i believed every word my son said, and i still do to this day. answer for this? >> a dramatic chapter 2 mothers fighting for their sons. >> he knows he hurt my son. >> a missing teenager found dead. >> his body was laying in the clearing. >> we want answers. >> was it murder? or was it something else? >> how do you get in a scuffle and the next thing you know you're being charged with murder. >> a trial. >> i watch my son die every day. >> and a twist that stunned un everyone. >> we had to stop and think with the we heard it right. . i, there is nothing more powerful than a mother's love for her child and no greater pain than losing a child. >> hello, welcome into datelin it has been said there's nothing more powerful than a mother's love for her child and no greater pain than losing a child. both forces collided in a small midwestern town when a mysterious death sparked a search for justice. it divided a community and turn strangers into allies. the outcome left both sides reeling. here is dennis merce -- murphy with here at the edge of town. yards from the chicken wing places an one likely scrapple wilderness and a southern illinois town. a thicket of vines and brambles. acres of thorns that tear the flesh. for years people spend by without a second look. something terrible at in their in a cold night the brought a stranger to town. a mother looking for answers about her son. >> i knew one thing is i was not going to stop. >> no matter how painful the truth turned out to be. does it hurt you to be back here? >> yes. >> her heartbreak launched another mother might ski fight. >> i want to save my son. i'm a fighter. i am a mom. >> divided an entire community. >> no matter who you are or where you came from, right is right and wrong is wrong. >> few people know this part of southern illinois better than monica. this mother two has spent most of her life in these parts. >> we are the average small town america. >> who runs a? >> that's a hard question. until something goes wrong, we all do. . >> for years, she hosted a friday night radio show called reality check. did you touch scandal or city hall politics? >> oh, yeah. i like to push the envelope a little bit. >> it wasn't unusual for people to send her tips of stories to watch. that began in february 2014. >> i had a ran a facebook message from somebody had never heard of and it said, have you heard about this? it was the link to a flyer for missing person. >> 19-year-old pravin varughese. a college sophomore at southern illinois university in carbondale. last seen leaving a house party, stepping into the bitter cold. >> i was like, where is this kid at? >> what caught your interest? >> the young man that contacted me was in distress. he says it's abnormal. he would not do this. something is wrong. >> monica learn that he came from chicago, six hour drive away. he was the adored middle child of immigrants from india. his dad was a respiratory therapist and his mom a nurse. >> thursday morning, i woke up with this awful feeling of something heavy in my chest. >> when the phone rang, lovely expected to hear his voice. he called home most evenings. it was not her son. it was a police officer. >> he said, well, your son is reported missing by his cousin. i screamed. everything change that moment. everything changed. >> lovely and her husband drove to carbondale and met their daughter at pravin's student apartment. there was no sign of her boy. >> my parents were mentally out of it. it was so hard. i felt i had to set up because it was my brother. i wanted to find a more than anything in the world. >> she organized busloads of volunteers are shut up from chicago to help the family search. they handed out flyers. posted on telephone poles and gas stations, desperate for clues. >> we had no idea what happened with pravin at that point. >> police were searching too. >> we had 14 canines to help search the areas for him. two helicopters and a state police plane. >> so you were blowing it off. >> no. >> we did not know where he was. >> lovelies family as the public for help. they offered $15,000 in reward money. this is a start of a long journey for you. a journey that began as a search for her son, but soon became something else. a search for truth and kindness and finally justice >> coming up. >> the statement was pravin seem to be intoxicated and could not tell where he was going. >> a first clue from the last person to see pravin alive. >> now we have an area to look. >> but what they discover will tear two families apart. >> i thought this doesn't sound right. ...makeup smearing drops user. i want another option that's not another drop. tyrvaya. it's not another drop. it's the first and only nasal spray for dry eye. tyrvaya treats the signs and symptoms of dry eye disease fast by helping your body produce its own real tears. common side effects include sneezing, cough, and throat and nose irritation. relying only on drops? 