Terrible. Im the only person that knows the truth. I had to do something. Reporter he swept her right off her feet. I was drawn to him right away. A dreamy single dad, wealthy, charming, smitten. I had never been spoiled like that. I remember thinking i was like Julia Roberts in pretty woman. Reporter he had been so much. A mysterious accident at sea. He went under and when he came up he no longer saw his wife. He was hysterical. Reporter it was a heart wrenching story. So why, then, were so many people so suspicious . No one knows exactly what happened on that boat. Reporter an accident . A disappearance . You thought what, she faked her death . Reporter or, maybe a murder. There is no way. Absolutely no way. I felt like the police were just trying to frame an innocent man. Reporter now, she would be the one to unravel it all. I thought i could do this. In a dangerous undercover operation. My heart was was so fast. I said you y need to tell me th truth. Id reporter 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 Bechler was gone. Here is Josh Mankiewicz. Reporter if you crave money or fame or want to meet beautiful people, maybe become one of them, you will find your way to southern california. It is where everything is possible. Or seems to be. This is the story of two women drawn for Different Reasons to n 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 New Port Beach california. The last of 4th of july weekend. Some lucky tourists on a Passenger Boat called The Green Man were marveling at a school of dolphins playing in the water when they came across the unexpected. We have a loose boat out here. Five miles out at 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 onto a body board. The husband apparently fell off the boat. And the wife apparently fell off the boat. Reporter the man in the water was frantic. He still looked like he is pretty hedistraught. Absolutely. Reporter his name was eric bechler. His wife was pegye, but she was nowhere to be found. What is he doing . Yelling out. Roger, and can you make out any words he is yelling out . No. He is kind of slurring his words. 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. She was in good spirits. Reporter brenda was one of the friends they invited to a big party a couple of days earlier. She was talking about how much she loves eric. How great life is. Reporter and maybe life wase great. Because pegye had it all. Her story begins in a small town, dexter, new mexico. This is where pegye made her entrance. I have always said she was born winking at the doctor and swinging on the chandelier. Reporter she was glen and junes fourth child and june said 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. She had a wear a brace around the clock. Thats a terrible burden for a young kid like that to bear. Uhhuh. But it ended up motivating her. It did. Reporter her doctor talked to her about a career in Physical Therapy. She wanted to be a physical therapist and move to california and she wanted to be a beautiful blond. Reporter so she left dexter for Sunny California and settled in Newport Beach where she met glenda who was also from new mexico and they immediately hit it off. Pegye was one of the most gregarious people i ever met. She was happy, always smiling. Reporter and she was driven to establish herself as a successful physical thermist. She had almost everything she wanted. She did want to find the guy. And the clock was ticking a little bit. Yeah. Reporter and ckone day on t beach, you found somebody for her . We did. So, one afternoon on a weekend, pegye called me and said what are you going . I will go watch dave play volleyball on the beach. Reporter dave was glendas husband. She spotted eric and said who is that . Reporter eric bechler, then in his early 20s , was a Walking Commercial for the california beach life. Im going to guess when she noticed a guy playing Beach Volleyball, he is good looking and in great shape. Indeed he was. Reporter and, he was available. He was also eight years younger. Was that a problem . It was not a problem for either one of them. Pegye, when she sets her sight on something, she is going to make it happen and it developed really quickly. 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 doing good and she was happily married. Reporter and the happy couple was happily spending a lot of money on a german sports car, italian clothing and a Lo Spectacular Bluff Side home in Newport Beach. They were the little dream story. Beautiful girl, good looking guy. Drive nice cars, beautiful children. Reporter until that summer day in 1997 when the unimaginable happened. Male kind of distraught. Said 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 she faked her death . When dateline continues. Death . When dateline continues. No fingersticks needed. All with the worlds smallest and thinnest sensor. Manage your diabetes with more confidence and lower your a1c. Try it for free at freestylelibre. Us. How long have you been tracking the value of our car . Try it for free at should we sell it . We hold. Our low mileage is paying off. You think we should. Hold. Hoooold hooold now im on it. Im, on it. Already sold to carvana. Go to carvana and track your cars value today. After advil lets dive in but. What about your back . Its fineeeeeeee [splash] before advil Advil Dual Action fights pain two ways. Advil targets pain at the source, acetaminophen blocks pain signals. Advil dual action. Youre the one that i want nexgard® plus helps you protect your dog from fleas, ticks, Heartworm Disease and more. 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The most common side effects are pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site, muscle pain, tiredness, headache, shivering, fever, and upset stomach. Shingles doesnt care. But shingrix protects. