Page 8 - Win Panama News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

That? >> he told three or four people that. i moved out of my house and moved into a hotel that had security. >> reporter: keith wasn't the only one who was nervous. >> i got to the point where i became convinced that this guy cortez killed these people in order to steal their property. that's when i said i'm going to the authorities. >> he encouraged keith to do the same. >> he said you need to come to panama city and get to it prosecutor and doj and turn up the heat. >> keith went to panama city and laid out the case against wild bill to the dij -- the panamanian fbi. >> from that point on, ...

Abruptly stopped paying his bills, something totally unlike him. >> i just woke up one morning. it's a weird thing. i just knew. i couldn't ignore it anymore. i just couldn't. somebody had to do something. >> she went to the police. did she immediately investigate some. >> no. they just put it in a file. and they go just yeah, yeah, yeah. people get lost in panama all the time. >> she reached out to someone she thought could help, another ex-pat, don winner, a man that runs a website for foreigners living in panama. >> i was contacted by one of her friends that was concerned that she was missi...

To turn in panama. during that time holbert's wife divorced him while they both sat in separate panamanian jails. but cher's family finally got the news they had long waited for. in august 2017 william dathan holbert was found guilty of the robbery and homicide of five people. according to a tweet from the panama ministry of justice. he was sentenced to 47 years in prison. and the woman once known as jane cortez, she say sentenced to 26 years for her role in the crimes. for cher's sister judy, there are only good memories and appreciation for the big sister who followed her adventurous spirit ...

>> instead of small letters, it'd be all capitals. and she'd always write a-r-e, and this would be an r for "are" or "2," the number, would be there rather than t-o. so, it was just -- i said it was just -- it just changed. >> reporter: and then, the text messages simply stopped. cher's aunt mary called the us embassy in panama, and begged for help. >> the embassy -- made a big point of saying people disappear all the time. and if she wants to be found, she will contact you. and so i had a hard time shouting into the darkness of the embassy saying "help me, help me." >> reporter: things got wo...

>> even when she was was young she wanted to travel. >> she had the dream and made it come true in the most unlikely place, the tiny islands of panama. >> she would just take a picture of the sunset and send it to me and she said it's like living in a postcard. >> life was beautiful and simple. and an escape from the pressures of modern living. who could have known that evil could find a place in paradise, too? that beneath all that beauty was a dark secret. >> it still seems very unreal. i don't want to believe it. >> this is a really, really bad guy. >> it just sent chills down my spine. >> ...