You got a boyfriend who shes maybe about to dump. You got an exboyfriend who is suddenly back in her life. There were a number of potential suspects absolutely. Was a killer out there . She was in danger. Could police catch him . Theyd hatch a plan of virtual genius. One of the detectives said youre not going to believe this. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres mystery in Orange County. Orange county california. On tv its a place of sun, fun and privilege. Its where the real housewives first aired their dirty laundry. Whats wrong . Nothings wrong with me. Its you. Its where the kids from the o. C. Showed us all what temperature cool really was. Around here you get the sense that 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 . But this story is going to end differently. Why are you crying . Because i was raped. Some parts of life hard work just cant fix. Im just scared. Im calling to to tell you if something happened i did it because i was trying to save myself. Honestly i will fight for my life. I swear i will kill him. All of this should have never 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 at home and she wanted to go play baseball. Tomboy . Yes. Her sister lucy says tomboy maribel also had a spark. Make friends. People were drawn to her. Easy to talk to. You saw boys interested in her . Oh definitely. Yeah. From an early age. From an early age. And that never ended, did it . No. No. 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 meet. You were how much younger . Seven years younger. A lot of girls wouldnt want their little sister tagging along. No she didnt want to but she had to. 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. She saw all of that . Yeah yeah definitely. 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 8, 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 effect my sister. Yeah. I turn on the tv and the towers are crumbling. First thing i thought was, oh my gosh m sisters going to war. How do you wrap your mind around that . 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 said well this is whats happening, sister. You need to talk to mom. Maribel went to war in iraq. What was it like to see her in uniform . It was pretty amazing. Lucys daughter, maribels niece. I saw her as a brave strong soldier. I was just like whoa youre going out there to save everybody. Youre proud of her . Yes. Maribel learned to jump out of airplanes and 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. Other friends of hers. 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 posttraumatic stress disorder or ptsd. Shed seen some terrible things. She ever talk about that . Not with me. Instead she focused on school work and family especially her niece giselle. She kind of adopted you as this project. Yes. Why did she do that . I think it was because she wanted me to have the best. 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. And all this time maribel was hammering away at giselle, youre going to finish school youre going to study hard. Oh yes, uhhuh. Youre going to have a career. Yes. This is the way youre going to do me huh, she would tell her. Okay giselle . Yes. She got a twobedroom apartment in the city of orange. Which she shared with a roommate a quiet chemist named casey joy who also had a dog. I thought it was a perfect match. She has a dog, he has a dog, he seems quiet. Not going to have all these people coming over. By may 2013 everything seemed great. Maribel was leading by example finishing up her degree at cal state fullerton. Giselle was following in her strong footsteps. And he 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. She looked great . Yeah. And she was happy . Yeah she was. 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. Nobodyd heard from may 3, 2013, was a friday a day that should have been easy for Maribel Ramos. School was nearly over graduation was so close. But that morning things werent right. Got a text from kc at 10 00 a. M. And he said your sister didnt come home. Theyd been roommates for more than a year now. Kc felt protective of maribel. He told lucy hed already called police to report her missing. Orange Police Dispatcher rose. This is not an emergency. My roommate didnt come home last night. I texted her and said happy friday. We usually text each other anyways. That was my way of connecting. And she didnt text me back. Unusual . Yes. 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. I am 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. Detective joey ramirez was 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 getgo. Absolutely. Why couldnt she just be off by herself or with some of her friends and maybe lost her phone or forgot to call . That was our hope that she was just missing and that she would come walking through the door. But the family and friends expressed she was very responsible. And nobodyd heard from her . Nobody. So ramirez and his team went into action. They quickly figured out that if she left on 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. Kc returned home hours after police first got there. He again told the cops what hed 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 channelling 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. Friends from the University Got together family members, her roommate lots of people who 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. When next day friday morning she was not here. I helped my mom pass out flyers around School Pretty much anything i could do. Did you think theyd find her . Yes. I did. Giselle was 14 at the time but detective ramirez whos 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 you 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. Because by then youve called all the hospitals. All hospitals, jails. Theres an alert out that any Police Officer what in Southern California sees her. Correct. And the media was also helping. And nothing . Nothing. 