Live. Was this some awful, random crime . Or did someone want her dead . That was mystery number one. Someone was out there. We were scared. Mystery number two . A secret 1,600 miles away. There were several Text Messages. It is slowly snow balling. A punch in the gut. And mystery number three . Im mean. Im going to hurt you. Who would they turn out to be . What did this lady do . Faith, temptation and a twist the size of texas. Lets be very clear. Justice needs to be served. I dont think it has been. Carrollton tenchs, just north of texas, the kind of place where the upwardly mobile to go buy their dreams. The schools are good, golf courses dot the land scape and churches are more ubiquitous than starbucks. There is not a lot of Violent Crime in that area. Its a great place to raise kids and a family. But travel east a hundred miles or so and you enter the piney woods of east texas. Jobs are not as plentiful here. Dreams are deferred and some keep bail bondsmen on speed dial. All the people were deal with here are poor. There is a lot of drugs, a lot of methamphetamine out there. Different cultures worlds apart. Yet one summer those two worlds collided in the most unlikely way. This is story of that summer when money seemed to fall like ticker tape on the piney woods. And an affluent carrollton family experienced the kind of Violent Crime that always happened somewhere else. Yes, maam. Help me i need you to call me immediately. Your mop is in the hospital with a gunshot wound. Im sorry, what . We looked at each other, michael and i to say we cant make this up. Our story begins in august 2012. Can you believe it . 100 degrees again this afternoon. It was the kind of heat that melts asphalt and has everyone searching the sky for some sign of mercy. But in carrollton voorksyearold frank howard wasnt sweating it. Frank was an accountant of the his life was good and Getting Better by the day. I took a new client. That would have been in 2009. A very wealthy client . Yes. What did that come along with . Well, the wealthy client, he had his own air planes so flying around for the first time many private planes. Going to cowboy games. As they say in texas, frank howard was standing in high cotton. I was still the same old guy but it was definitely doing some fun things as well. Frank had come a long way since his days as a preachers son growing up in south center texas of the until very conservative upbringing. There was no drinking and kugs. Never been to a dance, the school prom, never did any of. Kind of stuff. Wanting to be very down earth, o trying to be the best person i could be. Sow i had values to last a lifetime. Wasnt all smooth sailing. Frank had a brief marriage that end in the divorce. Eventually he fell in love with a girl from his church. Her name was nancy shore. A brunette with dalgs blue eyes. It was a good type. Frankaries faths father mar happy couple and two years later they had a daughter named ashley of the. That wasnt an easy birth. No. There were problems. Yeah. Complications. She spent the first ten days of her life in the in the Neonatal Unit at the hospital. It was a close call. The one that seemed to deepen and enrich the couples faith. Soon the couple grew to include a son, jay, and another daughter, brianna. Growing up was great. I had a wonderful older sister and older brother who had kind of helped guide me through stuff and then obviously a wonderful mop and dad. Eldest daughter ashley says whatever the Howard Family did, they did together. Both our parents did choir in church. Any time they needed a family, oh, get the howards. Theyll come and bring all the kids. We were always together of the always a family. We went to all the events of the they were busy, always doing something whether it was soccer or you know, anything of the fine arts, musically. You almost do sound like leave to it beaver. We joke that we were the cleavers. Yeah. We would have game nights. Legitimately the cleaver family. Absolutely. But by 2012, those days were gone. Frank and nancy were now empty nesters. Ashley and her brother jay were each married on their own. You were so close with your kids. Was it hard as one by one they started leaving the nest and going off to college . Sure. It was. Im will proud of them but it was difficult. Change is difficult. Now nancy was often home alone. Franks work his new client, a wealthy defense contractor, had him traveling to florida, california, even kuwait. There was a little more freedom or whatever, and like i am, a lot of it was work. And so i was out there trying to kind of build it and she was sitting at home. Still, nancy had her faith and Church Activities to fill the empty hours. In fact, thats where she had been the evening everything changed for the Howard Family. It was a saturday night, august 18th, 2012. Youre out of town. Yes. You get a call. Yes. Something horrific has happened to nancy. Theres been a robbery at your own house . Yes. I was just beside myself. I didnt know what was happening. And so began one of the longest nights of Frank Howards life. Coming up a harrowing cry for help. Help me terror was at the door. Im like, our mother . That makes no sense. Like wasnt real . Yeah. Like wasnt real. When dateline continues. Ons so. Magic mornings happen. Theres a better choice. Aleve pm. Whoh no, that looks grossit. What is that . You gotta try it, its terrible. I dont wanna tray it if its terrible. Its like mango chutney and burnt hair. No thank you, i have a very sensitive palate. Just try it hey guys, i think we should hurry up. If you taste something bad, you want someone else to try it. Its what you do. I cant get it out of my mouth if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Its what you do. Dog, dog, dog. Thenot actors, people, whove got their eczema under control. With less eczema, you can show more skin. So roll up those sleeves. And help heal your skin from within with dupixent. Dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderatetosevere eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups. Dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. Many people taking dupixent saw clear or almost clear skin. And, had significantly less itch. Thats a difference you can feel. Dont use if youre allergic to dupixent. Serious