To my sister and i, and then five years later, gone. She was a gorgeous girl. A model who became a mom. Said you guys made some good looking kids. Oh, they sure did. On the eve of her sons 5th birthday she vanished. The whole time were all try to talk about where is she, what happened. When a woman disappears, we know police will have questions for the man in her life. In this case, that wouldnt be so simple. There was the estranged husband who admitted to an argument that once landed her in jail. She came at me and grabbed her by the arms, then she called the police. Then, there was the former colleague with a crush. Cliff shared with friends that he had found the love of his life. So, you have three potential suspects. Yeah its a tangle. Could investigators unravel it . Were asking ourselves what this means. Would her family ever find justice. Just 17 years of built up emotion, you know . Hello, and welcome to dateline, they say good things come in small packages. Sandi johnsons family and friends would agree. The young mom was petite, pretty, and devoted to her two kids. But when she went missing, police wondered if sandis home life was as happy as it seemed. They quickly uncovered a web of romantic relationships and a dark mystery that would take years to solve. Heres Andrea Canning with the disappearance of Sandi Johnson. Its a celebration no mother would ever want to miss. A childs 5th birthday. But suddenly, she was gone. Out of his life. Theres nothing that anybody could really do to fix that or repair that missing part. His mother, Sandi Johnson, was outgoing, energetic, and an awesome mom. Those kids were everything to her. So, why wasnt she there to sing happy birthday to her son. All they knew was that she just disappeared into thin air. She should have seen you get married. She should have seen you go into the military and become a Police Officer one day. Its the toughest thing ive ever had to deal with. It was heartbreaking and baffling. It was a true mystery as to what happened to sandi. That true mystery, what happened to the vibrant young mom who vanished from a Seattle Suburb endured for years. Those who loved Sandi Johnson, those who longed for her return, waited almost two decades for answers, and a slice of justice. The story starts in april 1996. April 26th, to be precise. A friday. In the seattle area, the weather was doing what it does in this part of the world, clouding up and spritzing rain. That day, Sandi Johnson, a 28yearold wife and mother, had a to do list as long as her arm. She was going to run and do all her errands that day to get ready for her sons Birthday Party the next day. Vicky fulkerson was a friend of sandis. They bonded in the hospital after their sons were born on the same day. Sandi was a little younger than vicky, a tiny woman with a huge zest for life. I loved being around sandi. Seemed like she really cared about people. No one knew that better than sandis cousins, gina boone, they all grew up together. Sandi is action, action, move, go, do, do, talkative laugh, always. Shes a mile a minute. And beautiful. Gorgeous. Tiny little thing. Tiny. She wore like a 00. She modeled even. She did some modeling, actually. I remember she did some kind of a bridal thing at one time. That friday, sandi took the day off from her job at a Car Dealership to prepare for the party. Sandis husband greg says she was always a mom first. Everything was about the kids. So, everything revolved around the kids. How excited was she to be a mom . I think she was really excited. I think thats what she wanted. Yeah, she liked it. Sandi had a plan. The kids would spend the day with vicky while she zipped around town. That morning, she left vicky a message on her phone. You can pick up seans Birthday Cake after 3 00 today, and ill be down right after that. Ill probably see you after 4 00. Talk to you later. But 4 00 came and went and no sandi. Vickys hands were full with her kids and sandis. At first she wasnt too concerned. Around 4 30 or 5 00, i started calling her. Youre not here yet, sandi. It just wasnt like her, and i was feeling frustrated. The hours went by and still no sandi. Vickys frustration turned to anger. But then she started to worry. Around 7 00 that night, she began working the phones. We started calling greg, and then we started hospitals, the police. We were just on the phones. We were worried. Vicky and her husband kept sandis kids at her home that night. Did you sleep at all that night . Probably not much. I dont remember. Its a fog, its unreal, where is she, what happened to her. So, the next morning, still no sandi . Had to get up and get ready to go to the Birthday Party. Just told sean, its okay, your mom will be there. Meanwhile, greg johnson was looking around his home. There was nothing to indicate that sandi had left in a hurry and somehow forgot to tell anyone, as strange as that would be. All of her stuff was there. Called the police, called family, my sister, i probably called her father. Were you in a full on panic at this point or still, or are you like maybe she ended up going out with some friends. No, i was pretty worried. Just the circumstances that were at the house. I knew there was trouble or something not right. The Birthday Party for sean went ahead on saturday. There was a cake and some presents, but no sandi. The adults huddled and whispered. The whole time, were all trying to talk without the kids hearing us about where is she, what happened. I think we made a second call to the Police