He went under, and when he came up, he said he no longer saw his wife. He was just hysterical. They were never able to find her. It was a heartwrenching story. So why then were so many people so suspicious . No one knows exactly what happened on that boat. An accident . A disappearance . You thought, what . She faked her death . Or maybe a murder . Theres no way. Absolutely no way. I felt like the police were just trying to frame an innocent man. Now, she would be the one to unravel it all. I thought, i could do this. In a dangerous undercover operation. Tell them everything. What . My heartbeat was going so fast. I said, you need to tell me the truth. Welcome to dateline. They were a good looking couple with an expanding family and a booming business. But when he whisked her away on a birthday boat cruise, disaster struck and pegye was gone. Was it an accident or something more . Heres josh mankiewwicz with troubled waters. If you crave money or fame, or if you want to meet beautiful people, maybe even become one of them, you will find your way to southern california. Its where everything is possible, or seems to be. This is the story of two women, drawn for Different Reasons to the sun, to the bright lights, to the blue water. Both chased that promise of success. Both saw what can go wrong. It was a gorgeous summer day in Newport Beach, california, the last of fourth of july weekend. Some lucky tourists aboard an eight passenger boat called the Greene Machine were marveling at a school of dolphins playing in the water when they came across the unexpected. Weve got a loose boat out here about five miles out of Newport Beach. Reporter the captain radioed the coast guard that a small speedboat was circling, out of control. In the water nearby was a man holding on to a body board. I have a husband, apparently fell off the boat and the wife apparently fell off the boat. Reporter the man in the water was frantic. Copy. And does he still look like hes pretty distraught . Over. Absolutely, very. Reporter his name was eric bechler. His wife was pegye. But she was nowhere to be found. What is he doing at this time . Hes just kind of yelling out, just laying on his boogie board and yelling out. Roger. Can you make out any words that he is yelling out . Over. No, hes kind of slurring his words. Itll be anytime now a unit should be on scene. Reporter it was a stunning end to what began as a perfect day. This Newport Beach couple was celebrating their wedding anniversary and pegye just turning 38. It was her birthday, you know, so she was in good spirits. Reporter Glenda Slosser was one of the friends theyd invited to a big party a couple of days earlier. Shes talkin about how much she loves eric, how great life is. Reporter and maybe life was great, because pegye had it all. Her story begins in a small town, dexter, new mexico. This is where pegye made her entrance. Ive often said that she was born winking at the doctor and swingin on the chandelier. Reporter pegye was june and Glen Marshalls fourth child. And, june says, pegye was going places from the very day she was born. She was never still. Reporter she danced, sang, played sports and, it seemed nothing could hold her back. She had scoliosis as a kid. Young pegye had to wear a brace around the clock. Thats a terrible burden for a young kid like that to bear. But it also kind of ended up motivating her, didnt it . It really did. Reporter peyges doctor talked with her about a career in physical therapy. She volunteered and loved it. And she made up her mind right then that she wanted to be a physical therapist. And she wanted to move to california and be a beautiful blonde. And so she did. Reporter so pegye left the small town of dexter for sunny california. And settled in Newport Beach. Thats where she met glenda, who was also from new mexico and they immediately hit it off. Pegye was probably one of the most gregarious people that ive ever met. She was happy and she was always smiling. Reporter and, says glenda, pegye was driven to establish herself as a successful physical therapist. She had almost everything she wanted. She did wanna find a guy. And the clock was tickin a little bit. It was. And then one day on the beach, you found somebody for her. We did. So one afternoon on on a weekend, pegye called me and said, what are you doin . And i said, well, im gonna go down and watch dave play some volleyball on the beach. Reporter dave was glendas husband. I asked pegye if she wanted to come down with me and she said absolutely. She immediately spotted eric and said, whos that . Reporter eric bechler, then in his early 20s, was a walking commercial for the california beach life. Im going to guess when she notices a guy playing Beach Volleyball, hes good looking and in great shape. Indeed he was. And handsome. Reporter and he was available. He was also eight years younger. Was that a problem for either one of them . It was not a problem for either one of them. Pegye, you know, she when she sets her sight on something, shes going to make it happen. And it developed really quickly, really, really, quickly. Reporter within a year they were married. Within four years they had three beautiful kids. Pegye and eric went into business