Eyeballing The Commune News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Family commune in the spread they called angel's landing. the girls' mom jennifer bought the adjoining ten acres and built a second house. and after they added a swimming pool and a dirt track for atvs, the commune later put up a third house. so what was the routine at the household? >> we were all having meals together. and -- we didn't really do chores. >> reporter: while the girls' mom resumed her real-estate business, brian worked as a mechanic and lou organized the down time. >> he would throw parties about every weekend. there was a lot of drinking. other people would bring their kids ov...

Testified before congress. marie yovonovich was threatened to be removed. >> the u.s./china deal has been reached. it would delay tariffs and it requires china to buy u.s. agricultural products. now back to "dateline." >> reporter: in late 2003, after the drowning death of 26 year old trish hughes, the mood at angels landing was grim. sisters emily and sara watched as the family commune patriarch lou tried to cheer everyone up. another young woman had joined the commune and soon lou and she were engaged with a little girl on the way. and as the clouds lifted over angels landing, shiny new ride...

>> and then, you're, what, goin' back to school and -- >> yep. exactly. >> reporter: still it was hard for the family to put trish's death behind them. and something else was troubling. emily and sara had a fuzzy recollection that trish wasn't the first person in the family commune to die. they'd recently met a teenager who'd also once been on the fringes of the commune. and he told a story with painful echoes. coming up, a tale of tragedy and mystery. >> i knew something wasn't right and he told me, your mom and sister have been missing. >> two members of the commune vanish in thin air. when ...

They never fought in front of us or anything. >> reporter: that's always tough for kids. that summer, 2001, their mom jennifer was showing houses to a new client, a man named lou castro who, with his long hair, and western hat, looked for all the world like a well-heeled young cowboy. >> he seemed really charismatic and outgoing and friendly and like he had a lot of money. >> he would tell everybody that he had cattle in south dakota, and that he was trading stocks he told me he had a bunch of cars in texas somewhere, and that he owned a mansion down there. >> reporter: this soft-spoken >> rep...

Uniform was joining in the fun. >> it didn't smell right. >> reporter: a local informant gave a "psst, check it out," to wichita detective ron goodwyn an undercover narcotics officer who ended up recruiting two law-enforcement heavyweights. and in early 2003, from the shadows, the detective was eyeballing the commune, zeroing in on lou castro. ron, why did you become interested in him in particular? >> he drew attention to himself. >> reporter: kinda flashy or ostentatious? >> flashy. he had what appeared to be unexplained wealth, drew attention to himself with parties, high optioned vehicles....