Her life was just beginning. Andrea canning amber made friends for life. There was just no trying with our friendship. It just was. Eaamber made friends for lif there was no trying with her friendship. It just was. That h life didnt last long im on the floor, face down, and she has a plastic bag wrapped around her head. Most people that rob a store dont kill anybody. My whole world just died right there. For months, the murder stayed cold. Didnt have witnesses, didnt have video. We go down and talk to the detective. We wouldnt let it go. Then, a break. Another victim. He would duct tape me. Duct tape my mouth. She knew his secret, would she risk revealing it . Something is going to happen tonight. A killer ready to run, face to face with the one person who might be able to stop him. He just reached over the Glove Compartment and he pulled out the gun. I said please dont kill me. I wanted to get out of there alive. Hello and welcome to dateline. Amber belkin was loa force to reckon with. A petite young woman whose big dreams and omdrive made her see unstoppable. Then, she was found murdered. Was amber the victim of a robbery gone bad or was this brutal crime personal . Three people knew the truth. Two of lethem would risk their lives to reveal it. Heres Keith Morrison with, everything she knew. It was a Monday Morning in january. , 2007. 9 08 a. M. A young woman in san antonio texted her boyfriend. I love you. Thats all it said. I love you. Nothing more. Downtown, the alamo had just opened its doors. A few tourists began boarding little boats to gaze at remnants of Texas History along urban stretches of the san antonio river. Several miles away in the farther reaches of the modern city, the manager of a Video Game Store began his daily ritual. His name was mariano rivera. The managers typically get there ivat 9 00 in the morning. Grab the money, take it with you, and go to the bank. Similar process in the sister store. Same company, not far away. That one managed by the woman who sent the text to her boyfriend. Except this was strange. As the morning slipped by, her store remained closed. Mariano got a call from the district manager. Can you go over there and maybe you can see something . See whats going on. He did. He saw ata white car in the parking lot. Looked like the young womans car. He peered into the store window. Nobody there. And i thought, man, this is strange. Where is she . I kept calling. Nothing. Her name was amber belkin. Tiny, just 52, 100 pounds. But energetic, ambitious, and very much in charge. She was a fire cracker. Thats the easiest way to put it. Matt is in texas politics nowadays. Back then he worked in amber belkins store. She would let you know what she wanted. She was one of the kindest souls ever, that i ever met. It depended on what side you met her on. She loved her job. She did. Monica peck and ashley were ambers best friends. Was she cut out to be a manager . Oh yeah. She was fierce. But she was still friendly. She loved all her employees. She loved all of her customers. She was only 25. She was a store manager. So it was a very good sense of, shes doing it. Shes making something of her life. She had goals. She had ambitions. She wanted to go back to school. She wanted all of it. No the that she set out to work in a game store. She wanted to be a veterinarian. She was just so loving. We couldnt pass a turtle on the road. She would find random animals on the side of the road. Like her little dog, buddy. Ambers parents, lee and randy. She actually ran for buddy across the expressway and the hair was all matted up. Looked like dreadlocks. She said, i cant put it back out on the road. It will get killed. I opened the door and let it in. Amber was their only child. They doted on her, from the day she was born. And she was good in return. She helped anybody that needed it. They didnt even have to ask. She was going to make sure that keyou were protected. Atbut now, where was amber . Why was e her store not open . Why didnt she answer the phone . Early afternoon, still no sign of amber. So again, the district manager called mariano. Something is just strange. Sent him back for a second look. So again, mariano looked in through the big front window, but this time he saw someone. Ambers assistant manager, brandon, just standing there behind the counter. I knock on the door and so he lets me in and i said, brandon, he said have you seen amber . He said no, but something is strange. It looks like there was some kind of struggle or something happened. Things got knocked over. My first thought was, where is amber . He said he didnt know. Of course, right away, im thinking, what is going on with this guy . Clearly sees theres something wrong, he must recognize her car. Thats her car outside, you see it. You see theres things on the floor. Why havent you reacted right away and call someone or check the rest of the store. But he hadnt. So, mariano ran to the back office. The only other room in the store. Not a moment hell ever forget. Not for the rest of his life. And when i run to the back. Amber is on the floor, face down, and she has a plastic bag wrapped around her head. And instantly, i knew what happened. One mystery solved. Amber was no longer missing. But a much bigger mystery remained. Coming up. Most people who rob a store dont kill anybody. Maybe the robbery was just a cover for murder. He had the classic motive. It does seem personal. When dateline continues. And you know i didnt. It makes my running shoe look like new its amazing. Its so good. It makes it look like i have magical powers. Magic eraser and sheets make cleaning look easy. Sorry, party is cancelled. Waiting on the cable internet guy. First, i had cable. But those cords werent me. So he switched to tmobile. Home internet, with 5g. 