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 00nd 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 man in maribels life suddenly under scrutiny. Youre not under arrest anything like that. And that haunting phone call. Im just scared. Something had to happen to make her pretty scared. Yes. Theres nobody to 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. How often that kind of thing happen . It doesnt happen often. 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. Maribel sometimes met guys through a website called 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. Okay. Ramirez sat across from paul and asked about his relationship with maribel. Nothings been exclusive, its just been you know dating. You date other people too . Yeah. Okay. You dont know if she dates other people or not . I dont ask, dont tell. And he asked lopez where he was on the night maribel disappeared. Did you come into orange at all on thursday . No. 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. It wasnt clear if paul knew even if they kept dating but maribel was back on plenty of fish and met a new man. He was a photographer who 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. And you thought what . Good . I thought great. They planned a date for sin koe decinco de mayo. But two days before that was to happen she vanished. Youre saying you never met her in person . No. 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. 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. So he made her feel uncomfortable . Correct. 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 a recording . Is there a what . Is this conversation recording . Yes. Every conversation is recorded. Maribel wanted it on the record. She wanted police to know that she was very afraid of someone. Im just like calling to let you guys know that if something happens, i did it because i was trying to defend myself. 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. Honestly i will fight for my life and i swear i will kill him. Something had happened to make her pretty scared. Yes. Theres nobody to call to say what that was. Right. 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. You were doing your own surveillance . Yes. Did her roommate know something that police didnt . It should have been her proudest moment. Maribel ramos had joined the army to put herself through college, but just days away from her Graduation Ceremony shed 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 so terrified . Here again josh. By now posters blanketed the city of orange. Maribel was missing and her family was frantic. As soon as i got a call she didnt show up to her baseball game i got the worst feeling in the world. Putting himself out there with all the rest was maribels roommate kc joy. Shes my only family i have. Shes my best friend. Kc had moved from tennessee to Southern California for a job. He had no family and few friends here. So he turned to maribel and she was happy to include him. She even arranged for kc to tutor her niece in math. He seemed nice respectful. He liked to be involved with the family and my aunt. No family of his own so he kind of attached himself to yours. Yeah. But they werent boyfriend and girlfriend . No. Even in photos maribel and kc seem to be having a great time. They even went on a cruise together. Soon police would be talking with kc joy. Kept track of names straight and yeah thats a good idea. The formalities are over detective ramirez started asking about maribel. As you know right now theres some people some family and friends that are worried about maribel, your roommate. Right. I care about her very much. But he said he had no idea what happened to her. So when was the last time you saw her . About 9 00 p. M. Thats when i talk at 9 00 and i went up. Thats thursday may 2nd. The next night when cops were called to maribels house kc wasnt there. He explained hed been so worried that he did his own investigation. Watching his own front door from his car parked out front. Ordered some movies and detective movies crime scene or whatever always come back to the door park the car in front, take my notebook had binocular in there. So you were doing your own surveillance . Yes. It sounded a little odd. Maybe kc had just seen too many crime movies. But if he had, then hed probably know cops dont miss Little Details like well like this. Hes sitting across the table from me hes wearing a short sleeve shirt, he had his jeans on and sandals. And instantly i can see scratches on both his arms. Hes got a scratch across his forehead from his hairline to his eye. Howd you get all these scratches on you . We go to Eisenhower Park all the time. We picked up fishing line all around the pond. Pardon me . Fishing line. Those are from fishing lines no no. Im going to explain. Kc explained he was walking the dogs when he saw a fishing line in the bush worried about the ducks in the park getting caught on the line he reached in to remove it and got all those scratches. Youve been around long enough you can tell the difference between scratches that a person might get, you know reaching into a bush or from an animal than scratches somebody would get during an actual fight with another person. Right. And some of the scratches on his arms did look like scratches that would be from something other than fingernails. But there was one particular set of scratches on his right bicep that to me clearly looked like scratches from a hand. And that says to you he was in a fight . It does. When was the last time you guys had any sort of an argument . Actually this thursday. This thursday . That was the last night anyone saw maribel, the night she was caught on camera paying the rent. Which kc said was what they were arguing about. Well what happened . Tell me about that. Im supposed to move out. It turned out kc had recently lost his job and could no longer pay his share of