What had happened . And who was behind it . Everything was a mystery. Was she still alive . Was she not . It tore us apart. For years they demanded answers, a struggle each day. Then came the cold case squad with a new bag of tricks. I always felt that this was a case that could be solved. They wanted justice just as bad as we did. As a mother she fought and fought and fought. We just never gave up. Dont mess with a mother bear. Im lester holt and this is dateline. Heres Keith Morrison with the knock at the door. A baking sun. A school bus made its methodical way among the residential streets of punta gorda, florida. Stopped and started and stopped again. It was inland now, miles from the the harbor, the peace river, the center of the town whose warmth had drawn them to the gulf coast. It stopped in the middle of a quiet neighborhood. Driver opened the door. It was 3 45 p. M. We got off the bus and walked home. Reporter we means veronica ord, then almost 14 years old, and her younger brother, paul. And i remember halfway down the road, remembering that i forget my key. But the closer we got to the house, i had seen my sisters car. So i said, oh, okay, cool. You know, i dont i dont need the key. You know, shes home. Reporter then she noticed the door wasnt quite closed. It was closed, but it wasnt latched. Like you could just pull on it and the door would open. I remember walking in and oprah was on the tv. What did you assume when you saw the door open and the tv on . I thought maybe she left in a hurry. Maybe she went with a friend, you know, and she just didnt close the door all the way. Reporter she was tara, veronicas older sister, not quite 20 then. Veronica called out. No answer. She walked through the house, bathroom light was on. I went and looked in the bathroom and then i went in our bedroom and id seen her purse and everything on top of her dresser. So then, im like, where would she be without her purse . cause that wasnt usual. So thats when i had called keith. Reporter keith was keith mcphillips, her moms fianca. He was just leaving work, told veronica he was thinking of stopping for coffee with a friend on his way home. Then veronica told him about tara, that her purse was home, but she wasnt. What did you think when she told you that . Well, just something wasnt right. Because if tara was gonna go somewhere, i knew she wouldnt leave her stuff or her car. She woulda said, i wont be here when the kids get here. Thats how responsible she was. Sure. Reporter keith canceled the coffee plan, drove straight home. As soon as i got home, it just didnt look right. There was all kinds of tracks on the floor and i said, what are these marks on the floor . And she said, i dont know. Tracks . Muddy footprints. Reporter muddy footprints in the living room and master bedroom. And Something Else something only those who lived there would know. In the bedroom, like, our tv would be turned a certain way because when you lay in bed, you wanna see it. But when i looked in, it was straight. And then i notice stuff missing off the dresser. Jewelry was gone, money was gone. What was going on in your head when you saw this, as you noticed things were missing . I knew something was something bad. Reporter oh, and it was. What happened to that grownup girl in this modest house in the little city by the sea on the first of october, 2001 . A mystery for so many years. She was such a sweet, loving, kind caring. Caring, full of life. Reporter sharon ord mcphillips is taras mother. She had dreams and ambitions. She was a cheerleader, a catcher for softball. She loved art. Most of all we were a family. She loved her family and we loved her right back. Reporter they were new to punta gorda. Had moved, recently, from scranton, pennsylvania. Tara, almost grown up, told them shed stay behind, make her own life. She didnt wanna come down, you know. Im sure it was, you know, its change, especially when youre older and but we had a bet going on how long it would be before she got here, because were we are so close. So we had a bet going, and i think she lasted three weeks . Im gonna stay here on my own. No, im not. Yeah. Yes. Yep, no. Reporter she got a job. Made plans to start college. Had already decided that she wanted to be a crime scene investigator. She had her books and everything. Yeah. Reporter and though sharons thenfiance keith wasnt officially taras stepdad, they had a fatherdaughter sort of relationship. Yeah, we were very close. Yep. Always always hung out together. She would make our famous Peanut Butter and jelly tripledecker sandwiches we would have. And she would be going to make them all. She was my buddy. Reporter and now he didnt know where she was. Right away, that afternoon, keith called sharon, just finishing her work day at her office. Never forget that call. I remember saying, i have to leave now. It was a 40minute ride. And i cried that whole way home to please dont let nothing be wrong, please, please. I remember my mother pulling up. How did she look . Oh, panicked. Reporter keith had called 911 as sharon rushed home. An officer was there when she arrived. My first thing, you need to do something. My daughters not here. I just knew. I just knew. When we come back what had happened to tara . Why wasnt anyone taking action and figuring out where she was . Earrings in the carpet. Ribbons on the ground. Tire tracks on the lawn. It was obvious we had a serious problem. Gutwrenching pain. Please, please dont let this be true i lost my sight when i was 14 years old. So i really navigate the world by touch. When dove asked me to try out this body wash. I was excited that it was foam. It was so light and soft. Not sticky. Its light. Its different. Its foam. Tand, our adulte children are here. So, we save by using tide. Which means we use less. Three generations of clothes cleaned in one wash. Those are moms. Anybody seen my pants . Nothing cleans better. Put those on dad its got to be tide. What do you have there . P3 its meat, cheese and nuts. I keep my protein interesting. Oh yea, me too. I have cheese and uh these herbs. P3 snacks. The more interesting way to get your protein. Itsave up to 40 on top branduly eappliances. And save up to 60 on top brand mattresses. Save on this kenmore top load laundry pair, now 44 off. And save 46 off this kenmore front load laundry pair, now 499. 