Was this some kind of International Spy caper or maybe it was something closer to home . What we got was the information that would break this case wide open. The case of a cia mom. Could a clue from her son help solve this mystery . Never going to give up. Never going to give up on anything. Im lester holt. And this is dateline. Heres Josh Mankiewicz with missing marie. Secrets. We all have them. Some are small. Some large. Some professional. Others very, very personal. This is a story about secrets. About a woman who was very good at keeping them. And about what happened when that woman suddenly disappeared. She was beautiful. My mom was really beautiful. A great person. A nice person. As a little boy, Marcus Singleton couldnt possibly foresee the loss he would suffer or the terrible choice he would one day have to make. All he knew back then was his mothers love. I mean, she helped people, you know, if there was a kid in the street who needed something, she would pull over and see if they were okay, you know, she was she was that type of person that taught me to basically put others before myself first. Marie was single when she had marcus. He was the center of her world. Kelly clayton was maries hairdresser and good friend. She talked about him a lot, the things that he was doing in school. She got really excited about marcus. Maries friends and coworkers Bridget Harris and jean jones apthel. He was, like, the apple in her eye. She just sparkled every time he was around. She loved hugging him. She was a doting mom or a strict mom . Oh, no, she was loving. We traveled a lot together, so it was just us two. For her job . Yeah. Marie worked for the federal government in los angeles, but friends say she was driven and ambitious in other areas, too. She was an entrepreneur, thats what i know most about her, because she talked about owning her own business. But marie wanted more than work and success. I know that she wanted to have somebody in her life. What kind of guy was she looking for . Someone that will take care of her, love her, protect her. I guess thats any womans dream, to have the whole package. That was kind of missing. She didnt have that guy figure, the father figure for marcus. Then one day, marie told her friends i met this guy, you know, they had a lunch date and he was cute and just, you know, the excitement of meeting somebody new. His name was Andre Jackson. A handsome single father of two. Sparks flew immediately. I mean, she would just light up every time she talked about him just big smile. Oh, the glow. Uhhuh. He was he was her her her everything. The methodical businesslike marie seemed to change overnight. Were you privy to the courtship with andre . The whirlwind courtship . Yeah. Well, thats real quick. Thats the way we would put it because one day she was smitten. The next day she was in love. And then she was pregnant. Pregnant and having a wedding and no one knew about it. Marcus knew about it. He was there. Your mom was happy . Yeah. She looked happy. Andre was happy . Yeah. We all were happy. At age 8, marcus found himself welcoming a little brother named marquis. I think once my little brother came into the picture, it was more, you know, i realized that it wasnt just the two of us anymore but were actually starting to become a family. And there were two other stepsiblings in the mix, andre jr. And andrea. And you get along with them . Yeah. It was pretty great. I had a brother and a sister at home, and it was a pretty cool experience. Another cool experience, for the first time having a dad. He taught me how to swim. He taught me how to throw a football. He even rode me on the back of his motorcycle a few times. It was good to actually have a male figure in the house that i could, you know, do stuff with. So andre was living up to his job as your father . Yeah. Yeah, he was. For marcus and his mom, everything seemed just perfect. Honestly, it was like a complete family. It felt like i finally had a complete family. It was the best feeling in the world. Like the ultimate high. And then suddenly, the ultimate low. The ultimate low because on november 11th, 1994, Marie Singleton, rock solid wife, mother, businesswoman vanished. The local police investigated, of course, but so did an fbi agent named rick hadel. We had concerns that there may be missing classified information, u. S. Government information. Classified information . Yes. As we said before, everyone has secrets. And marie had a big one. One she had told very few people. Officially Marie Singleton worked for the department of defense. Thats what was publicly disseminated, yes. But she was really working for the cia. Thats my understanding, yes. A clandestine job with the cia . When we come back, a question could Marie Singleton be hiding other secrets . It could turn into an espionage investigation. Somebodys going over and helping the russians and the chinese. It could turn into that kind of a case. The mystery was just beginning. Geico motorcycle, great rates for great rides. Ad, and my sweethearts handsome,gone sayonara. Rance. This scarf, all thats left to remember. What she washed this like a month ago hows a guy supposed to move on the long lasting scent of gain flings. Ill take it from here. Im good. I just took new mucinex clear and cool. Ah whats this sudden cooooling thing happening . Its got a menthol burst. You can feel it right away. Wow, that sort of blindsided me. And it clears my terrible cold symptoms. Ahh this is awkward. New Mucinex Fastmax clear cool. Feel the menthol burst. And clear your worst cold symptoms. Start the relief. Ditch the misery. Lets end this. Because my teeth are yellow. These photos . Why dont you use a whitening toothpaste . Im afraid its bad for my teeth. Try crest 3d white. Crest 3d White Diamond strong toothpaste and rinse. Gently whiten. And fortify weak spots. Use together for 2 times stronger enamel. Crest 3d white. School lunch can be difficult. Cafeteria chaos. One little struggle. Can lead to one monumental mishap. Not with ziploc easy open tabs. Because life needs ziploc. Sc johnson. Fight heartburn fast. With tums chewy delights. The