Department in the afternoon. Did you think, okay, weve got this party, sandi will show up for the party . That was our hope. We all tried to proceed as normal. Greg was crying like crazy. He had glasses on. He was trying to hide it. But there were tears. Do you remember anything about that day, your 5th birthday . Unfortunately, i dont. You know. But sean johnson knows that was the day his life changed forever. The day the awful questions started. Why isnt my mom around, why would this happen . They were the very same questions the police would start asking too, because that same night they were called to a seattle supermarket, store employees had noticed an abandoned vehicle in the parking lot. It was Sandi Johnsons car. Her keys were in it, so was her cell phone, but there was no sign of sandi. Coming up that first break finding sandis car, gives police hope, but a second clue will throw them for a loop. Were asking ourselves, how does this come together, what does this mean. When dateline continues. Oh, hello hi do you know that every load of laundry could be worth as much as 300 . Really . And your clothes just keep getting more damaged the more times you wash them. 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Its for people 45 plus at average risk, not high risk. False positive and negative results may occur. Ask your provider for cologuard. I did it my way the power goes out and we still have wifi ask your provider for cologuard. To do our homework. And thats a good thing . Great in my book who are you . No power . No problem. Introducing stormready wifi. Now you can stay reliably connected through Power Outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery backup to keep you online. Only from xfinity. Hours after Sandi Johnson home of the xfinity 10g network. Andrea canning hours after sandi. Was reported missing, the police made a disturbing discovery. Sandis car, a ford escort Station Wagon like this one, was found in the parking lot of a seattle Grocery Store. The doors were unlocked. The keys were in the ignition. Sandis cell phone was lying on the seat, but sandi herself was nowhere to found. Cousins gina and nancy. When they found sandis car did you go to thinking theres a chance shes gone. Shes gone. I figured if someone had her, thats it. From the perspective of Law Enforcement when you find sandis car abandoned with the keys and her cell phone inside. At least it gave us an area to focus upon. The vehicle was located in southwestern king county. The cops noted an unusual detail, the drivers seat was pushed back. Sandi who was tiny, drove with the seat in the foward position. As close to the Steering Wheel as possible. When you find a car and a wallet and no sandi . Well, sandi clearly had been taken away from her vehicle in some manner, and at that point we were very focused on why was this vehicle located here . Why was her wallet found across town . To detectives, it all added up to foul play. It was a very strange and compelling case. A mother of two small children, essentially just dropped off the radar screen. Was it baffling to the whole Police Department what happened to sandi . Yeah, her disappearance became a priority with Sheriffs Office right away. Sandis friends and family put up flyers and joined Search Parties in the greater seattle area, but there was one notable exception. Were you participating in the search. Not too much . Why not . I just couldnt do that. I just pretty much stayed around the house with the kids and family. Did anyone question that . Why isnt he out looking for her . They never questioned me. Maybe amongst themselves, i dont know. But detectives were already taking a good long look at Sandi Johnsons husband. Digging for details about the state of the couples marriage. The first thing youre doing is looking at those people that are closest to the person that is missing. You have to. So it made perfect sense to focus on the husband early on. It always seems like the spouse. In this particular case, we really didnt know the dynamics of what had happened in their marriage. I mean, its up to us to find out what are the details. Detectives learned that Sandi Met Greg at a hockey game in 1990. She pursued him and he fell fast. She had a lot of energy. A lot of spunk. You seem like you might be a little more low key. I am. Was she a good complement to you . A good fit . I think so, yeah. In late 1990, the couple got married. Sean was born in 1991, daughter katie followed. For the next few years, the couples life was hectic, but happy. But in early 1996, 4 months before sandi disappeared, they hit a rough patch. Greg moved out of the house. Friends told police there were Money Pressures among other things. What went wrong with the relationship . I think she said she couldnt talk to me or communicate with me, and wed seen a Marriage Counselor and we were working on some stuff, and i think it was getting, you know, better. You wanted to get back together . Yeah, i wasnt against that at all. But Law Enforcement developed a very different portrait of the marriage, and the chances for reconciliation. Kristin richardson and Carla Carlstrom prosecuted the case for king county. They were talking about divorce. They had gotten to the point, and it was sort of assumed that they would be divorced, so that was pretty recent before this had happened, within the month before that that decision had been made. And then investigators discovered Something Else that troubled them. Law enforcement learned that they