allergic reactions can occur, including anaphylaxis, which is severe. Tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, or a parasitic infection. If you take asthma medicines, dont change or stop them without talking to your doctor. So help heal your skin from within, and talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent. Im not picking it up. You pick it up im not picking it up. Well somebodys gotta pick it up ill pick it up theyre clean cuz my hineys clean. Oh yeah im charmin clean. Thats how i know theyre clean. Charmin ultra strong is woven like a washcloth and just cleans better. Yeah, im charmin clean. Thats right my hineys clean. The kid does have a point enjoy the go with charmin. And for an extra clean finish. Try charmin flushable wipes. Hi susan honey . Yeah . I respect that. But that cough looks pretty bad. Try this robitussin honey. The real honey you love. Plus the powerful cough relief you need. Mind if i root through your trash . Robitussin honey. Because its never just a cough. After months of boiling temperatures, august 18th, 2012, had the welcome sound of summer rain to carrollton, texas. But the sound of a gunshot split the night. The 911 operator picked tim phone and heard the anguished cry. Lord jesus, help me. Oh, god, help me. The woman said she had just been shot in the head by an intruder in her garage. Ive been shot. Whats the address, maam . The caller was franks wife. Nangsy howard. She had somehow managed to drag left into the house and in spite of taking a bullet in the head, she was able to give critical details to the 911 dispatchedis. How many people was it . Oh, yes. Im going to stay on the phone until they get there. A few minutes later, Carrollton Police officers received at the home on blue bonnet way. Are nancy managed to open the door for them. Help me help me soon Carrollton Police detectives michael wall and brian turner were on the case. Its just incredible how she was able to give the information to the dispatcher about what had happened and then wait for the police. This was a bloody crime scene. There was quite a bit of blood, yeah. There was a small hole just above nancys left eye. She was struggling for breath and her vital signs were slipping. As paramedics rushed her to the hospital in dallas, detective wall turned his attention to the crime scene. Could you see where she had gone through the house. Garage and the hallway leading into the house were bloody. The rest of the house appeared to have been untouched. The suspects had taken nancys purse. Did you have any reason to believe when you private this was anything other than a burglary gone bad . We didnt have any other reason to suspect it was anything but an aggravated robbery given the details she gave us. What details did you get from that 911 call specifically . Nancy was able to give as you suspect description of the personal who shot her. A white male wearing a black hat. The suspect was in his 20s. The Police Officer could find no one in the neighborhood who had seen or heard anything. It had been raining significantly. When it rains, people are inside. There were no witnesses. We had nothing to go on. No witnesses and precious little in the way of leads. They wondered if the shooting was part of a pattern of crimes in the area. It seemed unlikely that they couldnt rule it out. There had been some breakins in the area. There were some breakin thats we were looking at to see if they were related at this. Point we were kind of checking out everything to see if there was anything that may be related. But there had not been any robberies where people were ronald at gumt for the property. The cops knew they had to notify nancys family. As it turned out, her husband was out of town. A Police Officer who belonged to the howards church got word to the howards eldest daughter. He said your mom is in the hospital with a gunshot wound. Im sorry, what . That must be the most bizarre phone call. Yes. It was not even scary or worrisome. It was more like so confusing. We couldnt cross the hurdle of where she could have been to get shot. Like wasnt real . Yeah. Like wasnt real. Our mother . That just makes no sense. Shes not the time of lady that will get shot. That ashley finally reached her father with the news. I was in South Lake Tahoe at the casino. I was taking a break and i noticed that i had missed a call from my daughter. So i stepped outside and called her back. And thats when i found out that something had happened. Hows did you he react to the situation . He couldnt speak. He couldnt breathe. Okay, dad, who is with you . Youre not in good shape. Okay. Im going to drive to the airport. No, no, get someone to take you. Im crying and just going crazy. So being i was on the phone trying to find flights out. Trying to figure out what to do and how to do and it when to do it. It was 6 00 the next morning before frank howard could finally board a plane heading home. He could only imagine the nightmare that awaited him once he landed in texas. Coming up my dad collapsed on the ground. He was in terrible shame. As doctors race to save nancy, her family races to her side. Who could possibly be behind this . Were trying to figure out what happened and how it happened. We didnt have any idea. Someone was out there. Yeah. We were scared. When dateline continues. In. vo why the aceves family chose verizon. We all use our phones very differently. These two are always gaming and this one is always on facetime. And my oldest is learning to be a pilot. We need a Reliable Network because i need to know hes safe. As soon as he lands, he knows he better call mama. Mama vo the network more people rely on, gives you more. Like plans your family can mix and match starting at just 35. So everyone gets the plan they need. And apple music on us. Plus, iphone 11 on us when you buy the latest iphone. Thats verizon. the sun is risin as the day begins time for reflectin on family and friends and hey, we got somethin just for you sniffing its a cup of your favoriiiite. loud splashing highpitched laughter dang woodchucks with geico, the savings keep on going. Just like this sequel. 