That question would launch a spellbinding mystery. You got a roommate. You got a boyfriend who she is maybe about to dump. You got an exboyfriend whos suddenly back in her life. There were a number of potential suspects, absolutely. Reporter was a killer out there . She was in danger. Reporter could police catch him . Theyd hatch a plan of Virtual Genius one of the detectives said, youre not going to believe this reporter im lester holt, and this is dateline. Heres Josh Mankiewicz with mystery in Orange County. Reporter Orange County, california. On tv, its a place of sun, fun, and privilege. Its where the real housewives first aired their dirty laundry. What is wrong . Nothings wrong with me. Its you. Reporter its where the kids from the o. C. Showed us all what temperature cool really was. Who is that . Reporter around here, you get the sense everyones rich and white, and lives in a mansion with a view of the pacific. But step back from the coast, and youll see the Orange County that isnt on tv. Not as wealthy. Not as white. Full of those who came here from somewhere else, chasing a better life. And finding it in places like santa ana, a mostly working class immigrant community in the shadow of disneyland. Its the part of the o. C. Where people know that to survive theyll have to work hard. Maribel ramos arrived here as a baby, leaving mexico behind. She would not only survive here but thrive. To tell you the truth, this should be the story of a woman who worked hard to change her life and, in doing so, carved a path for others to follow. Hello . Hi, Orange Police. Reporter but this story is going to end differently. Why are you crying . Because im afraid. Reporter there are some parts of life that hard work just cant fix. Im just scared. Im just, like, calling to let you guys know that if something happens, i did it because i was trying to defend myself. Reporter some things that are beyond our control. All im trying to say is that im warning im honestly i will fight for my life, and i swear i will kill him. Reporter all of this should never have reached that point of no return. So maybe its a story of simple bad luck, of two lives that should never have come together. Tell me about growing up with maribel. What was she like . Troublemaker. Mom wanted her to stay in the home, and she wanted to go play baseball. Reporter tomboy . Yes, yes. Reporter her sister lucy says tomboy Maribel Ramos also had a spark. I mean, shed come in and immediately, what . Introduce herself to everybody, and make friends, and people were drawn to her, easy to talk to. Reporter you saw boys interested in her . Oh, definitely. Yeah, definitely. Reporter from an early age . From an early age. Reporter and that never ended, did it . No, no. Reporter little sister lucy remembers how maribel was also in charge of watching out for her while their single mother often worked two jobs to make ends meat. You were how much younger . Seven years younger. Reporter lot of girls wouldnt want their little sister tagging along. No, she didnt want to, but she had to. Reporter yet, even as a child, maribel figured out that a different world existed, and she wanted to live there. Oh, she knew at a young age that there was a lot more to life than what we had around us. Theres things you can do, and go to school and have opportunities, and live in a nicer house. Reporter she saw all of that . Yeah, yeah. Definitely. Reporter Maribel Ramos knew shed have to work hard to get what and where she wanted. After high school, she worked in security at kmart and hatched a longterm plan to become a cop. But shed need a college degree, and that meant money. So Maribel Ramos became private first class ramos. She joined the army hoping to use the g. I. Bill. Her first day was august 8th, 2001. And just 34 days later, the whole world changed. We all sort of recoiled in horror. But you probably also thought, thats going to affect my sister. Yes. I turn on the tv, and the towers are crumbling. First thing i thought was, oh, my gosh, my sisters going to war. How do you wrap your mind around that . Reporter lucy worried. Their mother worried. But maribel was like a rock. What did maribel say about going overseas . She didnt express her feelings about it. She just said, well, this is whats happening, sister. You need to talk to mom. Reporter maribel went to war in iraq. What was it like to see her in uniform . It was pretty amazing. Reporter giselle cendejas is lucys daughter, maribels niece. I saw her as, like, a really brave, strong soldier. Sometimes i wouldnt even see her as my aunt. It was just, like, whoa, youre going out there, like, to save everybody. Reporter you were proud of her . Yeah. Reporter maribel learned to jump out of airplanes. She manned the guns for armed convoys. She saw more than her share of combat. She also made sergeant. And when her tour in iraq ended, she reenlisted for another. She seemed fearless. She could very easily have become a casualty. Yes. And other people did die. A lot of other friends of hers. Reporter in 2009, after two tours in iraq, maribel left the army and set part two of her plan into action, enrolling in college. But adjusting back to civilian life wasnt as easy as maribel had expected. Like a lot of war veterans, she suffered from post Traumatic Stress disorder, or p. T. S. D. Shed seen some terrible things. She ever talk about that . Not with me. Reporter instead she focused on school, work, and family, especially her niece, giselle. She kind of adopted you as this project. Yeah. Reporter now, why did she do that . I think it was because she wanted me to have the best. Reporter as giselle grew older, the selfimprovement message sometimes came complete with pushups. After all, maribel was all army. When i would get in trouble, she would make me do