The Lake Erie Murders (2018–…): Season 2, Episode 2 - The Vanishing Teens - full transcript

♪

This man is a serial rapist,

And he vows that he will
rape and kill again.

You kill somebody,
and then you go home

And do what?

Williams:
You just let it go.

Narrator: Eastern michigan
in the spring of '92

Is in the grip of fear.

Callahan: People were on edge.
They were upset.

You know, the disbelief of how
this could have happened.

Narrator: Four teenage girls
have disappeared...



I remember saying,
"what do you mean abducted?"

What does that mean?

Narrator:...From
a 20-mile area.

Jansson: No one could
disappear that clean.

Cyndi!

For lack of any other term,
she just vanished.

Narrator: Local police,
along with the fbi...

We orchestrated a huge search,
and it all came up negative.

Narrator:...Race against time
to find them...

We just couldn't see
the pattern that fit.

Narrator:...Before another
family loses their child.

[ gasps ]

[ girl screams ]

♪



♪

♪

Narrator: Just inland from
the shores of lake erie

On the outskirts of detroit,

Lies the idyllic township
of township of milford.

Everyone knows their neighbors.

Doors are left unlocked,

And the crime rate
has always been low.

That's what drew alana hoeft
and her five children here.

Hoeft: Milford was very nice.

There were fun things
like parades,

Fourth of July, memorial day.

It was a good place
to raise your kids.

Narrator: After a tough break up
and custody battle,

Alana is now a single mom
who works 80 hours a week

To give her kids
the best life she can.

She wouldn't have coped
without the help of her oldest,

15-year-old cynthia,
known as cyndi.

Hoeft: She was a pretty girl.
She liked gymnastics.

She was part
of the marching band.

She was smart. She was fun.

She was very capable.

You didn't have
to ask cyndi.

Okay, won't be long.

Cyndi just jumped in
where she saw it was needed.

[ telephone rings ]

Narrator: But cyndi is
growing up,

And for six months now
has been dating

16-year-old luke.
Good to see you.

Hoeft: Luke was all pro
in the sports program

At high school,
and she being a cheerleader,

The two kids
really kicked it off.

She obviously had a great deal
of interest in him.

They had good times together.

♪

Cyndi and luke asked
if they could go out.

Mom.
Yep?

They were gonna get a pop
and go to the park.

I'll take good care of her.
I promise.

And I figured,
"yeah, well, okay."

I warned them that
they needed to keep an eye about

Themselves and be aware,
be careful,

Because I almost
don't want to let you go.

So they should have been fine.

It isn't the way it panned out.

[ girl screams ]

Narrator: An hour after
the young couple leave,

The milford county dispatch
receives a call.

This is where homegrown
detective tom callahan

Enters the story.

Callahan: This young person is
very upset, very confused.

They couldn't get all of
the details out of them

Because they were
a little bit disjointed.

But it was short pieces
of fragmented statements

About some kind of a robbery.

We actually started
checking businesses in town

That fit the description
of that type of a store

That may have been robbed.

At each one, they knew nothing
about what was going on.

Narrator: Detectives arrive
at a local restaurant

To interview the young man
who made the call.

He took her.

I ran after them.
I was screaming at them.

I was screaming for her.

Callahan: He was
pretty disheveled,

Very scattered in his delivery

Of piecing together
what happened.

Our friend, we -- we drove
to central -- a-a-a robbery.

Narrator: Slowly,
the distraught teen shares

His terrifying story.

It all began around 7:30 p.M.
In central park.

Less than a mile
from cyndi's home.

Cyndi and luke decided
to go into the park.

They sat there
and talked for a while.

Worst 20-yard throw since
the campus invented...

And at some point,
they'd heard voices.

So they ducked down.
They just didn't want

To have any rumors
about what was going on,

What they were
doing in the park.

[ whispering ] it's like
grand central station.

Freeze! Stay as you are.

And don't move

- Oh, please, mister.
- Quiet!

I'm not going to hurt you.

I just need the car.

Callahan: He said,
"I just did a robbery,

And I need your car
to get out of town.

I'm not going to hurt you."

So get out.

Okay.

He made sure
that they understood

That he meant business.

Just take the car
and leave us alone.

What? Come on.

And they should
do what he said.

So they were
pretty shaken up.

Stop.

I'm going to tie you both
to this tree and drive away.