15 minutes could save you 15 or more on car insurance. Frank howard arrived home if dallas the morning after his wife was shot. His daughter ashley said he looked awful when she finally saw him. They drove to the hospital together. By the time he got there, he could hardly walk. I hear just this crash. I look back and my dad has collapsed on the ground. He was in terrible shape. Every time the monitors would beep, he was jumpy. Just terrible shape. Was he in tears . Yeah. Tell me what happened the first time you saw nancy in the icu. It was a difficult time. She was drugged up. All the family and a lot of people from the church and stuff were there. Doctors told the family the bullet had entered nancys skull just above her left eye and traveled down ward through her sinuses and throat before it collapsed one of her lungs. She had already had the first of many surgeries. She would lose one of her blue eyes but luckily she seemed to have escaped dangerous brain damage. Even though you can say shes all right, it doesnt look like shes all right. There is swelling, inflammation, things attached to her feet. It was hard to feel like, okay, this is okay and this is right. It was very traumatic. Very difficult. Very emotional time. Was she able to talk to you the first time you saw her . I think so. She had tubes in her throat. She was conscious and so she had knowledge of kind of who we were but she really couldnt talk or anything. While they waited for difinitive word on what had happened, they filled their worries with ideas of their own. We were trying to figure out what happened and how it happened. Someone the was out there. I believe the detectives or whatever had told us that there had been breakins. In fact they had somebody that fet the general description that he was someone they knew of that had participated in some breakins in the area. Detectives wall and turner were eager to talk to nancy. She is our only witness. We just had a minimal suspect description at this time. So we felt it was important to confirm those details with her as soon as possible. While they waited for nancy to get well enough to speak, they called in frank hoping cofill in some of the blanks. Can you update me on her condition . What the doctors have said . Yes. Very, had she said someone had shot me. Confirm with she lost her left eye in. No brain damage. None of that. Shell lose her left eye but from there it will be cosmetic stuff. Detective wall asked if frank knew known who might want to hurt his wife. What he know about her, it doesnt seem like she would have any problems with anybody. Absolutely not. In fact, villone knew that nancy had a soft spot for anyone with a sob sorry. Nancy can be real giving and open. It was not unusual, he said, for her to pick up a hitchhiker or open her door to a stranger. A month or two earlier, she had done just that. Somebody came to the door. They just needed moan to get a hotel room because the car broke down. They came to the house . Yeah. She said, she said she would get them a hotel room. Maybe thats what happened. A goodhard woman befriend ad dangerous stranger. The children thought that was a possibility. That was my first thought. She probably was willing to help someone at some point and they figured out, okay, this woman is an easy target. Could your mom be naive when it dime these people . This helping nature she had . Definitely. Sometimes her willingness to see the good in everybody, it opened her to more risk than most other people would take. Frank didnt know much because he was out of town that night. It doesnt sound like frank could help you with anything. Hes just being cooperative. Yes, he is of he confirpd that he sent a few had texts and moise ba emails back and forth. Would you have a problem with us running an analysis on your cell phone . No. He told the cop tosses let them know if he needed anything at all from them. He even offered money to generate leads. I mean, if there is, you put up a reward or anything like that again if it gets to the point where weve exhausted all of our investigative leads. Thats a step we would use. Obviously money promise people to do something. She was still in intensive care but making progress. On there was every reason to believe she would be able to tell her own story in a day or two. Coming up i said jesus, save me. Nancys dramatic story. What did she remember about that night . Did he look him in the face, in the eyes. No pity. No emotion. He looked intent on doing what he came to do. When dateline continues. Am. When dateline continues or we could do a hail of coupons . I can assure you gina, the enemy does not fear coupons. Well there are no bad ideas. Yah, except coupons. Possibly the best yogurt in the world. You have power over pain, so the whole world looks different. The unbeatable strength of advil. What pain . burke weve seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. Even a gold medal grizzly. sports announcer what an unlikely field in this final heat. burke not exactly a skinny dipper, but we covered it. At farmers, we know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. So get a quote at farmersdotcom. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum hello. Had heres whats happening. Mayor buttigieg has earned the most delegates from the iowa caucus. He earned 14 delegates with Bernie Sanders trailing at 12 delegates. Nbc news is not projecting a winner. Two nypd officers were wound in the several ambushes in the bronx this weekend. Both officers are expected to make a full recovery in what city thats the are calling assassination attempts. Now back to dateline. Nancy howard was in the intensive unit surrounded by beeping and blinking machines. A breathing tube pre venlth her from speaking but her daughter said she could still communicate. She used to do scene language. Like we know how to spell a little bit. Shes over there doing stuff with the bottom of her hand. Okay. Shes spelling something. Crap, what is that letter again . And then any time somebody would say something, she would beat her hand on the pellow. No, no. Put our spelling cams on. Nancys recovery was remarkably speedy. Just days after she was shot in the head at close range, she was able to get out of bed, take a few steps, and best of all, the breathing tube was removed. The Howard Family rejoiced. Finally, nancy could speak. Do you consider it a miracle . Absolutely. There is no e