I thought, what is this . Reporter heidi had a secret mission. Had she made a secret enemy . Theyre gonna wanna shut her up, permanently. Reporter but who were they . Decades of digging, and then a chilling, chance encounter. He said to us, do you really wanna know what happened to her . He said, i grabbed her like this. Oh my god, finally it was unbelievable. That was, jaw dropping. Reporter tonya priest never wanted to be a star witness, least of all in a longago abduction and murder investigation. But after that guy blurted out what he did, she felt she had to come forward. Would you live with it . Could you live with all of that . Reporter and she found herself on the phone talking to a District Attorney in upstate new york. I know the truth, sir. Reporter tonya believed she knew whod done it. Whod done that terrible thing at the Convenience Store on an Easter Sunday morning many years ago. That store clerk abducted and never seen again. And it probably only took maybe 60 seconds to do what they needed to do. Reporter what tonya reopened was a wound that had never really healed in Oswego County, new york. I cant let it go, and i wont let it go. I will die trying and fighting for her. If they think im going to walk away, they are mistaken. I am not. Reporter even today just say the name heidi allen, and a swirl of memories come back. Some of them fuzzy now. It was 1994, that missing girl. The van, was it blue, was it white . And didnt they get the guy who did it and send him away . Tonya was a teenager back then. Did you follow it in the news or did kids talk about it in school . I knew about that they were looking for a van. Thats basically all i knew at that point. Reporter heres whats not in dispute about that snowy Easter Sunday morning. 18yearold heidi allen, taking the early shift for a coworker, opened the Convenience Store about 5 45 a. M. It was a parttime job for her, a way to defray some of her Freshman College bills. Lisa buske is heidis sister. She was sassy and energetic and a risktaker. Reporter she liked school . Oh, she liked school because she was smart. She didnt have to study. She was one of those. Reporter one of those kids, huh . She was one of those. Reporter so what was the job at the Convenience Store . It was close to home, and our friends owned it. You know, so mom and dad felt safe. Reporter before the earlybirds started showing up for their newspapers, ciggies, maybe a few gallons of gas at the pumps, heidis boyfriend was there with her to help get things up and running for the day. He would take her so that she wasnt alone until people you know, like, the traffic was picking up. And then he would go. Reporter and thats what happened that day. Right. Reporter Richard Thibodeau, a regular, lived a few miles down the road and saw heidi that morning. I asked her for two packs of basic cigarettes, paid her. I said, have a nice day. Reporter a few more cars pulled up to the d w. Reporter john obrien of covered the case for syracuse. Com. Some customers had come in and didnt realize she wasnt there until theyd been there for a while. They flagged down a deputy and no heidi. Reporter heidis sister lisa woke up that morning to very bad news. And my aunt was on the machine. And she said, lisa, heidis missing. Reporter missing . We saw her the night before when she delivered our easter baskets and in her usual goofiness. It was shocking that an 18yearold girl could just disappear like that on easter morning. Reporter the Convenience Store was strung with crime scene tape by the time heidis sister arrived. I just really felt like i was just watching a movie. Reporter inside the store, not promising. They had found heidis purse. Her car keys. Money undisturbed in the register. No signs of a struggle. And her car was parked in the lot. I just remember sitting and just watching. I didnt know what to do. Reporter the community made a find heidi volunteer command center at the Old Firehouse while the authorities readied their first news alert. We have an 18yearold girl named heidi allen who lives here in new haven who was the clerk. Reporter someone listening to that bulletin was Richard Thibodeau, who, of course, recognized heidi from the Convenience Store where hed shopped earlier. He turned to his girlfriend teresa and said as much. And richard said, well, my god, he said, i was there. I bought two packs of cigarettes. So he picked up the phone, he called. Reporter called the sheriffs, and set in motion a sequence of lifechanging events he could not stop. Other callers that morning offered tips about a suspicious van at the store. Reuel todd, now the sheriff, was undersheriff at the time. They noticed somebody driving very erratically wrestling or struggling with somebody in a van. Reporter this van, sheriff, did you get a make, model, color . Anything useful . Different color, white, light blue, that type of stuff. Reporter but in those early hours, in the days before smartphones and ubiquitous security cameras, nothing was coming together. Volunteers searched. Called out, but heidi was gone and stayed gone. We followed up on every lead. We had no major people. Reporter weeks went by without an arrest, without answers. And then a couple of months passed. They had brought in a criminal profiler with the fbis behavioral science unit, someone who would later correctly profile the Oklahoma City bomber. But in this instance, Clint Van Zandt was the agent in the unit who got assigned to the heidi allen case in upstate new york. His take look for someone with a history of violence and someone obsessed with the case. The person who committed this is somebody who was really interested. I mean, the community was interested in the case, but this is more interest. Reporter obsessed. Could not let it go. This is somebody wholl be saving newspaper articles. Reporter and there would be many newspaper articles, decades of them, in fact. The case of heidi allen was just getting started. When we come back, clues to the mystery. Who would grab an 18yearold girl . Our theory then was probably a sex crime. And then, unbelievably, the killer seems to out himself. He says, yeah, i killed this girl. He gives it up. He gives it up. You, thats texas. Where we always find a way, thats texas. 