Comply, and I won't hurt you.

Sit.

Callahan: He explained he
was going to tie them both up,

And then he was gonna
take their car and leave.

He had secured luke with these
thick, plastic wire ties.

He's telling them
he's not going to hurt them

And they're gonna
both be tied up together.

You're coming
with me.

But you said
you were going to...

I lied.

No!

No! No! Cyndi! No!

Cyndi! Cyndi!

[ grunts ]

♪

Callahan: He said
he was able to snap

One of those plastic ties
and free himself.

Cyndi! Cyndi!

Callahan: He went up and down,

Just running
and calling her name.

Luke: Cyndi!

Cyndi!

♪

Help! Help!
I got to call the cops.

Callahan: Eventually
he went to the restaurant

Where he called the police.

So then I, uh, ran here
to call you guys.

I saw some inconsistencies
in some of the things

That luke talked about

In the sequence of events
that happened that night.

You have to find her.

Simultaneously the officers
that already verified

That no businesses
had been robbed

And no one called back.

Here, just here.
He tied me to this tree.

He actually took us
to the location

Where he was tied to the tree
with those plastic ties.

He put my hands --
I broke out.

He took her that way,
through those trees.

I couldn't find them.

[ sobs ]

These things were
industrial quality,

And they're like restraints
that police use,

But these were more of a
commercial type of plastic tie.

They were very strong.
How did those things get broken?

How did he get free?

And trying to duplicate
that was very difficult.

So was this particular
one had a weak spot?

Was it the adrenaline?
Was it who knows what?

But they were broken.

Narrator: And in the woods,
investigators find more evidence

That seems to corroborate
luke's story.

Callahan: There was one set
of boot tracks in the mud

That led away with
a smaller set of tracks.

And it appears that
that was the offender's

Boot impressions
along with cyndi's.

Narrator: When the boot marks
don't match luke's sneakers,

He is cleared...For now.

All the evidence seems to point
to a calculated assault.

Callahan: So we knew that
this was actually a ruse.

It was an abduction.

Narrator: The clock is now
ticking to find cyndi

Before she is hurt or worse.

The moment detective callahan
appears is the start

Of an endless nightmare
for cyndi's mother.

Hoeft: He came to the door,
and I let him in, and he said,

"do you have a daughter
named cynthia jones?"

And I said yes.

And he said,
"well, she has been abducted."

I remember looking
at him saying,

"what do you mean abducted?
What does that mean?"

And I reached up,
and I touched him on his chest,

Almost like I just wanted him
to back away from me.

[ sobs softly ]

That's how the whole thing
started, was that night.

Narrator: With every minute
crucial to her possible

Recovery, local police
quickly get back up

From federal law enforcement.

Mcdonough: We opened it
as a kidnapping case

And orchestrated large search
with fbi agents,

With milford police department,

Oakland county
sheriff's department.

Callahan: State police offered
to bring a helicopter in,

Which they did,
and they conducted

An aerial search
of the entire area.

We covered a lot more acreage
on horseback,

And then the surrounding
officers on foot

Fanned out from there.

She was just an all-around
good american girl.

We were all scared

That something terrible
happened to her.

We were all determined
to find cyndi jones.

♪

Narrator: Investigators believe
that 15-year-old cyndi jones

Has been abducted...

Man: Freeze!

After she
and boyfriend luke...

Walk! Come on!

...Were assaulted by an unknown
man in milford's local park.

Luke: Cyndi! Cyndi!

Callahan: This is central park
back in 1992.

Luke and cyndi arrived
and parked at that far end.

We search this whole area
right from the beginning,

And then came back
and then lowered the river.

We've decided to search further
into the bodies of water.

We were able to lower
the huron river

That runs along
the southern border of the park.

We had the oakland county
sheriff's department dive team

Of about 10 or 15 guys

Do a complete search
of the creek in their dive gear.

Narrator: But even with all the
resources now at their disposal,

Investigators can find
no sign of cyndi.

Callahan: It came up with
no evidence that she was kept

In the area or that we found
anything more significant.

Narrator: And even when
the media releases pleas

For tips, no witnesses
or leads come in.

Meanwhile, detectives explore
a lead from cyndi's mother.

The night her daughter
disappeared, alana remembers

Being followed by a white van.

Hoeft: My daughter mary and I
had gone to the store

For christmas returns.