mouthwatering soft chew that goes to work in seconds to conquer heartburn fast. Tum tum tum tum. Chewy delights. Only from tums. You ready . By their second kid, every mom is an expert, and more likely to choose luvs than first time moms. Live, learn, get luvs. The day that changed Marcus Singletons life began like any other, except that he had the day off from school. It was friday, november 11th, 1994. Marcus then 8 years old was glued to the tv in his familys living room. I was watching a cartoon movie, bugs bunny movie. My mom comes up the stairs. She says something to me. Im thinking shes going somewhere, you know, im, like, okay, yada yada yada, i was watching television. You were zoned out. I was zoned out, and im so zoned out finally i fall asleep. Marcus woke up later that evening to the sound of his baby brother crying. So, i go downstairs, why is this little kid crying . Where is everybody at . Finally the phone rang. My stepfather calls me and he tells me, you know, hes saying, hey, is your mom there, is your mom home yet, whatever . And she and im, like, no, where the heck are you guys . Ive been here and marquis wont stop crying. He just wont stop. Okay, okay, ill be there soon. Ill be there soon. Andre said hed last seen marie around 5 00 p. M. Just before he left for his son andre jr. s football game. Now when he returned home, marie and her car were gone. Andre made a round of calls to friends, nobody knew where marie was. He then took all the kids to his mothers house and dropped them off. I remember somebody asked him where you going . And he says hes going to go check with my moms girlfriends to see if he can find out where shes at. Andres first stop was the home of maries friend Bridget Harris whom hed called earlier. First he called and then i didnt really think anything of it, because im, like, well, shell be back and then when he showed up, is when i got concerned. Im like, shes still not back . Cell phones were still pretty rare in those days. So i paged her because i knew if i paged, she would immediately call me back. But marie did not call back. The next morning andre knocked on the door of another friend, jean jones apthel. He said they had an argument, i said, well, you had a little argument, dont worry about it. But the second he told me he had the baby, i knew something was wrong. And so you paged her how many times . I couldnt count how many times i paged her. And no answer . No answer. By now it was saturday, 10 20 a. M. , marie had been missing almost 18 hours. Andre called the Inglewood Police. Police . Yes, id like to file a missing persons report. Okay. Who is missing . My wife, her name is Marie Jackson. An officer came out to the house and met with andre. You know, i see him talking to the cops but i still dont see my mom anywhere. And i think thats when i found out that my mom still hadnt come home yet. Had no idea where she was at. Police started interviewing witnesses, searching the neighborhood, but the weekend passed with no sign of marie. Thats when the phone rang on the desk of fbi agent rick hadel. We got the report i believe on a monday, maybe a tuesday, that she was missing, didnt report to work. Of course, they were concerned of her disappearance. And that was unlike her. Absolutely. Its unusual for the bureau to get involved in a missing persons case, but it turned out that Marie Singleton was no ordinary missing person. Not with her job. They called the department of defense. They didnt call it cia. But shes working for the u. S. Government for the Agency Working on communications for them. Unbeknownst to just about everyone in her life, Marie Singleton was a code clerk for the Central Intelligence agency. She wasnt a spy, but she did handle classified communications from agents overseas. Information that might be very interesting to enemies of the united states. Part of what the fbi does is investigate things like this, if a cia employee goes missing. Right, exactly. Remember, this was 1994, memories of the cold war were still fresh. It could turn into an espionage investigation, for example, if you have missing classified information and somebodys going over helping the russians, the chinese, somebody like that, it could theoretically turn into that kind of a case. So now there were parallel investigations. The local cops looked for a missing person. The fbi covertly looked for an intelligence worker who might have been kidnapped or changed sides. Maries family, meanwhile, just wanted her back. They started making flyers for my mom. Do you remember the flyers . Yeah. Definitely remember the flyers. Soon a number of maries coworkers and friends were posting flyers on telephone and light poles, storefronts, and shopping centers. Kelly clayton remembers how she and a friend asked andre what they could do to help. He asked us to pass them out by the beach. At this time i would ask him, why would we pass them out at the beach . And so then he said, well, you know, thats okay, you dont have to pass them out at the beach. Did he mention a specific beach or just anywhere in Southern California . No, dockweiler beach. Dockweiler beach is about eight miles from andre and maries home, near Los Angeles International airport, where flights leave daily for moscow and beijing. On tuesday, november 15th, four days after marie disappeared, andre himself went there to post flyers. He had an encounter with a perfect stranger and asked for help, and thats when this story took another strange turn. Coming up i couldnt believe that i was seeing the car that this man was just looking for. A huge break in the case. And a heartbreaking moment at home. We walk in the room and srve in there crying. Everyone in tears. Tuesday, november 15th, 1994, Marie Singleton, wife, mother, and secret cia employee had been missing for four days. Police were looking for her, so was the fbi. She might have been a runaway, a crime victim, or a double agent. But tim kiniff didnt know any of that when he stopped by dockweiler beach near l. A. X. To take a short walk and unwind after work. I saw a man posting flyers for a missing person. The man was Andre