no. in our game, we don t take anyone s word for anything. we look into it. and that s what we did. they met with the improbably-named kobi laker, eric s best friend. and kobi backed up eric. they had a terrific marriage. and there was no problems whatsoever. but if the marriage seemed solid, there were questions about pegye, at least according to linda bechler, eric s mother. linda says pegye told her something in confidence just before she disappeared. she stopped me on the stairway as i was leaving. and said, i have to talk to you. she said, i m afraid i m going to jail. according to court documents, about a year before pegye disappeared, the couple sold their physical therapy business to another company, but they stayed on as employees. then, just four months before pegye vanished, the bechlers were fired. amid allegations they had overbilled medicare for more than a million dollars.
nothing could hold her back. she had scoliosis as a kid. young pegye had to wear a brace around the clock. that s a terrible burden for a young kid like that to bear. but it also kind of ended up motivating her, didn t it? it really did. reporter: pegye s doctor talked with her about a career in physical therapy. she volunteered and loved it. she made up her mind right then she wanted to be a physical therapist, and she wanted to move to california and be a beautiful blonde. so she did. reporter: a farmer s daughter with big dreams. so pegye left the small town of dexter for sunny california and settled in newport beach. that s where she met glenda who was also from new mexico and they immediately hit it off. she was probably one of the most gregarious people i have ever met. she was always happy, always smiling. reporter: and she says pegye was driven to establish herself as a successful physical therapist. she had almost everything she wanted.
places from the very day she was born. she was never still. reporter: she danced, sang, played sports and it seemed nothing could hold her back. she had scoliosis as a kid. young pegye had to wear a brace around the clock. that s a terrible burden for a young kid like that to bear. but it also kind of ended up motivating her, didn t it? it really did. reporter: pegye s doctor talked with her about a career in physical therapy. she volunteered and loved it. she made up her mind right then she wanted to be a physical therapist, and she wanted to move to california and be a beautiful blonde. so she did. reporter: a farmer s daughter with big dreams. so pegye left the small town of dexter for sunny california and settled in newport beach. that s where she met glenda who was also from new mexico and they immediately hit it off. she was probably one of the most gregarious people i have ever met. she was always happy, always smiling. reporter: and she says pegye was driven to
their way out and said there was a pretty good swell in the ocean. was it as high as the side of the boat? probably. it was, you know, big enough to notice. reporter: eric said they stopped out here on the water to enjoy some margaritas pegye had made. and then later in the day they decided to try the body board again, this time on their way back to the harbor. pegye was driving. eric was being pulled on the board. well, i mean there s a wave and all of a sudden it got real big, and of a sudden it just jerked out of my hand. oh, ok. you know, i just couldn t hold on. so i came up. i thought pegye would be right there. she wasn t. the boat was just going in circles, and i couldn t see her. i could just see that pegye wasn t standing there on the wheel. and the boat kept going farther and farther away. and i couldn t see any other boat. i was screaming and looking around. it was my fault. if only i could see her right
volleyball on the beach. reporter: dave was glenda s husband. i asked pegye if she wanted to come down with me and she said absolutely. she immediately spotted eric and said, who s that? reporter: eric bechler, then in his early 20s, was a walking commercial for the california beach life. i m going to guess when she notices a guy playing beach volleyball, he s good looking and in great shape. indeed he was. and handsome. very. he was all those things. reporter: and he was available. he was also eight years younger. was that a problem for either one of them? it was not a problem for either one of them. pegye, you know, she when she sets her sight on something, she s going to make it happen. and it developed really quickly, really, really, quickly. reporter: within a year they were married. within four years they had three beautiful kids. pegye and eric went into business together. she opened up her own physical