60 of women are wearing the wrong size pad and can experience leaks discover always my fit. Find the number thats right for your flow and panty size on the top of any always pack. The better the fit, the better it protects. Always. Here at persil, the Top Notch Team of stain experts has performed over 10,000 stain evaluations to prove persil delivers a premium clean. Weve made a new stain with wasabi and goji berries. Make that 10,001. Persil pro clean. Make that 10,001. 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And it concerned a guy who had bought cigarettes in hide they morning, Richard Thibodeau. Did the cops on the phone start to ask you questions . They sent someone over to the house and asked me a bunch of questions. Reporter investigators, it turned out, were suspicious of him from the getgo. Theyd even put him under surveillance. The reason . Thibodeaus was the last transaction recorded on the register that morning and Richard Thibodeau also drove a white van, one that seemed to match a vehicle described by a witness at the scene. At first it was blue. It changed to white as time went on. But he did say in the end that van, the thibodeau van, that was the van. Reporter the witness reported seeing more than one man, so investigators also brought in richards brother, gary, for questioning. The brother said he was home asleep that morning and his girlfriend vouched for him. But Gary Thibodeau didnt have a spotless record. He had an outstanding warrant on a minor drug charge in neighboring massachusetts. They extradited him to massachusetts, which was an odd thing on a drug charge. Reporter in the county jail, thibodeau struck up a conversation with a fellow prisoner. Him and gary are sitting in there shooting the breeze, and they get talking about Something Like all of them do. He says, yeah, i killed this girl from oswego. Reporter he gives it up, though . He gives it up. Reporter brother gary eventually is said to have told two prisoners about his involvement in the crime. That he and heidi used drugs together and that she feared gary was going to screw her over in a drug deal. And with that jailhouse confession, investigators now believed they had their case. The two brothers, drugs, an abduction and murder. I was waiting for my school bus to come. Reporter this is Richard Thibodeaus stepdaughter, amanda. She was just 11 at the time. And police cars came pulling into my driveway. I dont know how many, but they just came shooting right in and stopped quickly. Reporter both brothers were arrested and charged with kidnapping in the first degree. A major break in the heidi allen case. Reporter whats the motive, sheriff . Whats the theory that goes with them in their van and being at the Convenience Store . Do you know what motive is . Opportunity. They stopped in there to get the cigarettes, and that was the opportunity. Reporter its about abduct this young, cute girl, huh . Appears to me. Reporter there would be two separate trials for the brothers. Two separate juries to decide their fates. And in the summer of 1995, the first of the two, gary, went on trial. Joe fahey, now a retired judge, was garys defense attorney. He says the case was forensically and circumstantially light. There was no indication that gary had ever been near the d w that morning. Reporter gary testified that he was home asleep that morning. And the jailhouse snitches who got him indicted were flatout lying. He figured they must have been angling for favors from the prosecution. The only thing they really had to contend with were the two guys from massachusetts. They said gary kind of boasted about they were looking for me, but theyll never find her. Reporter but they were statements a jury apparently believed. It took just four hours to render a verdict. How do you find the defendant on count one kidnapping in the first degree . Guilty. Reporter brother richard, owner of the van, the one who bought the cigarettes and placed himself at the store, went on trial a few weeks later. His stepdaughter, amanda, was certain hed be found guilty as well. It didnt make sense for them not to find him guilty because they found uncle gary guilty. And theyre saying that uncle gary did it with him. Reporter richard was, without a doubt, heidis last customer. And witnesses testified theyd seen a van like his at the scene. Richards van, however, showed no trace of blood or anything connected to heidi. This time the jury deliberated eight hours. And we find him not guilty. Reporter two trials, two so heres the strange thing about the two brothers, it seems, sheriff. Youve got richard, whos acquitted. And yet, he is the one that says, yeah, i was in the shop. And his brother, who doesnt put himself in the shop is