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingrix today. Josh mankiewicz voiceover its said theres nothing but shingrix protects. More beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline. This was supposed to be Something Like that a romantic outing, an anniversary its said there is nothing icmo beautiful then the way the ocean never stops kissing the shoreline. This was supposed to be like that. A romantic outing, an anniversary and Birthday Gift planned for erics wife pegye. Now pegye was gone. The coast guard immediately launched a search. But by nightfall, no sign of pegye. Alive or otherwise. Eric calls her mom june. He says we cant find pegye. I said what do you mean you cant find her . What are you telling me . Reporter eric told june that pegye was driving the boat towing him on a body board when a wave wiped him out. When he said he came out of the water, he no longer could 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, glen and June Marshall were on the first flight out to california. Pegye had been missing 24 hours. That ocean is just bigger than you think about if you are in new mexico. Reporter pegyes friend glenda tried to stay optimistic. I absolutely thought they would 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 . Historical a little bit. He had been crying. His face is red. And, you know, all of those things. He looked upset. As he should be. She is 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. Eric bechler could barely speak. What did you take with you . We had a couple of bags, and a cooler. We wanted to see if we could see catalina but it was so hazy. I told pegye, you know, it was too hazy, we shouldnt go too far out. Reporter eric told the coast guard he tried to body board on the way out. And said there was a pretty good swim in the ocean. Was it as high as the side of the boat . Probably. It was big enough to notice. Reporter eric said they stopped out here on the water to enjoy some margaritas pegye had made. 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 big waves. Then all of a sudden it jerked out of my hand. I thought pegye would be right there. But 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 further and further away. Independent couldnt see any other boats. I was screaming. Looking around. It was my fault. I could only see her right now. If i could only 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 daughterin law. You thought she faked her death or disappeared deliberately . Uhhuh. Reporter coming up, pegyes secret. What was it . She stopped me on the stairway and said i have to talk to you. Reporter when dateline continues. Reporter when dateline continues. look at all those snacks, you must be a king i did just pay 60 less for my ticket with the gametime app. its the best place to get lastminute deals on tickets. i guess im just a better fan than you. crowd cheering ive got to get the gametime app. download the gametime app to get great deals on lastminute tickets. not all Caitlin Clarks are the same. Caitlin clark, city planner. download the gametime app to get great deals just like not all Internet Providers are the same, dont settle. Get real deal speed, reliability and power with xfinity. She shoots from here . Thats kinda my thing. Get the real deal with xfinity internet today, and get fast speeds and a reliable connection to all your devices in the home even when everyone is online. A brilliant Pacific Ocean sunset closed out day three of the search for Pegye Bechler. And even though pegyes family and friends a brilliant Pacific Ocean sunset closed out day three of the search for Pegye Bechler. Though her 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, with that length of time . Reporter unless of course what appeared today be an accident was not. The coast guard conducted a reinactment at sea 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 that is when the coast guard called the Orange County sheriffs office. Detective shawn murphy was put on the case. They werent able to duplicate 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. They Reinterviewed Eric and asked him about his relationship with pegye. He said his marriage was good. No problems with it. You didnt take his word for it . No. We look into it. Thats what we did. Reporter they met with the improbably named kobe lake kobi laker. Erics best friend. There were questions about pegye. 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 allocations they had Overbilled Medicare for more than a million dollars. So, when linda heard pegye had vanished. I started thinking about howdies tubbed 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 Pegye Bechler capable of committing White Collar Crime . Medicare overbilling . In my opinion, no. If you are wrong about that, then maybe the idea that she faked her death to escape possible prosecution for that, maybe thats a little more plausible. White collar crime and faking your death and leaving your children and family are two 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, sometimes they 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 about how pegye was busy with work and kids while eric seemed occupied on the volleyball court. She just confided in me they were having financial troubles. He 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 and 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 hollywood dreams. But that turned out to be the peak of her career. Soon, tina found herself slipping into the darker side of show business. 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 ex boyfriend put a gun to my head. Played Russian Roulette between me and him. I was held over the balcony by my neck. Reporter tina who was broke and near rock bot ton was desperate. I got Down On My Knees begging and i said ill do whatever you want lord. I need you show me a sign. The next day i meet eric and 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 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 porshe. And he was a gentleman in her life after a long string of men who were not gentle. I had never been spoiled like that. I remember thinking i was like julia robert ins pretty woman. Reporter tina was move