I said, this was no accident. Kathryns husband agreed. They told people she was drinking, she was crying and threatened to kill herself. Suicide . Her friend didnt buy it. Somebody had done this to her. This investigator thought so, too. I had to lay it all out on this huge conference table. And i said, wait a minute. Unearthing two bombshell witnesses. The andersons heard her die. A dark and damning tale. But would a jury believe it . I made a promise that i will find out who did this and i will make sure that theyre brought to justice. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres keith more son with the reckoning. Dreams seem to flow downstream somehow, carried by the rivers whims, carried where the current wills them to safety or to sorrow. Here is where they came, the newlyweds, to their own beautiful river, their montana eden, where they dreamed their dreams. And where now these decades later the silent water may finally give up their secrets. Theres never been anything thats been the same since that day. Sherry harper is talking about a mystery that seemed beyond solving. The inexplicable thing that happened to her, sherrys sister, kathryn. You tell people, and youre hearing yourself speak. And youre thinking this is like something you see on tv. Do they understand . They dont. And how could we possibly expect them to . And so you go back to the beginning. You search for the answer in the past. And we did everything together. This is kathryns childhood best friend, melissa. Either she was at my house or im at her house constantly. Like sisters in a way . We were. We were. We played together. She just had such a zest for life. The memories are idyllic, said melissa. Under the sun in the Swimming Pool in her backyard. She taught me to swim. She was a strong swimmer . She was. She swam every day. Sherry was the big sister, kathryn the youngest with a brother, thomas, wedged in between them. She was a champion equestrian rider. She wanted to continue that and then go to veterinary school. So, yes, she loved animals. But most of all she loved him. He was a part of her life every single day. His name was ralph. And it was her child. One of those little humanlike jack russell t terriers. Yes, he thought he was a member of that family and he was. Joined her in College Southern methodist where she scored straight as, jumped horses and was captain of the polo team. There one day on the grassy polo field she met a boy, brian. Brian laird, another polo player, son of an eminent eye doctor. He was prelaw. Before too long they were living together. And in the summer, working together in fort smith, montana, population 161. Its a tiny little town. And you get to know everybody really well. And Everybody Knows pretty much what everybody else is doing. That theres a town at all is due to the bighorn river on which june and gordon rose ran a tackle shop and lodge. The bighorn to serious fly fishermen is Something Like mecca. It just had such a massive population of fish per mile. Theres only half a dozen places like that in the world. Brian worked as a fishing guide, kathryn worked in the tackle shop. They had both just graduated. Theyd come to the river in the summer, you know, for summer jobs. And then after brian finished law school, in the winter of 1999, they got married. The newlyweds moved to billings, montana, where brian set up a small law practice. Kathryn put vet school on hold to help brian run the office. But brians heart wasnt really in the law. Not when the bighorn was calling. So they bought a mobile home in fort smith. And the two of them picked up where their summer jobs left off. We didnt use him very often as a guide. But we did let him carry a tab in the store. He seemed really timid around people. And kathryn . Delightful is the word that comes to my mind. Very vibrant, intelligent, devoted. Devoted to what . To brian. Oh, okay. She was working three jobs that summer. Thats true. She worked in our store, cleaned rooms at another lodge and then the shuttle business. And she was a really hardworking. Never showed up for work late. All that spring and early summer of 1999, brian and kathryn and the roses and the other fort smith fly fishing outfitters worked the river dawn till dark. And the current carried fish and dreams and sparkling flies and darker things. It was the morning of july 31st. One of kathryns coworkers burst into the tackle shop. Have you seen her . She didnt show up for work. Did she say anything to you . I said, no. We havent seen or heard from her. And she was very worried. And so the other person that was working with me that day said, well, ill run over to their trailer and check on brian. But brian, roused from a deep sleep, had no idea where kathryn was. Somehow, in the middle of the night, she had vanished into the vast wilderness of montana. When we come back, the search for kathryn is on. A friend makes a stunning discovery in the river. She alerted brian right away. She alerted the authorities right away. And a family grapples with the unthinkable. I just remember lots of hysterical crying, screaming. Marco. polo marco. polo marco. polo marco. si . Polo marco. polo scusa . Ma io sono marco polo, ma. Marco. playing marco polo with marco polo . Surprising. Ragazzini, io sono marco polo. Si, sono qui. Whats not surprising . How much money amanda and keith saved by switching to geico. Ahhh. Polo. Marco. polo fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Polo its gonna take a bit of work oh oh work ithats so interesting honeyf mybecause im going to share p. A photo of my eggo waffle when it pops up. whispers leggo my eggo anncr golden crispy, warm and fluffy eggo waffles. Leggo my eggo. If you a dry mouth can be ations common side effect. Thats why theres biotene. It