise.
Thank you, Your Honor.
Introduce yourself for the record.
I'm Cindy Watts.
I am still struggling to understand
how and why this tragedy occurred.
This might be hard for some
to understand how I can sit here
under these circumstances
and tell you all that we are heartbroken.
Although we can't imagine
what could have led us to this day.
We love you...
and we forgive you, son.
Mr. Watts,
as I indicated when we began,
you have the right to make a statement
if you choose to.
Would you like to make a statement?
No, sir.
This is perhaps the most inhumane...
and vicious crime that I have handled
out of the thousands of cases
that I have seen.
And anything less than
the maximum sentence
would depreciate
the seriousness of this offense.
Deputies, I would respectfully ask
that you take this defendant into custody
and have him serve the rest of his life
in the Department of Corrections.
A dramatic showdown
in court today
as a Colorado man
received three life sentences
for murdering
his pregnant wife and two daughters
in a case that shocked the nation.
My daughter, even though
she was pregnant, is a fighter.
I still say he did this
while she was sleeping,
because he would not look the way
he looks right now if she was up.
What I can tell you
most affirmatively today
is the spotlight that he tried to
shine on Shanann falsely, incorrectly,
and frankly a flat-out lie
has been corrected.
The spotlight shines directly
where it belongs, on him.
Hi, Stacy, my name's Nickole,
and I'm calling, because I'm concerned
about a friend of mine.
- Scott, how you doing?
- How's it going?
All the girls' blankies are gone.
- Her phone's here.
-This is her lifeline.
Her wedding ring's here?
He's not acting right at all.
No?
She's pregnant as well, sir.
Shanann, Bella, Celeste,
if you're out there, just...
just come back.
I need to see everybody again.
This house is not complete with...
without anybody here.
I can say, at the end of the day,
I've done everything
in my heart and my soul that
I could do to make my family's life better
and to give my family
what they deserve.
You guys are so silly.
Okay, let's go to school.
I love school.
Because of my health challenges,
because I got so sick,
I let him in.
He only knew me at that time.
He knew me at my worst,
and he accepted me.
We're not promised tomorrow, you know,
we're not promised anything.
Oh, my goodness!
But we'll be able to enjoy our children
and every crazy moment--
-I love you girls.
-And give the baby a hug!
You wanna give the baby a hug?
It can be super crazy,
but I love them.
American m*rder: The Family Next Door (2020)
Moderator: Maskath3