the one who goes down for it. But dont they have to be in cahoots together for this to make sense . I would say so, but it still doesnt matter. And thats what happens with different juries. Reporter do you believe good arrest, good conviction . Absolutely. Reporter heidis family wasnt quite sure what to make of the two trials. Heidis first cousin is missy searles. It was confusing to have basically the same evidence just different jury and then you end up with two different verdicts. Reporter and there was something that always bothered cousin missy about the trial. The jailhouse informants testified that it was a drug deal gone bad. Didnt make sense. She wasnt a drug user herself. She didnt participate in that. Reporter Clint Van Zandt, the fbi profiler, was also left scratching his head. His profile predicted the person responsible would be an obsessive stalker type. Did you think you maybe missed something in your evaluation . The thibodeau brothers did not add up to my profile, so i was trying to figure out what i missed. You know, was it something that i didnt know about, that i didnt have a handle on . Reporter the years went by. A fading sign at the center of town was the lingering reminder that once thered been a girl named heidi allen whose life was taken from her. Heidi allen has been huge in everyones mind for years. I mean, because shes never been found. Reporter and there was a lingering feeling in the town among some people that just maybe there was more to the story. I didnt know what to do. It broke my heart. It destroyed me. Coming up a chance encounter and the shock of a lifetime. He said to us, you really want to know what happened to her . Are we about to learn heidis fate. He said, i grabbed her like this. Found. Reporter and there was a lingering feeling in the town among some people that just maybe there was more to the story. I didnt know what to do. It broke my heart. It destroyed me. Coming up a chance encounter and the shock of a lifetime. He said to us, you really want to know what happened to her . Are we about to learn heidis fate. He said, i grabbed her like this. Visit sprintrelay. Com vo nutritional needs. Ogs all in one. Purina one. Healthy energy, all in one. Strong muscles, all in one. Highly digestible, and a taste he loves, all in one. Purina one smartblend is expertly blended. With 100 nutrition, 0 fillers, always real meat 1. Lifelong smart nutrition. Its all in one. Purina one. When you dont get enough sleep, and your body aches, youre not yourself. Tylenol® pm relieves pain and helps you fall fast asleep and stay asleep. We give you a better night, youre a better you all day. And for your daytime pain relief, try tylenol® extra strength. So my dentist toldell, bume about this. go pro with crest hd. Crest hd cleans and whitens my teeth to eyepopping levels. Crest hd. 6x cleaning, 6x whitening. I did it, i did it, i impressed the dentist. This is melanie she is french. She chooses to embrace the beauty and pleasure in all things. When eating her yogurt for example she is tres selective about her company. She likes to dine with charismatic friends. Oui the new french style yogurt. It was an odd conclusion to the heidi allen case. One brother convicted. The other brother, the one who admitted to being at the store, acquitted. And even though Richard Thibodeau was found not guilty, in some peoples minds hed simply had a lucky day in court. Stepdaughter amanda. Growing up, we were known as the kidnappers kids. We were known as the murderers kids. We werent treated nicely. Reporter for the allen family, it was an unsatisfying result. They still didnt know what had happened to heidi. And her body had never been found. Shes out there somewhere and somebody knows. Thats right. And someday were going to know. You cant give up hope on your missing loved one. Reporter even after the dust settled, the case stayed in the news for years to come. Some young people like tonya priest never really forgot. Nothing like that had ever happened in our area before. So yeah, it stood out. Reporter a full decade rolled by. Tonya was now in her mid20s. One day while visiting a friend named vicki, the tv was on. Up popped a story about the heidi allen case, an anniversary report. When the news flashed about heidi, i said to her, i wonder what happened to heidi. And she said, yeah, me too. Reporter it wasnt really a question, just an outloud thought. But someone in the room decided to answer. It was the friends boyfriend, a guy nicknamed thumper. He said to us, do you really want to know what happened to her . We were, like, okay, yeah. Reporter and this next version of that easter morning is one that needs close attention. Because it didnt involve the thibodeau brothers at all, but put thumper himself and two young buddies at the epicenter of heidis abduction. He said that they pulled in right up by the doors with the vehicle running. They left the back doors open. And he said, i grabbed her like this. He said, we dragged her out of the store. And then he laughed. He said, and when we hit that van, we hit that van hard with her. Reporter could he be serious . I mean, is this a guy just flexing his biceps for the girls . No. The more we didnt believe him, the angrier he became. I said, okay, well, how did the white van get involved . He said, we just got lucky. One showed up before we did. I said, thumper, there is an innocent man in prison. He said, not my problem. Reporter thumper, real name james steen, was convicted a