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[ bird squawks loudly ] to a pet shop. meg's moving company uses t-mobile. so she scaled down her fleet to save money. and don's paying so much for at&t, he's been waiting to update his equipment! there's a smarter way to save. comcast business mobile. you could save up to 70% on your wireless bill. so you don't have to compromise. powering smarter savings. powering possibilities. shell renewable race fuel. reducing emissions by 60%. ♪♪ we're moving forward with indycar. because we're moving forward with everybody. shell. powering progress. dennis murphy: lovely gazed out a hotel window and waited for news of her missing son. memories crowded out the quiet. lovely gazed at a hotel window and waited for news of her missing son. memories crowded out the quiet. pravin, a chatty and energetic child was always in motion from the time he was little. singing. dancing. running. he had made varsity on his high school track team. >> his cross-country coach said i don't know any kid who can run that fast and talk and cracked jokes. >> personality? >> goofy and funny. never held a grudge, ever. >> his real dream was to become an fbi agent. the criminal justice program at southern illinois university was well regarded, and there was something else the university was known for. >> when we looked at the college, my husband said, that's a party college. he said which college is not a party college? >> a party was the last place pravin had been seen. did he fit into that party crowd? >> we head a lot of his friends who told us he did party with them on a regular basis. >> drink until they got sloppy? >> he did consume alcohol in number time of days. >> some witnesses told police at the party the night he disappeared. >> he was creating somewhat of a disturbance and was asked to leave. >> pravin's friends expected him to meet up at a bar, but he never showed. they did not see him the next day or the day after that. finally, four days after he was reported missing, someone came forward with a tip. pravin had scored a ride after the party. cops track down the driver. >> his statement was pravin seemed to be intoxicated and unable to tell where was he was going. >> there had been a fight and the driver said pravin had run into the woods at the edge of town. >> now we have an area to look. >> team spandau to search and it did not take long. >> his body was laying in a clearing. he had a cell phone nearby. >> the temperature was 14 degrees. >> yes. >> it looked as though pravin had frozen to death. it's the worst possible news for the family. >> yes. >> a police officer showed up at lovely's hotel room. >> he said we found pravin. i said, is he alive? he said no. >> it turned out he was found in rough woods, not that far from the window of your motel. >> 400 yards from the motel. >> all the days you were wondering where he was. >> that's the hardest part for me, thinking he was alone. there wasn't anyone by his side to tell him we love him and he had to die alone in the middle of nowhere. >> she wasn't just sad. she was angry. priya thought she could hear the police judging her brother. >> they said he was too drunk to figure out where he was. >> college kid who couldn't handle liquor and ended up dead. >> that's what they said. >> the police chief held a news conference at afternoon. >> the difficult terrain and low temperatures are believed to have contributed to pravin's difficulty to find his way out. >> monica who had been following the story watched the presser at a friends house. >> no foul play is suspected. >> i thought this doesn't sound right. >> she was struck by the sight of pravin's mother ntv. lovely had gone to the scene where her son died. >> when i saw his mom, broke my heart. i remember thinking, she is not from southern illinois. >> a stranger in a strange land. >> she does not know this town. i have so many questions and i am from here. >> monica did not know it but lovely had questions too. when she got back to chicago, the funeral director handling pravin's body had disturbing news. >> he said, lovely, you are a nurse. he said, you need to see him. this is not a frostbitten body. >> lovely had seen several dead bodies during her career as a nurse but never expected to see her own son's. she was shocked by what she saw. a massive bruise on pravin's forehead and bruises on his thigh. 