On our way home, there was
a white van that kept

Riding my bumper,
and if I sped up

To get him off my bumper,
he'd speed up.

And if I slowed down,
he would slow down.

And it went on the entire
length of the trip home,

Except that we got
near the police station,

And I quick turned my car in.

I almost hit an officer's car.

I was so happy to be
rid of that man

Scaring us the way that he was.

Narrator: When asked to
speculate on who might have

Followed her,
alana immediately names someone.

Callahan: She talked about her
relationship with an ex-husband,

And this ex-husband
did own a white van.

There was some kind of
a court custody battle

For one of cyndi's
younger siblings.

[ telephone rings ]
narrator: After alana won that

Recent battle,
her ex-husband made

A chilling threat.
Hi, there.

Hoeft: He threatened
that one day I would know

What it was like
to not have my children.

[ dial tone ]

And then cyndi came up
missing and taken.

Luke wouldn't have known
my ex-husband at all.

So the police have to figure,
well, then it could have been.

Callahan: That was pretty
strong information,

That he may have wanted
to abduct her to hurt her mom.

Narrator: The search is now on
for alana's ex-husband,

Who lives 30 miles away.

Detective callahan
heads out to track him down.

Meanwhile, the fbi gets a tip
from the state police.

Mcdonough: I had a lead of two
young men that could possibly

Be suspects in an abduction
like this.

Narrator: Greg dolber
and justin ferrera

Are petty criminals
in the milford area.

Many local residents
claim to have witnessed them

Behaving suspiciously around
the time cyndi disappeared.

Lieutenant mallott and I
went to the residence.

Narrator: And even before they
make contact with the suspects,

The agents spot
a startling clue.

Mcdonough: As I recall,
lieutenant mallott saw a mask

In the front seat of the car.

♪

And so we went
and we knocked on the door.

We knew that there were
supposed to be two guys

That were living there.

One man answered the door.

We asked where his roommate
or friend was, and he said,

Oh, he wasn't there.

Lieutenant mallott
and I both thought

Something was suspicious
the way he answered there.

So we asked if we could
look around the house.

So lieutenant mallott
stayed with this individual.

And I went in to look
for the other guy.

♪

♪

♪

♪

Narrator: In a race against time
for cyndi jones' abductor,

Fbi agent jack mcdonough
has followed a tip off

To the home
of two local criminals.

♪

I yelled to lieutenant mallott

That there was one hiding
in here with a knife

And to watch the other guy.

[ knife clangs ]
we brought both of those guys

Back in for questioning to
the milford police department.

Narrator: As police interrogate
dolber and ferrera.

They send the ski mask
found in their vehicle

For lab testing.

Meanwhile, detective callahan
is on the hunt

For alana's ex-husband.

Myself and another officer
went down to a community

About 30 miles away to interview
cyndi's mom's ex-husband.

Narrator: When they arrive,
he is not there,

But they make contact
with his new wife,

And she provides his alibi.

Callahan: She'd said that
he was not in the state.

He was actually outside
in tennessee.

So he was nowhere around.

Narrator: The search of his van
finds nothing of interest.

And once they manage
to double check his movements,

Alana's ex-husband is cleared.

The lead dries up.

Callahan returns to milford

And joins mcdonough's
interrogations

Of the suspects
from the tip off.

Callahan: They were
interviewed extensively,

And they seemed to be
withholding information.

Where we saw the mask in
the car, they never gave any

Real explanation for it.

The man with the knife
said that he was scared.

When I asked, "scared of what,"

He never said what
he was scared of.

Callahan: In the end,
they took a polygraph test,

And they were alibied.

So they were eliminated.

Mcdonough: They had
absolutely nothing to do

With the abduction
of cyndi jones.

And so they were turned loose.

Narrator: With dolber
and ferrera released with

Verified alibis, investigators
go back to the drawing board

And work the case
from every angle.

The file was at least
this thick.

No stone was unturned
as far as tips or interviews.

Narrator: But as days turn into
weeks with no new information,

Any hopes for finding
cyndi jones alive fade.

Desperate for any information,
callahan and mcdonough

Requests the formation
of a multi-agency task force.

Callahan: Milford county
sheriff's department,

Michigan state police, the fbi,
all of those agencies we met.

I told them the whole story
of the cyndi jones.

