Page 5 - Sensing Nick News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

>> were you obsessed? >> when i have somebody i'm hunting down, i don't stop till i get 'em. >> isn't that being obsessed? >> i don't know. dedicated. >> get the answers you need. >> i'm not going to stop until i do get the answer or the answer comes. >> reporter: but holbert, still, wasn't providing any answers about kelli. who had now been missing some-18 months. by this time, marshburn had spent thousands of hours and some $40,000 trying to crack holbert. he was losing hope and considered quitting. or even trying something drastic. >> at times, i wanted to just take nick and cut his fingers...

Estranged husband and her boyfriend checked out, police suspected a man named nick holbert had the answer. a convicted-sex offender. nick told detectives he drove kelli home from the bar that night but never touched her. to police, the story just didn't add up. and now, a total strange was ready to prove it. once again, here's andrea canning with "deep in the woods." >> reporter: autumn, 2012. kelli bordeaux had been missing for months. the searches continued, but were winding down. and so was hope. privately, many around town felt kelli would never be found. but in the forest, outside fayette...

But no trace of kelli. >> i got really frustrated and disappointed. and i -- i'm at my whit's end. >> reporter: then, came an unlikely break, in may, 2013. nick holbert was released from jail, after being locked up on that parole violation. if holbert was happy, david marshburn was thrilled because, now, he could deal with him, face to face. so just a day after his release, marshburn pulled up to the house where holbert was staying. >> i never talked to a killer. have you? >> i work for "dateline." >> oh, yeah. i take that back. >> what were you nervous about, that he would try to hurt you? or...

He believed it, to a point. but then, he threw it back at me, after looking at it for about-five minutes. said, no, they'll just take it back. >> reporter: marshburn thought that wasn't exactly the reaction of an innocent man. now, he was fully convinced nick holbert had killed kelli. but he needed to get holbert to reveal where he buried her body. >> how can i be his friend? and i had to do some things, say some crap that i just didn't believe. but i had to do it to play the part. >> reporter: marshburn bought holbert countless meals, beers, even hired him to do odd jobs. slowly, becoming a b...

Kelli. >> do you think this case ever would have been solved without you? >> no. i don't think that nick would have ever told anyone, unless they were his friend. but he did tell me. >> reporter: for the family of kelli bordeaux, the loss, the pain, the sorrow, never goes away. but david marshburn at least gave them a chance to heal. >> he ended a suffering for my family. where we're sitting here, agonizing for these last two years. he was the one that was able to come and end that for us. and to make it to where you can try to start rebuilding, and doing things that will make kelli proud. and...