comes in oral rinse, spray or gel, so theres moisturizing relief for everyone. Biotene. For people who suffer from a dry mouth. A terrible dread spread up and down the bighorn river that morning of july 31st, 1999, when Kathryn Laird failed to turn up for work. A missing persons report was filed. Brian, her distraught husband, went up and down the river calling, looking. So did her neighbors. And pretty one one of them, driving past a reservoir the locals call the after bay, saw something in the water. Looked human. She alerted brian right away. She alerted the authorities right away. Brian laird raced to the after bay, plunged into the freezing water, carried the body to shore. It was kathryn. It was too late. She was just 28 years old. By then, a gaggle of Law Enforcement had arrive. It was crazy. Many entities out there. You got fbi, you got dia, you got the park service, you got county jurisdiction, you have state jurisdiction. But it was the fbi whose agent took charge of the scene. Kathryn was found wearing sweat pants and a shirt and a bra, but no shoes or socks. Her white 4runner was located in a parking lot about 100 yards from where her body was found. Inside the vehicle they found her purse, eye glasses, some prescription antidepressants of brians and a half empty bottle of tequila. The shellshocked brian was driven 40 miles to a doctor in hardin, montana and sedated. And 1,000 miles away in texas, sherry got a call from her mother. She says, she just received this horrible telephone call from brian. All he kept saying was, theres been a horrible accident. I just remember lots of hysterical crying, screaming. My mom just saying, shes gone. Sherry rushed to her mothers house. Thats when she said, kathryn drowned. And i said, no, she did not. And she said, accidents can happen. And i said, no. I assure you this was no accident. My sister would not drown. Did you have an idea what happened . No. At that time i really didnt. Neither did kathryns friend, melissa. Im like who are you talking about drowned . She could swim. What are you talking about . Not just swim but swim. Yes. All i could picture was the Swimming Pool. A distraught family flew to montana. Brian met us at the airport. What sort of state was he in . Very lethargic. You could tell he was taking something. Yeah. To calm him down. What happened . The night before, said brian, he and kathryn argued for hours. He to a void her anger went to sleep, he said, and she, agitated, upset, woke him up, asked him to take care of ralph then got into her 4runner and drove away into the night. Last time he saw her alive, he said. Must have taken his medicine with her and so much booze she either drowned accidentally or more likely, he said, she committed suicide. Brians parents had arrived by then and they had some hard questions for kathryns family about her emotional state. How long had kathryn been depressed . And both of us are like, what are you talking about . Well, thats how she died. She apparently took pills and drank an excessive amount of alcohol and she drowned. There was an autopsy, of course. Two, in fact. And this was odd, given the pills in her vehicle and half empty tequila bottle. There wasnt any alcohol in her body. No trace of those pills, either. Two medical examiners agreed on the cause of death. Poor kathryn had drowned. But as for the manner of death . Accident . Suicide . Homicide . They just couldnt say. So it was ruled undetermined. Wed made all the emergencyments through the funeral home so that she could be flown home and we could say our goodbyes. Five days after her death, brian took ralph the dog and left fort smith for missouri where he moved in with his parents. And along the river, life went on. The fishing season was peaking, so much to do. And the sad story of the beautiful young woman who had drowned herself in the icy after bay faded, as stories will. Not forgotten, not exactly. But over. Except it was not. Not by a long shot. I made a promise to her when i saw her in her casket. That i will find out who did this to her. And i will make sure that theyre brought to justice. Coming up. Kathryns family begins its own investigation and is troubled by the findings. She went up and down the river, and she just said, this doesnt make any sense. When dateline continues. Get to kohls. For our best Friends Family event thursday through sunday take an extra 20 off any way you pay plus, yes2you rewards members earn triple points. Plus, everyone gets kohls cash too. Nothing but the best savings. Now thats the good stuff. Kohls. Tthe whitenessmy wasnt there as much, my teeth didnt look as healthy as others. My dentist said that pronamel would help protect my teeth. Pronamel is giving me the confidence to know that im doing the right thing so its nice to know that it was as simple as that. Choose your favorite pasta,or piadina or sandwich. 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Well, i feel better. Its been five minutes. Talk about progress. [ chuckles ] okay. They knew kathryn was a powerful swimmer. A water accident seemed most unlikely. As for suicide, they didnt buy it. Kathryn phoned home often, they said, and never sounded depressed. And even though the medical examiners left manner of death undetermined, her family had their suspicions. The fbi was suspicious, too. Of brian. So agent Randy Jackson called him at his folks home in missouri. He didnt offer much. Im just totally in the dark here. I dont know if my wife you know, if she died because she took too many sleeping pills. I have no idea. In a series of phone calls, jackson tried to cajole him back to montana to discuss the case. Do you anticipate that youd be able to come back and spend a few minutes speaking with me anytime soon . Oh, not not too