's lip was busted up. if a civilian had seen the body , what they say i see injury? >> yes. >> lovely higher term pathologist. to examine pravin's body. >> this was someone -- >> he noted injuries lovely had not seen including a bruise on pravin's arm that went all the way to the bone, possibly a defensive injury. if you're stumbling around the woods in the dark and you stumble and hit a rock, could that cause a? >> it's not enough. >> the more you became familiar with the body, did you think he suffered a terrible beating i don't know what caused this? >> the body was found the way it looked on a city street, you would think somebody heard him. >> but who? lovely was determined to find out. >> and she will have help. lovely forms a powerful bond with the radio host obsessed with her son's case. can they solve the mystery together? >> she was completely shattered. she just said this is not my kid. something is wrong. >> i am like, a mother asking the same questions i have. >> two mothers united in a common cause. >> lovely said i don't want revenge. i just want answers. ant answer. in every jar. olay visibly firms, lifts, and smooths wrinkles, by penetrating the skin, to boost regeneration at the surface cellular level. try olay. wanna know a secret? more than just my armpits stink. that's why i use secret whole body deodorant... everywhere. 4 out of 5 gynecologists would recommend whole body deodorant, which gives you 72 hour odor protection from your pits to your- (sfx: deoderant being sprayed) secret whole body deodorant. what can you do with sensitive skin? ( ♪♪ ) cetaphil moisturizing lotion hydrates for a full 48 hours. because a lot can happen in 48 hours. cetaphil. we do skin. you do you. why choose a sleep number smart bed? can it keep me warm when i'm cold? because a lot can happen in 48 hours. wait, no, i'm always hot. sleep number does that. save 50% on the sleep number limited edition smart bed. plus, 0% interest for 48 months when you add an adjustable base. shop now at sleepnumber.com dennis murphy: pravin varughese had been found dead in the heart of the woods. police suspected, he'd gotten lost in a drunken daze ol pravin varughese had been found dead in the heart of the woods. police suspected he had gotten lost in a drunken days and succumb to the cold. his mother thought something far more sinister had happened, especially after reading the report of around pathologist. he believed pravin suffered blunt force trauma to the head. blunt force trauma. >> yes. >> lovely was not alone in her suspicions. >> we have had a situation in southern illinois that has been disturbing. >> his team same we can pravin's family gathered for his funeral, monica was on radio 300 miles away asking questions about his death. >> we have what we believe to be a healthy 19-year-old found dead in the woods. >> during the show, a mourner sent monica a text. >> i just got a text message from a dear friend of pravin. i went to pravin's visitation. his face looks like he was beat bad. >> someone told lovely about monica's show. >> when i was listening to her, i was like, boy, there's a mother asking the same questions i have. >> the two women started talking on the phone every day. >> i felt a connection with her. i thought, i can tell her anything. >> lovely confided how hurt she was by all the talk of pravin drinking. >> she was completely shattered. she just said this is not my kid. something is wrong. >> pravin's cousin ashley had already given lovely his version of events. >> was pravin drinking that night? was he drinking too much? >> no. >> what about reports of rowdy behavior? >> that is how pravin is in general. >> friends and family posted videos of his boisterous behavior. >> he is intergenic. >> it was hard for lovely not to wonder if he was just telling her what she wanted to hear. until monica interviewed three other students on a radio show who were at the party that night. >> this is our second show we've done on this particular issue. >> explained from what they had seen, pravin had not been drinking all that much. >> he was standing and talking to me like i would talk to anyone is. he was not leaning on me your couldn't talk or think straight. >> if pravin was not that drunk, lovely wondered how had the ended up lost in the woods. police had found his body hundreds of yards from the road. you can see them try to retrace his steps in this video. lovely walked the route too. what's it like? >> they are thick and full of thorns. you have to spread it. >> there was barbed wire fencing of some of the woods from the highway. that's right found a piece of his clothing? >> yes. this is where. >> a piece of his t-shirt snagged on one of the barbs. the lower strand got a piece of his clothing. lovely thought the rough terrain and barbed wire made it unlikely pravin would've wandered aimlessly into the woods and gotten lost. if he had been lost, why hadn't he headed toward the cars? are used as phone to call for help? we was a phone? >> it was found to his right side. >> lovely was more convinced than ever that pravin's death was a result of foul play which is why she was so surprised