Page 2 - Finding David Jackson News Today

Learn about the victim. and so she began with something easy. she found david jacksons mother, judy carlson. she found judys son, actually, who called his mom. >> and he said, are you sitting? and i said, yes, and they said, they reopened davids case. >> the detective and the mother talked about david for hours. it wasnt a problem for judy, she loves talking about her boy, even now, to us. >> david was my first child. he was just -- loved everything and everyone. ♪ happy birthday to you >> dav...

Johnny for three days. i got pictures of johnny in like the old western town and everything. >> and maybe it was something about the distance, said barbara. >> david and i became very good friends when i was out in arizona and we used to talk a lot. >> in fact, what she felt deep in her heart never did go away. >> ill always love david. >> and then, it was june 25th, 1988, davids brother, mark, was flying into town to visit the family. david was to pick him up at the airport. but when mark arriv...

>> a bombshell revelation. was she really a bereaved ex -- >> i always loved david. >> -- or just maybe a black widow? >> barbara britton is in the middle. >> "buried clues." hello and welcome to "dateline extra." im craig melvin. the case sat cold for more than a decade, and then rookie detective donna velasquez got the file and turned up the heat. shed been given the basics. 24-year-old divorced dad david jackson had vanished without a trace. digging into davids past, she uncovered a twisted t...

Increasingly complicated web of stories and relationships. david jackson was married to barbara britton, her father, harry, disliked david. barbara went on to become the fifth wife of a man named michael wolfe. they divorced and he later married two more times. >> that we needed to talk. >> but now, finally, one of wolfs ex-wives, a woman named nancy, was sitting with detective velasquez, telling police that she knew everything about what happened to david. >> can you tell me again? >> because i...

>> in november of 2007, the man who shot david jackson to death was found guilty of the crime and sent to prison for the rest of his life. but a couple of days after he was sentenced, wolfe sent out word that he was ready to tell the rest of the story. sure, he said, he was the trigger man and yes, his father-in-law was determined to get rid of david permanently. but to set their trap, to lure david to the kill site, the motel, they needed bait. and that bait, said wolfe, was barbara. barbara wh...

Brother encountered the states attorney and said -- >> hes going to tell you, and he said, hes not going to tell me anything. i saw it in his eyes, hell tell you. and then we got the real story. >> in fact, it was just two days later when wolfe finally confessed the true measure of his guilt and gave police firsthand his unedited version of events the night he said they buried david jackson in the shifting florida clay. was someone else involved? oh, yes, said michael wolfe. she certainly was. ...

>> im sure he told me -- >> and then, checkmate. another ex-wife told police virtually the same story. >> he told me hed shot him in the head. and he -- he told me that he had a silencer on the gun. >> now she, too, was called to the stand. that was enough. it will jury was out less than an hour. the verdict was guilty. at the sentencing, life in prison, david jacksons family confronted michael wolfe. not just to condemn him, but to ask a question because there was still a piece missing. somethi...

A sign of him would have approved. no, she believes when bodies arent found, its because someone has intentionally hidden them. but david jackson might show up, just not alive. >> and my wheels started turning, and i started thinking, you know, we live in florida. with the crazy weather that we have and the water table that we have, if he were ever buried anywhere, somewhere along the line, youre going to pop up. >> maybe, the detective thought, remains had popped up. after all, it had been a de...

Friends, with everybody. >> bill brown was one of those friends. in 1982 after high school, brown and david jackson worked together at a burger king, where david became a manager. brown also had a front row seat to the budding romance between jackson and a pretty 16-year-old coworker named barbara britton. >> they were together, and thats awesome. i mean, if you can find love, thats what we all want. >> and so all of these years later, detective velasquez paid a visit to the woman who had been t...

Arent found, its because someone has intentionally hidden them. but david jackson might show up, just not alive. >> and my wheels started turning, and i started thinking, you know, we live in florida. with the crazy weather that we have and the water table that we have, if he were ever buried anywhere, somewhere along the line, youre going to pop up. >> maybe, the detective thought, remains had popped up. after all, it had been a decade and a half since he disappeared. and so she googled unident...