exercise in order to, like, work off the punishment. Reporter and all this time, maribel was hammering away at giselle. Youre going to finish school. Oh yes. Reporter youre going to study hard. Uhhuh. Reporter youre going to have a career. Yes. This is what youre going to do, mija . And she would tell her, okay, giselle . Yes, tia. Reporter maribel got a dog, and rented a twobedroom apartment in the city of orange, which she shared with a roommate, a quiet chemist named k. C. Joy, who also had a dog. I thought it was a perfect match. Like, he has a dog. She has a dog. He seems quiet. You know, hes not going to have all these people coming over. Reporter by may 2013, everything seemed great. Maribel was leading by example, finishing up her degree in criminal justice at cal state fullerton. Giselle was following in her strong footsteps. And she was dropping off money at my house because i had gotten good grades. And she had just got her hair done, dyed and styled for her graduation. Reporter she looked great . Yeah. Reporter and she was happy . Yeah, she was. Reporter and thats why it made no sense when, just days later, Maribel Ramos soldier, student, loving aunt simply disappeared. What had happened to Maribel Ramos . When we come back im freaking out her door is open, her lights are on, her beds undone. Everything was horrible, and i felt it. The mystery was about to deepen. Nobody had heard from her . Nobody. Im telling you i heard something. Oh awkwardly laughs get out. Enoughs enough dcon baits are fomulated to kill in one feeding. Guaranteed. Before the first sneeze, help whenprotect with a spray. Ead. Before the first tissue, help defend with a wipe. And help prevent with lysol. To get ten times more protection and kill 99. 9 of germs around the house. This season, help protect your family with lysol. Start healthing. Where do you think man syoure going . Ously . Mr. Mucus to work, with you. Its taco tuesday. Man youre not coming. I took mucinex to help get rid of my mucusy congestion. Mr. Mucus oh, right then ill swing by in like 4 hours. Just set aside a few tacos for me. Man forget the tacos one pill lasts 12 hours. Im good all day. Mr. Mucus to himself wait your loss. I was going to wear a sombrero. [announcer ] only mucinex has a bilayer tablet that starts fast, and keeps working. Not 4, not 6, but 12 full hours. Start the relief. Ditch the misery. Lets end this. Reporter may 3rd, 2013 was a friday, a day that should have been an easy day for Maribel Ramos. School was nearly over, graduation was so close, but that morning things werent right. I got a text from k. C. At 10 00 a. M. , and he said, your sister didnt come home. Reporter theyd been roommates for more than a year now. K. C. Felt protective of maribel. He told lucy hed already called police to report her missing. Orange police, dispatcher rose. Oh, this is not an emergency, and i have a roommate. Shes 36 years old, and she didnt come home last night. So what i did is i text her at 11 00. And i said, happy friday, because we usually text each other anyways. That was my way of connecting. And she didnt text me back. Reporter unusual . Yes. Reporter lucy still wasnt worried. She knew her combathardened sister could take care of herself. But then evening came and for maribel, friday night was softball night. She loved to play and never missed a game. But this friday night, she didnt show. Now lucys phone was ringing, maribels teammates on the line. They told me, go to the house. The police are there. Do not take giselle. Im freaking out. And i walk in, and my sisters not there. Her door is open. Her lights are on. Her beds undone. My head started spinning. Everything was horrible, and i felt it. Reporter detective joey ramirez with the Orange Police department got the call that evening. And he also had a bad feeling about everything. It sounds like you were taking this pretty seriously from the get go . Absolutely. Reporter why couldnt she just be off by herself or with some other friends and maybe she lost her phone or forgot to call . That was our hope, that she was just missing and that shed come walking through the door. But the family and friends that were expressed that she was very responsible. Reporter and nobody had heard from her . Nobody. Reporter so ramirez and his team went into action. They quickly figured out that if she left on of her own accord, it didnt look like maribel had planned to be out long. She left her car at home. Her car was there. Her keys were gone. Her phone was gone. But her toothbrush was there, so was her big purse she used when she had a lot to carry. Reporter k. C. Returned home hours after police first got there. He again told the cops what he had told them that morning, that maribel was missing. Lucy and the Softball Team went to the police station, hoping for answers. But morning came, and there werent any. So channeling her big sister, lucy decided to stop waiting and make her own luck. I woke up on saturday, and i thought, wow, this is seriously happening. So i posted a picture of her on facebook. And it was immediate. People went into action. Reporter friends from the University Got together, family members, her roommate, lots of people whom maribel had touched wanted to help. They hung flyers in english and spanish. They reached out to reporters. Its very not like her, after eight years of service in the army, to just disappear. Unusual thing was being next day, friday morning, she was not here. I helped my mom pass out flyers around school, pretty much anything i could do. Reporter did you think theyd find her . Yes, i did. Reporter giselle was 14 at the time. But detective ramirez, who has been a cop for more years than giselles been alive was not as hopeful. Shes not using her cell phone. Shes not taking any money out. No ones heard