Narrator: As they compare notes,
a chilling realization

Begins to dawn
on the detectives.

A possible pattern
of abductions,

With cyndi being not the first,
but the fourth teen

Who has vanished
over the last eight months.

We started looking
for any possible way

That we could try
to get some kind of a link.

Narrator: Three months before
cyndi, two girls disappeared

From the town of fenton,
20 miles north of milford.

Their names are michelle
and melissa urbin.

♪

Kathy: Michelle,
she was the oldest.

Melissa was the younger
of the two.

She was the outgoing one.

Both children
were very pretty.

A lot of people
said that.

Hiler: My sister and I
and melissa and michelle

Would come down here,
and we had a raft out

In the middle of the lake
where we could jump off of

And swim back to the docks.

It was such
an idyllic childhood

Having that and getting
to play out here.

Melissa and michelle were
14 and 16, kind of doing

Typical things that
teenage girls do --

Starting to wear makeup
and going out

And meeting new people.

♪

Kathy: It was around 4:00.

- Mom, dad, can we go now?
- Please.

"can we go for a walk now?"

And I said,
"yeah, your dishes are done.

You can go for a walk."

They both loved to walk.

They'd walk for
hours at a time.

[ door closes ]

Narrator: But when the girls
still aren't back

By the early hours
of the morning,

Kathy and patrick
contact the police.

Kathy: I called and told them
what happened.

And he says,
"we'll send someone out."

He asked me questions,
and I said,

"all I know is
the route they told us."

Narrator: Cops and community
immediately come together

To find them.

Patrick: They had volunteers
look everywhere

That they could think.

I even joined in the search.

That was part of my release
on how to help.

On that Sunday
when they had left,

I had woke up
with a strange feeling

That something
was going to happen.

Narrator: But the urbin sisters,
just like cyndi jones,

Had vanished into thin air.

Hiler: I think it left fenton
really shaken.

It was like a great
big bubble burst.

I went from 12 to 20 overnight.

All the things you hear
that could possibly happen,

They had a little bit
more truth to them.

I mean, it's in your own
backyard, you know?

♪

Narrator: With the theory of
a serial abductor

Gaining traction,
the task force now turn

Their attention to a third case.

Two weeks before melissa
and michelle went missing,

A teenager disappeared
from the town of south lyon,

10 miles from milford.

Detective clay jansson
briefs the team

On the case of kami villanueva.

Jansson: Kami was 18
when she went missing,

A senior in high school,

And she was kind of making
that transition from a shy,

Reserved kind of young lady
kind of to break that shell

And get out and to hang out
with some of her peers.

Narrator: After the death of
her mother a year earlier,

Kami's father left
the family home,

And her two older sisters
took charge of raising her.

♪

Kami visits
the local party store,

Chats with friends, and then
heads home at about 10:00 p.M.

- Kami?
- Her sisters first

Arrived home...
- Kami?

Jansson:...At about 12:15.

Woman: Kami,
are you home?

And noticed that kami
was not there,

But she just thought
she was out with friends late

And was going to let it pass
until morning

And just assumed that kami
was gonna appear at home.

Narrator: But when she's not
back by the next morning,

Her sister trish calls the
police to report her missing.

Jansson: No one could
disappear that clean,

Especially in this day and age
with cellphones.

Somebody's gonna find you.

But she just vanished,
for lack of any other term.

She just vanished.

Narrator: Detectives talk
to everyone who knew her

And conduct extensive
searches of the area.

Jansson: We had
the air national guard come in

And do an air search for us.

We had about
75 or 80 volunteers,

Fanned that group out

And did some really
very large land searches.

Narrator: But their efforts find
no trace of the 18-year-old.

Police chase leads
and tips come in.

All are investigated,
and all go nowhere.

Now in the light
of cyndi's abduction,

The task force is trying
to pinpoint the connections

With the three other
missing teens

In the 20 mile area
around milford.

Jansson: Generally in these
kind of cases,

You will see patterns
of behavior

Where this piece matches
this piece matches this piece.

Such was not the case
with these four girls.

All of us thought that
there could be a connection,

But the experts,
specifically the fbi

And even the michigan state
police behavioral science unit,

They didn't see
that pattern that fit.

Jansson: We brought in
a profiler to analyze

All the information,
and he was not convinced

Because all the scenarios
were different.