99 each plus, receive up to a 300 free gift with the purchase of a qualifying mattress set. Plus, free delivery is available. See store or sears. Com for details. Its time for savings. Its time for sears. Reporter so there they were, as evening deepened, pacing around the little house, frantic about tara. What happened . Where was she . It was getting late. You know, why why wasnt she home . Reporter the policemen who came to help them only seemed concerned about the jewelry and cash that appeared to have been taken, not sharons missing daughter. They were concentrated on the burglary. Reporter they didnt seem to hear what she was saying, didnt understand her panic. They just werent getting us or it wasnt sinking in. What was going on. They were trying to say, well, maybe shes at a Football Game. And then they reporter there was a Football Game that night . Both yeah. And then, they went through her friends. And then actually they called one friend. And this person was dating a tara. Reporter sharon almost shouted, it wasnt her tara. The officer tried a different tactic. Well put a b. O. L. O. Out. Reporter b. O. L. O . Both yes. Be on the look out. Reporter taras family knew if she had gone to the Football Game, if she had gone anywhere, she would have told them. Deputies said since tara was an adult, they would wait 24 hours before calling her a missing person. Maybe she just left on her own. If my daughter was a runaway or a troubled child or whatever the case may have been, i would have told you that. I know my child. Reporter how frustrated were you . Oh, so very frustrated. Reporter veronica, not quite 14, remember, was terrified. Why wasnt anybody taking action and figuring out where she was . Reporter keith and sharon called everybody they knew in town. Their best friends offered moral support, came to the house, and one of them noticed something on the floor. We just heard, oh, my god and we walked in and she was bending over, pulling it out of the carpet like it was embedded in the carpet. Yeah, it wasnt just laying there. She pulled it out and she said, sharon, isnt this one of her earrings . And she said, yeah. Reporter so then . Then eventually we found the we found another one. Yeah. And and then the third one. Reporter like, ground into the carpet . Yeah, right oh, yeah, just we had to pull them out. Reporter they also noticed a small palm tree in their front yard had been damaged along with the decorative bricks around it. And then there was tire tracks. Reporter what, across the lawn . Across the lawn. Reporter how close do those tire tracks come to the house . It wasnt a big yard, but no, it wasnt a big yard. Reporter they went up to the door. And they found two ribbons, the kind tara wore in her hair, outside their front door, and scuff marks on their bedroom dresser. Tell me about the what those scuff marks look like. Like somebody moved it or rubbed something against it . If you took your shoe and you kicked something and you left a mark. Reporter okay. Like, if, you know, if you walk on a floor and you drag your feet, it leaves a mark . Reporter yeah. Well, that was on the dresser drawers in our bedroom. Reporter one of the missing pieces of jewelry was a ring tara had given to keith. My dad ring she she bought me. I didnt care about anything else but that. Reporter the officers left the house with nothing learned, nothing resolved. And still no tara. Sharon and keith didnt sleep. Not a wink that night. Reporter what goes on in here as youre sitting up all night gutwrenching pain. Big hole. Praying that, oh, please, please dont let this be true. Reporter before the sun came up, sharon called 911 again. And a new officer arrived. A woman deputy, ill never forget that. And she came. And i remember saying to her, please help me. And she did. She got the ball rolling. She listened to me. The deputy called in crime scene investigators. I remember my mother waking me and my brother up. And i remember seeing so many people there, and the crime scene van outside. Reporter now deputies were taking taras disappearance seriously. Mike gandy was a captain at the Charlotte CountySheriffs Office back then. Sometimes youll respond to a scene or a call where someones missing and you can tell from the family interaction that its not a big deal. This was not the case with taras mom. It was obvious that we had a serious problem. First thing, find out the last time anyone had seen or spoken with tara. They knew by the time veronica got home just before 4 00 p. M. , tara was gone. They learned taras last phone call began at 11 49 a. M. Ended at 12 05. Shed talked to a colleague at the mall jewelry kiosk where she worked. She said shed be by, pick up her paycheck, and go shopping. But first, their landlord had arranged for a septic repair company to drop by the house. So, did tara stay and wait . Maybe the owner of the repair company knew something. One of our criminal Investigation Division sergeants on his way in to work stopped by this guys house and asked had he been to taras home. Yes, he had. Had he seen tara . Yes, he had contact with a female there. And, he said, she was perfectly fine when he left the house early that afternoon. Reporter so, assuming that was true, who else came to that little house on the afternoon of october 1st and took away their tara . Coming up something needed to happen. Reporter a frustrated family reaches out to someone new. If you met sharon, you woulnt tell her no. I looked her in the eye and i told them i would do everything i possibly could to try to help them. Reporter a turn in the case was coming. When dateline continues. Swelling and joint damage, even without methotrexate. Xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. Dont start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. Tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. 