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Get tickets [ screaming ] get tickets skadoosh. Get tickets Keith Morrison there are some things, which once seen, can never be unseen, amber belken sprawled in death there reare some things whi once seen, can never be unseen. Amber belkin sprawled in death in the back office of a Video Game Store. Her head wrapped in a plastic bag. Mariano rivera dialed 911. His mind horrified confusion. He stared at Brandon Beale. I was angry. I was upset. You know, and then im looking at brandon like, i dont understand. How did this happen . And you know, i dont want to blame anybody, but your first thought is, who was around . Who can you look at and say maybe he has something to do with it. It has to be a shocking thing to discover. Its hard to describe. You have a million emotions running through and you dont know what to make of them. The police came, took one look, and called raymond roberts. Then a detective with the San Antonio Police department. It looks like a robbery gone bad, store is in disarray. The clerk is found in the back office, shes dead. Try to get some information, are there any witnesses . No, sir. Youre telling me to hold the scene down and get the crime scene detectives out there. The news indistinct, unconfirmed, spread throughout the texas afternoon. Someone is dead in ambers store. Most people didnt know who, including ambers father, as he headed over there. I jumped in my truck and i called a friend of mine who is a Defense Attorney and i said, i need you to call anybody that you can to see what you can find out. And i was just about there and he called me and he said, how far are you from there . And thats when he realized it wasnt that amber found someone dead. They found her. And my knees just buckled and i just my whole world just died right there. Thats a pretty dreadful feeling. Its the worst feeling in the world, because you totally realize no one can fix this. Nobody can bring her back. Not for them. Not for her friends. Everything just stopped. Disbelief. Disbelief. Your earth shatters. I sat on the curb and cried. Everything around me was just a blur. Inside the store, Detective Roberts had a look around. Theres a bunch of dvd games on the ground. Where the Cash Register was at the front, the till is open. The drawer is open. Change laying around. More dvds on the ground in the back. Like somebody came in, ransacked it. Ransacked the place and took off, yeah. He went around to the back alley. Was this an escape route . Either had their car out here in the alley, picked up the boxes and took off. Wouldnt think robbing a game store would be worth killing someone in the process. Normally during a robberies, theres just robbery, no murder. This was certainly a robbery, given the mess and the empty safe. We checked the bank. There was no deposit made for that morning. There was 1900 stolen. Three or four big video games, play stations, and ps3, and dvd games. All that was taken. The haul totaled just under 6,000. Maybe the store Surveillance Cameras could tell the detective who took it. Except theres no Surveillance Video in the store. Theres none in the strip center that the store is located in. Theres no video. There was video at the starbucks next door, but it only showed the front door. Thats it. You dont see anything. Who would know that . Who would know it was the video game companys only store in san antonio not equipped with cameras . The answer was obvious, thought the detective, an employee would know. Just like an employee would know amber hadnt taken the cash to the bank yet. Then mariano told the detective about Encountering Brandon and he couldnt understand why brandon didnt look for amber until he, mariano, arrived. His first thought, i think there might have been a robbery. Let me make sure the robbers arent in here, also, let me see where amber is. Just what the detective was thinking. He talked to ambers coworkers. They said she had issues with brandon. They had never learned to Work Together yet and when you have a guy like that who is not really the same type of attitude or mentality that the rest of us were, it causes some problems. Did she trust him . You know, i dont know. I think some instances, no. Even ambers parents said they knew she was dissatisfied with brandon. Because she had written him up. She prepared a negative work review. She was going to turn it in that day. Its just his last chance, mom, she said i cant allow him to continue to make these mistakes. So, motive . Opportunity . Behavior that didnt seem innocent . I mean, he had the classic motive. He didnt want her to write him up. Yeah. Didnt want to get fired. Seemed like a personal crime. Most people that go in and rob a store, they dont have the intentions to kill anybody. Putting a plastic bag on her head, squeezing it tight, takes