soon, probably. Because that would just have to be a special trip just for that one isolated matter. That doesnt sound like cooperation to the fbi. And then when they asked up and down the river, they learned that kathryn had been planning to leave brian. The week before she died, kathryn asked june rose for a day off from work, needed to it go to the county courthouse and get divorce papers. I said, have you tried counselling . And shes like, june, ive done it all. I cant do anymore. I have to get out of this marriage. Big decision and shes made it. She gave me the impression that shed been very systematic about it. She tried many things. None of it worked. So, lots of suspicion. But the fbi simply couldnt prove brian caused kathryns death. By september, brian lawyered up. The investigation stalled. And kathryns family . Dismayed by the lack of progress, they went back to fort smith and opened their own investigation. Kathryns mom came up. Looked and asked and looked and asked. She went up and down the river just looking for anything to get information and find out the truth. What did she seem to think had happened . She just said, this doesnt make any sense. She wasnt suicidal. She was trying to find out anything she could. We would put out reward posters or information posters. And we would talk to fishermen. Were you here on this date . Did you see anything . Did you hear anything . We would talk to neighbors. The family expanded their investigation. We hired private investigators, both in dallas and in kansas, and they did interviews with some of her friends from smu. What sorts of things did you find out . That brian and kathryn fought a lot. And there was a time where she was afraid of him. And yet she got married to him. She did. Fishing season after fishing season, kathryns sister and mother returned to fort smith. Kathryns death, receding further and further into the towns past. We went up there for several years, every summer, and spent a couple of weeks. She tried to find out anything she could at all. Somebody might just open the door to something that would tell her what happened to her daughter. Months of fruitless investigation turned into years. The more sherry and her family learned, the more convinced they became that brian had a hand in her death but would never be brought to justice. And so the business about ralph the dog . Kind of like salt in a wound. All this time, brian refused to give or even sell them kathryns beloved jack russell terrier. So after a couple of years, my mom called one day. And she said, im so tired of being nice. I want ralph. And i said, i do, too. She goes, well, then were going to go get ralph. Their private investigator found out where brian was, eight hours away. They made the long drive. My mom saw ralph in the backyard, called his name. Of course he came immediately. Yeah. Jumped in her arms. And she came running back to the car. And we put ralph in the car and we drove back home to texas. Wow. Had we was all over us. A few years after kathryns death, the family learned that brian was trying to get license to practice law in missouri. So i immediately called the bar in missouri and said, heres whats going on. Perhaps you dont want to let him sit for the bar exam. He got quite a rough going over by the questioners. He did. They didnt give him his license . No. So brian laird moved to colorado. He set up a law practice in fort collins, specializing in conflict resolution. In texas, kathryn remained deep in her friend melissas heart. When i found out i was pregnant and when i found out it was a girl, i went to kathryns mom and asked for her permission to name her. Take kathryns middle name, d danielle, for my daughter. I wanted her to always be there with me. And fort smith, the bighorn flowed on. Fishermen came and went. And fresh crimes demanded investigators attention. Kathryns case grew as cold as the river in winter. And finally in 2004, the fbi closed the file. So as all these years went by, year after year after year, and nothing happened, what was that like for you . Excruciating. Devastating, knowing that he was Walking Around and getting to live his life. After he had taken such an amazing woman off this earth. It was the coldest of cold cases. But i never gave up ever. Coming up. A new investigator pours through the evidence and spots something critical. I had to lay it all out on this huge conference table. And i says, wait a minute. Now it in this sizzlin summer heat, im feelin a little extra crispy. My extra crispy twenty dollar fillup is freshly doublebreaded and fried to a luxurious, mouth watering bronze. Extra crispy isnt just a product. Its a lifestyle. Kfc. Its extra crispy good. Want great whitening without the mess . Think outside the box colgate optic white toothbrush plus whitening pen for 5 shades whiter teeth. Brush, whiten, go no mess, no waiting, no rinsing. Colgate optic white toothbrush plus whitening pen. 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And then one day in 2012, 13 years after kathryns death, a fbi agent named john teling happened to have some time on his hands. Hed heard about the case, as had most of them in the buildings fbi bureau. So he asked his boss if he could take a look. Which was a bit odd, really, given that teling worked white collar crime. Actuarial stuff. I work a nicer side, generally the financial crimes. What he did was turn his actuarys eye toward a very big file. And i literally sat at my desk hour after hour after hour. An i read every line. And i highlighted it. It was highly suspicious. You didnt believe it was a suicide. No. But that was the foundational story which had been told by the main witness, the husband. Thats right. He said it was a suicide. And its your job to prove thought was