from her. When youve picked up no trace of her after a couple of days, you still think youre looking for a living person . The percentages are starting to drop. Not in our favor. Reporter because by then youve called all the hospitals. All hospitals, jails. Reporter theres an alert out that any Police Officer, what, in Southern California sees her . Correct. And the media was also helping. Reporter and nothing . Nothing. Reporter no maribel on security tape from any nearby store. Police checked all of them. They found only this image from the Security Camera outside the Managers Office for her apartment complex. Its maribel, paying the rent. Its may 2nd at 8 18 p. M. , the night before anyone realized she had disappeared. Maribel seems to be alone. So what the cops needed to do was talk to everyone who was anyone in maribels life. Turns out there were a lot of people they suddenly needed to get to know, including a current boyfriend, an exboyfriend and someone maribel had just met, a guy shed made a date with online, a guy whose name maribel had apparently kept completely to herself. Coming up the men in maribels life suddenly, under scrutiny no, youre not under arrest. Anything like that. I wouldnt think so. And that haunting phone call. I was scared for my Life Reporter something had happened to make her pretty scared. Yes. R reporter this is the city of orange, california in the county of orange, california. Much of it is a small town stuck in time. Theres a university, a zoo, cute local businesses and a Police Department that doesnt have to deal with a lot of violent crime. After all, the happiest place on earth is just down the street. But in may 2013, detective joey ramirez was far from happy. He had a lot of ground to cover and a strong sense that time was against him as he tried to figure out what had happened to Maribel Ramos. She just vanished . Yes. Reporter how often does that kind of thing happen . It doesnt happen often. Reporter ramirez started by investigating the men in maribels life. It turned out there were a few of them. Did you know she was doing all that Online Dating . Did she talk about that . Yeah, she did. Reporter maribel sometimes met guys through a website called plenty of fish. Thats how she found paul lopez. Theyd been dating for a few months and paul had even joined her weekly softball game. Lopez was the last person maribel talked to on the phone. Now Police Wanted to talk to him. You know youre not under arrest, anything like that. I wouldnt think so. Reporter ramirez sat across from paul and asked about his relationship with maribel. Nothings been like exclusive. Its just been, you know, dating. You date other people too . Me . Yeah. Okay. You dont know if she dates other people or not . Dont ask dont tell. Reporter and he asked lopez where he was on the night maribel disappeared. Did you come into orange at all on thursday . No. Reporter police also had to consider this. Maribel had told lucy that things werent working out with paul lopez. She wasnt a match with paul. So she was online, talking to people. Reporter it wasnt clear if paul knew, even as they kept dating, that maribel was back on plenty of fish and had met a new man. He was a photographer who had worked a lot with the military. It was a connection for both of them. How did she describe that guy . She said, oh, i met someone. Hes very interesting. We have a lot in common. Reporter and you thought what, good . I thought great. Reporter they planned a date for cinco de mayo, but two days before that date was to happen, maribel vanished. So police talked to that photographer and made a recording of the conversation. Youre saying you never actually met her in person . No. Reporter so he said, anyway. There was also an exboyfriend whod been calling. Police needed to check him out. And there was this lead. There was a person at cal state fullerton that was in the Veterans Association with her that had given her a bad feeling. He may have wanted to pursue some sort of dating relationship. Reporter but it gave her a bad feeling how . She wasnt interested in him, and she didnt give him any attention, yet he didnt go away. Reporter so he made her feel uncomfortable . Correct. Reporter and by now, detective ramirez had learned something else. Just a little over a week before she vanished, Maribel Ramos had called 911. Hi, Orange Police. Hi, its not an emergency, but i just is there recording . Is there a what . Is this conversation recording . Yes, every conversation is recorded. Reporter maribel wanted it on the record. She wanted police to know that she was very afraid of someone. Im just like calling so that you guys know that if something happens, i did it because i was trying to defend myself. Reporter she might have been afraid, but this armystrong woman whod always taken care of herself feared she might be the one putting the hurt on her attacker. All im trying to say is that im warning im honestly i will fight for my life, and i swear i will kill him. Reporter something had happened to make her pretty scared. Yes. Reporter theres nothing on the call to say what that was. Right. Reporter what was she afraid of . Not clear. Who was she afraid of . That was another story entirely. Coming up another man in maribels life sits down with police. And he seems eager to help with the case. So you were doing your own surveillance . Yes. Reporter did her roommate know something that police didnt . How their holiday glscent made me feel,ing which inspired this song. 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She had joined the army to put herself through college, but just days away from her graduation ceremony, she vanished. Earlier, maribel had called police to say she was in danger and afraid for her life. What was it or who was it that had her