Kami was abducted from her
home in the middle of the night.

Cyndi was abducted early evening
from her car with a witness.

The urbin girls went out
for their daily walk

And were never
to be seen from again.

None of that fits together.

Callahan: They just did not
think that all of these cases

Were done by one individual.

Narrator: The detectives
are forced to give up

The joint investigation
of the missing teenagers

And go back
to chasing leads separately.

Callahan: And of course,
there were articles

That were in the papers.

"what has been done?
How close are you?"

That type of thing.

And it's very frustrating
because there's nothing more

That we would like to have had,
is that one tip,

That one witness.

It just is something
that you wish

You could have an answer for,
and sometimes you just don't.

Narrator:
But just a month later,

As a young cop chases
down a criminal,

A lead emerges out of nowhere
that stuns investigators

And sets the final sequence
of events into motion.

♪

Narrator: Four months after
the disappearance of

Cyndi jones...

Luke: Cyndi! No!

...A report from two witnesses
at an oakwood cemetery 15 miles

From milford observe
a disturbing event.

♪

Over memorial day weekend
of that spring of 1992,

Some witnesses saw a man
approach a woman.

The more that they looked,
the more it was apparent to them

That it was some type
of an assault occurring.

Narrator: The witnesses hurry
from the graveyard

To contact police, and luckily
find a deputy just outside.

As they describe what they saw,

The man suddenly speeds away
from the cemetery.

Deputy gary alexander
takes up the pursuit.

[ engine starts ]

[ tires squeal, siren wails ]

Callahan: A chase
happened for two miles.

The suspect vehicle
went around a sharp curve,

Lost control
and went into a ditch.

[ tires squeal, siren wailing ]

♪

[ grunting ]

[ handcuffs click ]

[ knocking ]

He heard a sound from the car.

Once the deputy did get
to that trunk,

There was a female inside.

There was a plastic wire tie
around her neck.

It was very difficult
for a deputy

To cut it off of her
so she could breathe.

[ panting ]

Narrator: The woman identifies
herself as 35-year-old

Carla walters.

In the car,
investigators make several

Stunning discoveries.

Callahan: There was a handgun.

There was also a knife
in that car,

And there was a bag
of these plastic wire ties.

Narrator: The wire ties are from
the same manufacturer

As those used on luke.

Investigators now have
a direct link to the abduction

Of cyndi jones.

They were able
to get some identification,

And the driver
was leslie allen williams.

Narrator: Leslie williams has
been in and out of institutions

And prisons since the age of 8

In a pattern of being paroled
and re-offending.

Callahan: He had grew up
in the walled lake area,

Which is
a neighboring community.

He'd been arrested for a number
of felonies --

Assault, kidnapping,
criminal sexual conduct,

Breaking and entering cases.

So he was pretty much
a career criminal.

I'm gonna call it like it is.
He was just a dirt bag.

He was just
a complete street jerk.

Narrator: After connecting
the plastic wire ties,

Callahan is impatient to
see if williams will confess

To being cyndi's abductor.

Callahan: Leslie williams
would just not give

Any information whatsoever

That he had any knowledge
of that disappearance.

We had an 8x10 color picture
of her.

Put it straight out
in front of him.

He looked down, never broke
a stride in his denial.

I don't
know this girl.

Narrator: As soon as williams'
arraignment for the kidnapping

In the cemetery hits the media,

The police almost immediately
get a call.

Woman: Please state
your name for me.

Jansson: When his picture
appeared on the 11:00 news

That next night,
the dispatcher advised me

That she had a woman on the
phone that needed to talk to me.

She identified herself
as an ex-girlfriend of williams.

She informed us that
the year before,

She had purchased a cat,

A small kitten
for williams as a gift.

And then a short time later,
the kitten was missing,

And she confronted williams
about it.

Where's george?

Where's my kitten,
leslie?

He told her,
"I killed the cat.

I'll take you to where I buried
the cat if you'd like to."

All right. Fine.
Come on.

[ sighs ]

So they went to the field
where this cat was located.

It was a field that she
and williams visited regularly.

Callahan: So that tip from his
girlfriend was very helpful

Because it pinpointed
an exact spot

That we could start to search.

Narrator: Callahan and his team
race to that location

Four miles southeast of milford

In the hope that they
will find cyndi jones.

Callahan: We discovered an area
that had been disturbed.

