What had happened to this Beautiful Army sergeant . The question would launch a spellbinding mystery. There were a number of potential suspects, absolutely. Was a killer out there . She was in danger. Could police catch him . They hatched a plan of virtual genius. One of the detectives said, youre not going to believe this. Welcome to dateline. Maribel ramos was a fighter. Joining the army and doing two tours overseas. Here is John Mankiewicz with 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 and where the kids from o. C. Showed us all what temperature cool really was. Around here you get a sense everyone is 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 workingclass 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 im afraid. 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. Some things that are beyond our control. All im trying to say is, im warning honestly, i will fight for my life. I swear, i will kill him. All of this should have never reached this 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. Hmm. What was she like . Troublemaker. Mom wanted her to stay at home and she wanted to go play baseball. Tomboy . Yes. Yes. Her sister, lucy, said tomboy Maribel Ramos also had a spark. When shed come in, she would what, immediately introduce herself to everybody . Make friends and 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. 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 didnt have a choice. Even as a child, maribel found out 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 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. Yeah. I turn on the tv and the towers are crumbling. The first thing i thought was, oh my gosh, my sisters going to war. 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, im 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 it was pretty amazing. Gisele is lucys daughter, maribels niece. Sometimes i wouldnt see her as my aunt. It was just like, whoa, youre going out there to save everybody. You were proud of her . Yeah. 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. Did she ever talk about that . Not with me. Instead, she focused on school, work and family, especially her niece gisele. She kind of adopted you as this project . Yeah. Now, why did she do that . I think it was because she wanted me to have the best. As gisele 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 exercises in order to, like, work off the punishment. And all this time, maribel was hammering away at gisele, youre going to finish school, youre going to study hard . Oh, yes. Youre going to have a career. Yes. This is what youre going to do, mija. This is what youre going to do. She would tell her. Yes, tia. Maribel got a dog and rented a two bedroom 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 the perfect match. He has a dog, she has a dog. He seems quiet. Shes not going to have all these people coming over. By may 2013 everything seemed great. Maribel was leading by example, finishing up her degree in criminal justice at cal state fullerton. Gisele 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, cause for her graduation. She looked great. Yeah. And she was happy. Yes, she was. And thats why it made no sense when just days later, Maribel Ramos, soldier, student, loving aunt, simply disappeared. Coming up, what happened to Maribel Ramos . Nobody had heard from her . No. When dateline continues. 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For people with Heart Failure taking entresto, it may lead to a world of possibilities. Entresto helps improve your hearts ability to pump blood to the body. Dont take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. Dont take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if youve had angioedema with an ace or arb. The most serious side effects are angioedema, low Blood Pressure, kidney problems, or high blood potassium. Ask your doctor about entresto. 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. Theyd been roommates for more than a year now. K. C. Felt protective of maribel. He told lucy he had already called police to report her missing. This is not an emergency. I have a roommate. Shes 36 years old, and she didnt come home last night. So what i did, i texted her at 11 00. I said, happy friday. Because 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, police are there. Do not take gisele. Im freaking out, and i walk in, and my sister is 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 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 getgo. Absolutely. Why couldnt she be off by herself, or with some other friends, or maybe she lost her phone or forgot to call . That was our hope, that she was just missing, that she would come walking through the door. But her family and friends expressed that she was very responsible. And nobodys 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. K. C. Returned home hours after police first got there. He again told the cops what he 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. I posted a picture of her on facebook. 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 fliers 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 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. Gisele was 14 at the time. But detective ramirez, whos been a cop for more years than gisele has 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. 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, 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, that haunting phone call. Im scared. Something had happened to make her pretty scared. Yes. When dateline continues. E directors voice here we go. From the top. And action for over 75 years people have saved money with gecko so. Directors voice cut it . What. What did i say . Gecko . I said gecko . Aw. For over 75 year. laughs. But still trying to keep it contained directors voice keep it together. Im good. Im good. For over 75. uncontrollable laughter . What are you doing there . Stop making me laugh. Vo geico. Saving people money for over seventyfive years. Gecko dont look at me. Dont look at me. I am totally blind. And non24 can throw my days and nights out of sync, keeping me from the things i love to do. Talk to your doctor, and call 8442142424. 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 what 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 does that kind of thing happen . It doesnt happen often. Ramires started by investigating the men in maribels life. It turned out there were a few of them. Did you know she was doing Online Dating . Did she talk about that . Yeah, she did. Maribel sometimes met guys through a website called plenty of fish. Thats how she found paul lopez. They had 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 or anything like that. I wouldnt think so. Ramirez sat across from paul and asked about his relationship with maribel. Nothings been exclusive. Its just been dating. Okay. You date other people too . Me, yeah. 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. Maribel was back on plenty of fish and had met a new man. He was a photographer whod 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 lot in common. And you thought what . Good . I thought, great. 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. So he said, anyway. There was also an exboyfriend who had 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 gave her a bad feeling how . She wasnt interested 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, 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 she was very afraid of someone. Im just 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 who had 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. There was nothing on the 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 so you were doing your own surveillance . Yes. Did her roommate know something that police didnt . When dateline continues. You care for your baby. Is absolutely perfect and that inspired our perfect diaper. Our softest yet with trusted protection new huggies special delivery our softest yet with trusted protection with this one little nexgard chew comes power, confidence, reassurance youre doing whats right, to protect your dog from fleas and ticks for a full month. 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There are now over 330,000 cases according to the Health Ministry after reporting 20,000 new cases friday. Now back to dateline. Welcome back. Im craig melvin. Maribel ramos 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 so concerned . Here again is josh