Jackson. He actually mentioned that he was doing this because it was his wife. And that shed last been seen on friday. And he was seemed very concerned and obviously worried about it. He asked me then if i would take one of his flyers, so i said sure. The flyer had a picture of marie, a description of her car, and the cars license number. Kiniff studied it and put it in his pocket. A short time later, he finished his walk, got into his car and started to drive home. I was parked here on vista delmar facing south. So, i got in my car. I made a uturn to head north, and as i started heading north, i saw the gray saab was parked here along the road. There was something oddly familiar about that car. So, i made another uturn, pulled up behind it, and then saw that the license plate on the car was the license plate on the flyer. A perfect match. What were the odds . I couldnt believe that i was seeing the car that this man was just looking for. Kiniff called police. The next day, november 16th, the gray saab was towed to the inglewood pd impound lot. Police looked it over, very carefully. There were several parking tickets under the windshield wipers. It had been there for a while. The battery had been removed. The drivers seat had been tilted forward and a cell phone, unusual at the time, was left in plain sight. After inspecting the interior investigators opened the trunk and made a ghastly discovery. Marie singleton was missing no longer. She had been beaten and strangled to death. Maries son marcus then just 8 years old knew something was wrong when he came home from school and saw that all over the neighborhood his moms missing flyers had been taken down. I walk in the room and everybodys in there crying. Everyone in tears. Everyone in tears. Finally, i say what the whats going on . Whats going on . And my grandmom is just shes crying. And my stepfathers crying, too, but, you know, he grabs me and he pulls me and he hugs me. And, you know, he tells me straight up. He said they found your moms body in the trunk of her car. You know, shes dead. Maries sister, elaine roundtree, had just arrived from philadelphia. Like the rest of the family, she was devastated. Elaine was one of the few people who knew marie worked for the cia. But even she didnt know exactly what marie did. We loved her as a sister. We respected her as a sister. And with her job she traveled a lot. We knew she worked for the government, for the cia and that was it. And you never asked what she did. Never asked. But now elaine had a lot of questions. Starting with what could possibly have induced marie to leave 8yearold marcus and infant marquis home alone . That was preposterous. That would have never happened. So, elaine started to compare notes with friends and family. But the conversations werent about the cia. They were telling me different incidents and Different Things that they had with andre. Andre, maries husband, things he was saying and doing didnt add up. First, there was jeans story about what she saw that saturday morning when andre showed up at her home looking for marie. He had a bruise on his lip. Andre had a bruise on his lip . He did. He said, oh, i bruised it playing football with andre jr. Really . It looks kind of fresh. Then there was Kelly Clayton who spent the better part of sunday calling andres house hoping marie would show up. And with each phone call, andre seemed to have a new developing story. First, it was this she had drank a little and she wanted to go to her sons football game. He told her that he did not want her to go, and they had a argument and she stormed out. But during the next phone call, andre said one of her old boyfriends was in town, and she was with him. And then finally he let me know when she does get there, ill call you, ill have her call you, letting me know, dont call no more. Then on monday, when maries friends went to the condo to help pass out flyers, jean noticed something in andre and maries bedroom. It was a big hole in the wall. That was a reality check for me, because it wasnt where the doorknob was. It was above it like someone had put their fist through it. Big enough for, like, a head because it went straight through. Elaine heard all of this and contacted Inglewood Police and found out they were way ahead of her. I had spoke with the one detective over the telephone, and he said that andre was a suspect. I was also told that this would probably be resolved because they may arrest him at the funeral. You thought andre was going to be arrested . Yes. Pretty quickly. Yes. But andre wasnt arrested at maries funeral or the next day or the day after that. After the service, elaine and her relatives flew back to philadelphia. A few weeks later marcus joined them. Maries relatives still expected an arrest any day. But days turned into weeks, and then months, until a whole year had passed. And thats when a mysterious letter arrived for the singleton family, an anonymous letter that sent this investigation in a whole new direction. Coming up we didnt know where the letter came from. And because she worked for the cia, it opened up that door of suspicion. Was her death related to her job . The questions start all over again. Didnt want to give up . I couldnt give up. It was my sister. I laugh, i sneeze. There goes my sensitive bladder. Sound familiar . Then youll love this. Incredible protection in a pad this thin. I didnt think it would work, but it does. Its called always discreet watch this. This super absorbent core turns liquid to gel, for incredible protection thats surprisingly thin. So i know im wearing it, but no one else will. Always discreet for bladder leaks when families gather, things get messy. Ours can help. Sc johnson. The new olay eyesrise. Fultimate eye cream. For instant results of the number one prestige eye cream, without paying twice the price. Show your amazement, not your age. With new olay eyes. Ageless. Fight heartburn fast. With tums chewy delights. The mouthwatering soft chew that goes to work in seconds to conquer heartburn fast. Tum tum tum tum. Chewy delights. Only from tums. Can this much love be cleaned by a little bit of d