had argued only the day before shed gone missing. There was a big argument witnessed by other people at her place of work, so that, too, focused some attention on her estranged husband. The argument was over money, which was a frequent point of dispute for them. She had trouble. He had trouble. Sort of meeting their bills. Investigatorsquestions were mounting. They had a couple with Money Problems, a troubled marriage, a husband who didnt search for his wife, and fought with her the day before she disappeared. It was time to sit down with greg johnson. How did they treat you in that first encounter, the police . Yeah, they were like you did it. Accusing me of killing my wife. Told my sister that, you know, greg did it. The usual suspect was starting to look like the right guy. Coming up she called me at the time and said its getting really bad. Its to a point where im just afraid. When dateline continues. Travel. There is nothing like it dancing is my passion. But with my moderatetosevere eczema, it hasnt always been easy. I was constantly itching. Whatever i was doing now, im staying ahead of my eczema theres a power inside all of us to live our passion. And dupixent works on the inside, to help heal your skin from within. It helps block a key source of inflammation inside the body that can cause eczema. So, adults can have long lasting, clearer skin and fast itch relief serious allergic reactions can occur, that can be severe. Tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems, such as eye pain or vision changes, including blurred vision, joint aches and pains, or a parasitic infection. Dont change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. Healing from within is a powerful thing. Ask your Eczema Specialist how dupixent can help heal your skin from within. Sandi johnson was missing. Ask your Eczema SpecialistAndrea CanningSandi Johnson was missing. Police believe she had been killed and they were zeroing in on her estranged husband greg. Police believe she had been killed and they were zeroing in on her estranged husband greg. His world had turned upside down. Life changed fast. I mean, and i can tell you stories of, i come home from work and theres three or four tv stations in front of your house, ready to do the 5 00 news. The more investigators talked to sandis family and friends about the couples on the rocks marriage, the more suspicion they became of greg. Sandi had confided in her cousin gina boone that living with greg had become very difficult. She called me one time and just like, its getting really bad. Its to a point, and im just afraid and i tried to get more information out of her but she just said i cant talk about it. I just i said you got to do what you got to do. The evidence wasnt just anecdotal. A large argument between the couple more than a year before sandi went missing ended with Police Responding and greg spending a night in jail. How bad did it get . How i got in jail, you mean . Well, she came at me, and i grabbed her by the arms, sat her down. I didnt hit her or nothing, and then she called the police because she had there was marks on her arms. Anytime theres a domestic dispute, cops are called, somebody goes to jail, and im the one who went to jail. Investigators found the Domestic Violence incident troubling, and when they looked for a possible motive, they found one of the classics, money. Were you able to collect a Life Insurance policy. I did, yes. And how much was it . It wasnt that much. But do you have a number or [laughs] i know what it was. Im not going to say, but it was a substantial amount of money, yeah. Investigators were more and more convinced they had their man. The polygraph they gave greg just days after sandi vanished was key. They asked me if i would be willing to take a polygraph, just to clear my name or whatever. I said sure. I had nothing to hide. What i know was that the polygraph was inconclusive, so i guess at that point they thought it was me. They probably thought it was me before the polygraph. The Police Actually said you failed the polygraph. Yeah, im sure they did. So, youre disputing that. I am. It was inconclusive results on the polygraph. Cops felt he failed it, and the results made them even more certain they were on the right track. King county prosecuting attorneys Kristin Richardson and carla carlstorm. Greg had not done well on a polygraph test. So they asked if he would take another test. So, he called a lawyer and the lawyer said you need to stop talking to police right now. And so, he did. Must have been a big red flag for police . Yes, i think it was. I think whenever someone flunks a polygraph test, police get suspicious and want to go at that person harder. Greg may have lawyered up, but the detectives used the Polygraph Tests to turn up the pressure. They told your sister you failed a polygraph test. Yes, they did. Lots of people in town were turning in that direction. After the weeks sandi went missing, her dear friend Vicky Fulkerson thought greg was somehow involved. The police came to me and said things to me that think maybe he did. What did they tell you that made you suspect greg. Well, he didnt pass test, people at a work party had heard them fighting, just enough, could he have done it . Cops were starting to think so, especially when they considered the domestic incident that put greg in jail, that argument the dealership the night before sandi disappeared, and the possible money motive. Given the history with greg, was the family immediately l