own home. there was little evidence to go on. no witness to reveal who took tara or why. or so investigators thought. it would take years and a team of determined cold case detectives to uncover that long buried clue and the story that would blow this case wide open. here s keith morrison with the knock at the door. reporter: it was a monday afternoon. a baking sun. a school bus made its methodical way among the residential streets of punta gorda, florida. stopped and started and stopped again. it was inland now, miles from the the harbor, the peace river, the center of the town whose warmth had drawn them to the gulf coast. the bus stopped in the middle of a quiet neighborhood. driver opened the door. it was 3:45 p.m. we got off the bus and walked home. reporter: we means veronica
cause that wasn t usual. so that s when i had called keith. reporter: keith was keith mcphillips, her mom s fiance. he was just leaving work, told veronica he was thinking of stopping for coffee with a friend on his way home. then veronica told him about tara, that her purse was home, but she wasn t. what did you think when she told you that? well, just something wasn t right. because if tara was gonna go somewhere, i knew she wouldn t leave her stuff or her car. she woulda said, i won t be here when the kids get here. that s how responsible she was. sure. reporter: keith canceled the coffee plan, drove straight home. as soon as i got home, it just didn t look right. there was all kinds of tracks on the floor and i said, what are these marks on the floor? and she said, i don t know. tracks? muddy footprints. reporter: muddy footprints in the living room and master bedroom. and something else, something only those who lived there would know. in the bedroom, li
this, you know? you just hope and pray everyday that she s alive. but it was her. it was tara. enough of the teeth were there to to make a positive identification that it was tara. reporter: by then, sharon and keith were at home, waiting for the results. detective gandy went to tell them. that s never easy, huh? hardest thing you ever have to do. and then when they come to your door with clergy reporter: you see them coming? yeah. then the reality is that s it, you re never gonna see her again. it s so devastating. it s the worst pain ever. she didn t belong out there. reporter: 284 days after tara vanished, they knew, finally, she was never coming back.
them all. she was my buddy. reporter: and now he didn t know where she was. right away, that afternoon, keith called sharon, just finishing her work day at her office. i ll never forget that call. i remember saying, i have to leave now. it was a 40-minute ride. and i cried that whole way home to please don t let nothing be wrong, please, please. i remember my mother pulling up. how did she look? oh, panicked. reporter: keith had called 911 as sharon rushed home. an officer was there when she arrived. my first thing, you need to do something. my daughter s not here. i just knew. i just knew. coming up. what had happened to tara? why wasn t anyone taking action and figuring out where she was? earrings in the carpet. ribbons on the ground. tire tracks on the lawn. it was obvious we had a serious problem. gut-wrenching pain. please, please don t let this be true!
extremely important. when dateline continues. when dateline continues we used to love going out with julia and mike, but since they bought their new house. which menu am i looking at here? start with ta-paz. -oh, it s tapas. -tapas. get out of town. it s like eating dinner with your parents. sandra, are you in school? yes, i m in art school. oh, wow. so have you thought about how you re gonna make money? at least we re learning some new things. we bundled our home and auto with progressive, saved a bunch. oh, we got a wobbler. progressive can t protect you from becoming your parents, but we can protect your home and auto when you bundle with us. that s what the extra menu s for.