four or five minutes probably. Takes a commitment. Yeah, no kidding. Know she is struggling. Shes not just laying there. That takes awhile. That takes it does seem personal. They had brandon in the backside of a patrol car. Detective went to talk to him. He tells me a story and its just not making any sense. So he had brandon taken downtown and questioned by a colleague known for her special interviewing skills. Shes a real good detective. She has a way with getting stuff out of people. About an hour later, im at the scene. She calls me back, yeah, something is up with this guy. Coming up. Ambers parents were convinced it was brandon. Everything pointed to him. Would that explain what ambers mom saw at the funeral . He put one of the game stop tag holders that had their id on it. He put one of those in her casket. When dateline continues. When dateline continues. What can you do with sensitive skin . Cetaphil moisturizing Lotion Hydrates for a full 48 hours. Because a lot can happen in 48 hours. Dermatologistrecommended cetaphil. We do skin. 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Amber belkins funeral was huge, as if she had been adopted by the Community Around her. Over 600 people. The ones that couldnt get into the chapel waited in the lobby and in the parking lot. Was that a comfort . A very big comfort. She touched that many lives. They loved amber. They said, we love amber. Asambers parents watched, they could not stop seeing in their heads another scene. The one in the back room of the Video Game Store. The way she was killed. That told me it was personal. She had to be so frightened. And when she tried to pick up the phone, i know it was to call us. And he yanked the phone out of the wall. Was it Brandon Beale . By the day of the funeral, they were sure. We definitely thought brandon did it. Everything pointed to him. Then, as mourners filed by to pay their respects, suddenly, there he was at the funeral. In front of them. Brandon beale. Did you think, my god, her killer has come to the funeral . Oh, he came and shook my hand and i got up and my knees just fell weak and i just fell. Then, said ambers mother, she was sure she saw brandon walk right up to the casket and put something into it. He put one of the game stop tag holders that had their id on it. He put one of those in her casket and i got that thing out of there as fast as i could and put it in a tissue and put it in my purse, because i thought, thats the last thing i want buried with my daughter. Was that id potential evidence, she wondered . Was brandon trying to bury evidence with ambers body . So mom was automatically thinking, it has to be brandon. A week after the murder, Detective Roberts questioned brandon on video tape. Going back over everybody we talked to, trying to figure this thing out. Brandon repeated the story he had been telling from the start. He was nowhere near the store that morning. Got up, let my dog out. Watched sports center. And then at 9 45, i left to go help my fiances parents move. He didnt get to the store, he said, until after 2 00 p. M. , for afternoon shift. And when he got there, insisted it was still closed. So he panicked. Was he supposed to open that morning . Im about to put my stuff in, so i can check the computer. He looks around and sees the dvds on the floor. The cashier drawer open. He sees all this and thought, hmm, he starts going about to open the store. He thought hmm . Yeah, hes not looking for amber. Brandon told Detective Roberts he had no idea amber was in the store. No idea amber intended to submit a negative work review about him that very day. Didnt notice her car in the parking lot, he said. Didnt think the obvious mess in the store meant they had been robbed. You saw the disarray. Yeah. If an employee saw that disarray. Normal person would go in and start looking, something is up. Something is wrong here. So roberts got a Search Warrant for brandons house and car. Maybe they would find some of the stolen dvds and Game Consoles there. They did not. But there had to be something. For weeks, the detective looked for evidence on Brandon Beale. Randy and mom called me 24 7. Every day. Two or three times a day. Brandon, brandon, brandon. Detectives questioned his fiance. Her parents. They scoured his Phone Records. We did everything we could to try to get some kind of evidence on brandon and there was none there. There was none there, because he didnt do it. That alibi about helping his fiances parents checked out. And his Phone Records revealed he was miles from the store when amber was murdered. Finally, Brandon Beale was cleared. Did you at some point think, im going to be charged with murder . Yes, i did. The memory still fresh. I had nightmares of going to jail, you know, it was hard for me to sleep. That terrible day. My whole Thought Process was, i have to get this store open, because i think i screwed up. Why didnt he notice they had been robbed . Some stores are messier than others. Maybe that meant whoever was on the night before didnt put things away. That was my Thought Process. Totally opposite of, hey, theres somebody dead here. Brandon was 23 then. And terrified. Im just thinking, you know, they are trying to put this on this young black man, you know . When they questioned his fiance, now wife. They were trying