when six weeks after his death, the official autopsy report came back and confirm what police had originally said. pravin died of hypothermia. the report did note some abrasions on his body but said there was no significant trauma. one report has one report not needing a band-aid a one blunt force trauma. >> that's a time i thought i'm in the twilight zone. >> there was something else in the autopsy report. something big. no alcohol had been founded pravin's blood. didn't that undermine the theory that he had gotten lost because he was drunk? it certainly got the attention of the police pathologist who wrote strangely tax is negative. no reason for pravin's bizarre behavior and hiding in the woods. did that say something about your attitude toward the investigation? it throughout your theory he was drunk? >> it didn't change in my mind, didn't change the direction of the investigation. it was definitely a surprise that there wasn't more of an alcohol level in his toxicology. >> police had a theory. maybe he had metabolize alcohol as he laid dying in the woods. lovely did not by it. she went back to carbondale and staged a protest in the town square. >> we will not rest until we find the truth. >> it was the first time she and monica met in person. >> we were just hugging and crying. >> they started planning their next move. >> lovely said i don't want revenge. i just want answers. and if the answers are that somebody hurt my baby, i want justice. >> over the next few months, lovely and her supporters organized protests and press conference is demanding a new investigation. >> we are seeking justice. >> a year past. lovely went to pray in the woods where pravin's body had been found, and she waited. then suddenly -- >> he didn't call us. he gave it to the press. >> it turned out the local prosecutor had been investigating behind the scenes. he had consulted new pathologist and convened a grand jury. in his report he wrote the evidence showed pravin's death was an accident caused by intoxication, frigid weather, and poor judgment. >> he said pravin was drunk, intoxicated, highly intoxicated. >> what did the science a? >> he didn't mention the tax was negative. >> she felt as if the story was not being heard. monica had an idea of how to turn up the volume. why did you invest so much of your personal time for a young man you did not known a mother you did not know? >> it sounds cheesy and clichi, but i am a mother and there is nothing we will not do for our kids. >> lovely and monica double down on their search for answers. they inch closer to the truth. coming up. one possible answer to what happened that night. >> i was scared for my life. >> another mother tells her side of the story. >> went to his father and they took care of things. and with vitiligo, the pursuit for your pigment is no exception. it's time you had a proven choice to help restore what's yours. opzelura is the first and only fda-approved prescription treatment for nonsegmental vitiligo. proven to help repigment skin over time. restoring what's yours. it's possible with a steroid-free cream that you can apply yourself. opzelura can lower your ability to fight infections including tb or hepatitis b or c. serious lung infections, skin cancer, blood clots, and low blood cell counts occurred with opzelura. in people taking jak inhibitors, serious infections, increased risk of death, lymphoma, other cancers, and major cardiovascular events have occurred. the most common side effects were acne and itching where applied. repigmentation is possible. ask your dermatologist today about starting or refilling opzelura. pursue it. long after guests leave, viruses and bacteria linger. air fresheners add a scent. but only lysol air sanitizer helps erase the trace, eliminating odor and killing 99.9% of viruses and bacteria in the air. scent can't sanitize. lysol can. ♪ on your period, sudden gushes happen. say goodbye gush fears! thanks to always ultra thins... with rapiddry technology... that absorbs two times faster. hellooo clean and comfortable. always. fear no gush. i'm jessica layton. a to is really prime minister netanyahu said sunday the country is not rejecting the cease-fire framework for the war in gaza laid out by president biden. this despite his speaking out against the proposal calling it a nonstarter. check evacuation order has been lifted and tracy california is firefighters continue battling the coral fire. it broke out saturday was said to be 50% contained sunday night. i'm andrea canning. authorities concluded that pravin varughese's death was i am andrea canning. authorities concluded pravin varughese death was an accident saying he was drunk. got lost in the woods and froze to death. an autopsy found no alcohol in his blood and his mother, lovely, was convinced there had to be another explana