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Upgrade your game to intels fastest processor. You should probably upgrade those, too. a act 3 reporter how to explain how a mother feels when her child has vanished and all signs point to something bad . Reporter keith, what did this do to her . Tore her apart. Its just like watching everything crumble. Reporter though the family appeared to be very close and loving and sincerely distraught, investigators believed they still needed to be looked at as possible suspects. You know its a cool reality though of the detective business that they start close and widen out, and they always start with members of the family to eliminate them yes. Reporter and it winds up tragically and horribly often being somebody very close to them. I actually asked them myself, did you check us out . Reporter whatd they say . They said they did. They said, oh, dont worry. We did. Reporter meanwhile sharon and keith pushed through their fear and anxiety and did what they could. You look through garbage bags and you go everywhere and anywhere and in the woods, dumpsters. Reporter really. I would do it every day. We would go in the woods so far, we didnt even know where we came out half the time. We didnt even know where we were. Reporter captain gandys investigators searched for tara as well. The investigation shifted this morning with deputies searching 500 acres of pasture. If someone called and said, hey, we saw a suspicious vehicle in this wooded area, or theres buzzards and vultures over here, and we would always go and search. We did have a couple of different times where we used cadaver dogs in certain areas. Reporter four weeks after tara vanished she turned 20, and they tried to stay positive, as they told the local nbc station, wbbh. Were gonna have a cake and, uh, you know, we got her presents. And were just gonna celebrate her birthday. Reporter you had a Birthday Party . Of course. Had to. [ crying ] and we had the presents. And ill never forget this. I went to open one, and my son said, youre not opening that. He said, shes coming back. [ crying ] and i didnt open it. Reporter months went by, they couldnt accept what their heads kept telling them, that tara had been snatched away and murdered. But nobody was telling them anything. The investigation seemed to them to have stalled, wasnt going anywhere. Something needed to happen. Reporter and it didnt feel like it was happening. Exactly. Reporter not at all, right . Not at all. Reporter and so out of sheer desperation, about six months after tara vanished they hired a civil attorney, a woman named amanda downing. Reporter what did they want you to do . They wanted anyones help, a lawyers help, the medias help, civilians help, neighbors help, anybodys help in finding their daughter. And i think by hiring a lawyer, they believed that i could somehow assist them in fact, finding their daughter, searching for anything. They were they were grasping reporter what did you tell them . I looked her in the eye. I looked keith in the eye, and i told them i would do everything i possibly could to try to help them. Reporter you know, you wouldve been perfectly within your rights to look at them and say, look, im sorry, but thats not what i do. If you met sharon, you wouldnt tell her no. Reporter wow. Did they want you to sue somebody or just get information or what . I dont think that their goal was to sue anyone. I think their goal was to find tara. Reporter and then nine months after tara disappeared a man traveling on a desolate road on the outskirts of punta gorda, pulled over for a pit stop, walked into the woods and saw, not a girl, bones. We actually sat on the steps of the crime scene van while they were out there reporter out there at the scene. Yes, we did. You want to find her. But not like this. You dont want it to be like this, you know . You just hope and pray everyday that shes alive. But it was her. It was tara. Enough of the teeth were there to to make a positive identification that it was tara. Reporter by then, sharon and keith were at home, waiting for the results. Detective gandy went to tell them. Thats never easy, huh . Hardest thing you ever have to do. And then when they come to your door with clergy reporter you see them coming . Yeah. [ crying ] then the reality is thats it, youre never gonna see her again. Its so devastating. Its the worst pain ever. [ crying ] she didnt belong out there. Reporter 284 days after tara vanished, they knew, finally, she was never coming back. But they were no closer to knowing how she wound up out there in the woods. Reporter coming up now what . Find the killers and make them pay for the crime. Reporter new leads, at last isnt that your connection . It was a great connection reporter and new questions for someone whod been at the house that day. I feel like ive been, you know, harassed. If youve got a life, you gotta swiffer so we know how to cover almost almoanything. Hing even a swing set standoff. And we covered it, july first, twentyfifteen. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum reporter in the end, bones and a few teeth were all they found. There was every reason to think they were not helpful. Only half of the bones in her body were recovered. And some of the more important bones like the hyoid bone which would show whether or not there might been a choking or strangulation was not recovered. Reporter the medical examiner, though, found evidence that four of taras ribs were fractured. A perimortem fracture, a fracture that occurred at the time of death. So theres a big, big slam into her ribs somehow. The medical examiner clearly found that there was evidence of a violent struggle. There was evidence of Blunt Force Trauma and that would contribute to her death. Reporter detectives scoured the woods, looking fo