together. She opened up her own physical therapy business and eric, a computer whiz, managed the technical side of their venture which quickly became very profitable. Her business was doin good. And she was happily married. Reporter and the happy couple was also happily spending a lot of money. On a german sports car, italian clothing and a spectacular bluffside home in Newport Beach. They were the little dream story. Beautiful girl, goodlooking guy, drive nice cars, beautiful children. Reporter until that summer day in 1997, when the unimaginable happened. Male, kind of distraught, said that his wife fell overboard. Reporter it was a boating accident, said eric, and the coast guard agreed. Something they see all too often. But soon, secrets emerged that would make some people wonder what really happened to Pegye Bechler . Where was pegye . And what had gone wrong on that boat . Coming up, there would be a sea of questions to come. You thought, what, pegye faked her death . When dateline continues. Nds for a full month. And its the only chew, fda approved to prevent infections that cause lyme disease. Nexgard. What one little chew can do. The wind in your hair. The feeling of freedom that drives us to go out and discover. At chevy, were committed to getting you there with confidence and peace of mind. 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Reporter eric told june that pegye was driving the boat. Towing him on a body board when all of a sudden a wave wiped him out. When he came up from under the water, he said, he could no longer see pegye inside the boat. We thought they should be finding her because we really just thought she would swim out of it. Reporter you see, pegye was quite at home in the water. Growing up, it was the only time she didnt have to wear that back brace. And she became a very accomplished swimmer. She wouldnt panic. She would swim because she loved the water. Reporter the next morning june and Glen Marshall were on the first flight out to california. Pegye had been missing almost 24 hours. Of course, that ocean is just bigger, bigger, bigger than you think about if youre in new mexico. Reporter pegyes friend glenda tried to stay optimistic. Absolutely thought theyd find her. Maybe alive. Uhhuh. I did because she was a fabulous swimmer. Reporter glenda went to the bechler house to see eric. How did he look . Hysterical, a little bit. You know, hed been crying and, you know, his face is red and, you know, all of those things. He looked upset, as you should be, one would expect. The best. The best person. Reporter this video from local news shows a devastated eric. It was now day two of the search for pegye. Still nothing. The next day, the coast guard interviewed eric. Were just going to do an inquiry into the boating accident. Ok . Ok. Reporter eric bechler could barely speak. What did you take with you on the boat . We had a couple bags and a cooler. We wanted to see catalina, but it was so hazy. I told pegye that it was, you know, it was too hazy, we shouldnt go too far out. Reporter eric told the coast guard he tried to body board on their way out and said there was a pretty good swell in the ocean. Was it as high as the side of the boat . Probably. It was, you know, big enough to notice. Reporter eric said they stopped out here on the water to enjoy some margaritas pegye had made. And then later in the day they decided to try the body board again, this time on their way back to the harbor. Pegye was driving. Eric was being pulled on the board. Well, i mean theres a wave and all of a sudden it got real big, and of a sudden it just jerked out of my hand. Oh, ok. You know, i just couldnt hold on. So i came up. I thought pegye would be right there. She wasnt. The boat was just going in circles, and i couldnt see her. I could just see that pegye wasnt standing there on the wheel. And the boat kept going farther and farther away. And i couldnt see any other boat. I was screaming and looking around. It was my fault. If only i could see her right now. Reporter and so Pegye Bechler was simply gone. Maybe even within sight of the same beach that had spawned her marriage. Eric seemed devastated fearing his wife and Business Partner was dead,but erics mother, linda, saw things quite differently. I was sure that they would find her, that it would all turn out well. Reporter not just because pegye was a strong swimmer. Everyone knew that. Linda knew more. A secret about her daughterinlaw. Reporter and you thought, what . Pegye faked her death . Or disappeared deliberately . Uhhuh. Coming up, pegyes secret. What was it . She stopped me on the stairway and said, i have to talk to you. When dateline continues. You doing okay . Yeah. This moving thing never gets any easier. Well, xfinity makes moving super easy. I can transfer my internet and tv service in about a minute. Wow, that is easy. Almost as easy as having those guys help you move. We are those guys. Thats you . The truck adds 10 pounds. In the arms. Okay. Transfer your Service Online in a few easy steps. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Transfer your service in minutes, making moving with xfinity a breeze. Visit xfinity. Com moving today. Reporter a brilliant Pacific Ocean sunset closed out day three of the search for Pegye Bechler. And even though pegyes family and friends tried to remain hopeful, reality was slowly starting to set in. And it was painful. At this point, you didnt think she was alive anymore . I kept thinking that she was. But how could she, you know, that length of time . Reporter unless, of course, what appeared to be an accident was not. The coast guard conducted a reenactment at sea to try to understand how pegye could have fallen off the boat. And they couldnt do it. They said it just it doesnt appear to be feasible to them, given the sea conditions. Reporter thats when the coast guard called the Orange County sheriffs office. Detective sean murphy was put on the case. They werent able to duplicate even close to what was alleged by eric bechler, that his wife was tossed off by a rogue wave. Reporter if pegyes disappearance was no accident, murphys job was to find out what did happen. Detectives started by reinterviewing eric and asking him about his relationship with pegye. He said his marriage was good. There was no problems with it. You didnt take his word for it . No. In our game, we dont take anyones word for anything. We look into it. And thats what we did. Reporter they met with the improbablynamed kobi laker, erics best friend. And kobi backed up eric. They had a terrific marriage. And there was no problems whatsoever. Reporter but if the marriage seemed solid, there were questions about pegye, at least according to linda bechler, erics mother. Linda says pegye told her something in confidence just before she disappeared. She stopped me on the stairway as i was leaving. And said, i have to talk to you. She said, im afraid im going to jail. Reporter according to court documents, about a year before pegye disappeared, the couple sold their physical therapy business to another company, but they stayed on as employees. Then, just four months before pegye vanished, the bechlers were fired. Amid allegations they had overbilled medicare for more than a million dollars. So when linda heard pegye had vanished i started thinking about how disturbed she was about going to jail. Reporter and she wondered if pegye had somehow staged her own disappearance. Pegyes friend glenda said no way. Was peggy bechler capable of committing White Collar Crime . Medicare overbilling . In my opinion, no. But if youre wrong about that uhhuh. Then maybe the idea that she faked her death to escape possible prosecution for that, maybe thats a little bit more plausible. But White Collar Crime and faking your death and leaving your children and your family are two really separate issues. Reporter glenda said pegye adored her children and would never abandon them. I will say that people who have never been in the inside of a courtroom or the inside of a jail cell uhhuh. Sometimes do pretty crazy things when they realize that might happen to them. I believe that, but not pegye. Reporter glenda did tell the detectives that pegye and eric were having some issues, like how pegye was busy with work and kids while eric seemed occupied on the volleyball court. She just confided in me that they were having some financial troubles because, you know, they had a pretty high lifestyle to keep up with. Reporter glenda said eric and pegye seemed determined to work everything out. But now pegye was gone, eric was a single dad with three kids under the age of four. And a new player was about to enter the story. You were drawn to eric right away . Yes. Reporter like countless young women before her, tina new had dropdead looks and hollywood dreams. Shed done some bikini modeling and had a small part on the tv show baywatch nights. I just saw, he went down right there. Reporter but that turned out to be the peak of her career. Soon tina found herself slipping into the darker side of showbiz. She started doing drugs and lost custody of her two Young Children because of it and fell for a succession of guys who did not treat her kindly. I mean, i had an exboyfriend put a gun to my head, play russian roulette between me and him. I was held over the balcony by my neck. Reporter tina, who was broke and near rock bottom, was desperate. I got down on my knees, literally begging. And i said, ill do whatever you want, lord. Just help me. I cant do this anymore. I need you to show me a sign. And the universe sent you eric bechler. And the next day i meet him. And then all my problems are gone. Reporter she had taken a modeling gig, eye candy at a trade show. Eric was there promoting his new business. It was three months to the day since pegye had disappeared. I just thought he was really handsome. So there was some serious chemistry from the beginning. Yes. We went out that night actually. He asked me out that night. And then i moved in the next day. Really fast. You dont wait, do you . No. Not then. Reporter eric lived in a giant house and drove a porsche. And he was a gentleman in her life after a long string of men who were not gentle. Id never been spoiled like that. I remember thinking i was, like, Julia Roberts in pretty woman. Reporter tina was moved by erics story. He said to me that his wife died in a tragic boat accident. And that they were never able to find her. Reporter she c