The crime team slowly,
methodically unearth this area.

Once they got down two feet
or more, they found clothing.

It was obvious that
there was a person in there.

♪

The person that was found
in that burial site

Was identified through
dental records as being

The victim that was
abducted in south lyon,

Kami villanueva.

♪

[ siren wails ]

Narrator: After arresting
leslie williams

For an attempted abduction
in a cemetery,

Police have been directed
to a key location

By his ex-girlfriend and have
found the shallow grave

Of 18-year-old kami villanueva,
who had disappeared

From her home
eight months earlier.

At the same time,
while carrying out

A search warrant at williams'
home, detective jansson makes

A key discovery.

Jansson: At that location,
we found a ring

That belonged to kami,

So that provided enough evidence
that he, in fact,

Was the one that took kami.

Narrator: Armed with this find,
detectives now confront williams

In custody,
not about cyndi jones,

But about kami villanueva.

Jansson: We had that ring with
us when we interviewed them.

You know, we know it.
And so I think at that juncture,

He'd he realized that it was up
and it was time for him to talk.

And so he did.

I took them all.

Not only the kami villanueva
case, but all the other cases

That we'd been searching for
all along.

I took her, too,
and those two sisters.

Callahan: He made a conscious
decision that he wanted to talk

And he wanted to confess
to what he had done.

♪

Jansson: Over the course
of the next several hours,

Williams laid out in
great detail for us

How the abductions took place,

About the way he went
about killing these girls,

And then ultimately what he did
to dispose of the bodies.

I hid in the...

His demeanor
did not change.

Just talking like we were
talking about the sports team

Or something.

We may not have shown,
but it was getting to us.

But it never got to him.
Never bothered him in the least.

I served her at
the store I was working at.

Narrator: Eight months earlier,
williams had been working

At a party store
and had served kami.

Then he worked out
where she lived.

Jansson: He said it was
almost an afterthought.

He drove by their road
and then thought,

"I'll stop by the house
to see who's there."

It was spur of the moment.
She was alone.

Looked in the window,
watched her playing cards.

He said the door was unlocked.

And he was able to grab her

Before she even knew
he was in the house.

At knife point
and then literally

Pull her from the house.

Took her to that field.

He had sex with her
at that point,

And then ultimately
strangles her.

♪

Narrator: After williams
finishes his matter of fact

Confession, he takes
detectives to the final

Resting place of cyndi jones,

A mile west from where
he buried kami.

Callahan: He wanted to go out
in the cloak of darkness

To show us
where he had buried her.

He instructed us to stop
at this location.

It was kind of an old perimeter
of a gravel pit.

And he stopped, and he pointed
down to the ground.

And he said,
"I buried her right there."

And so they started digging
in the place that he stated.

We saw cyndi's
black leather jacket.

[ camera shutter clicking ]

It was nothing to him.

It was like burying
a deer carcass or something.

He just -- he didn't care.
He didn't think anything of it.

Narrator: Five months after
cyndi's disappearance,

Leslie williams reveals
the truth of her final hours.

I was hiding
in the trees.

Mcdonough: He described how
he was watching this couple

In central park
from a distance in the woods

And waited for
the appropriate time.

Did this brazen approach
where they were confused.

Freeze!

Narrator: After walking
cyndi into the woods,

He takes her to his car,
which he had hidden nearby.

Callahan: Once in their car,
he drives to an apartment

That he had been renting
in a suburban detroit community.

- Please, please!
- She pled with him

For a long period of time
about not doing anything.

But he knew
what he was going to do.

Once he completed
that assault on cyndi,

He kept convincing her
that he was gonna let her go.

So she was compliant.

They drove back to milford.

He told cyndi, "I'll drop
you off at your house.

But I don't want you
to get out and scream."

Narrator: Williams convinces his
victim they will stop briefly

To tie and gag her.

Shh, shh, shh, shh.
It's gonna be okay.

Put your hands up.

Please let me go.
Okay.

All right.

You're gonna
be fine, okay?

Okay.

I said I'd let her go, but I
couldn't afford to do that.

Narrator:
But once out of the car,

He makes sure cyndi
will never become a witness.

[ screams ]

Callahan: He pulled his knife

And stabbed cyndi
once in the chest.

♪

♪

Hoeft: Lieutenant mallott
called my home.

It was early morning,
and he said that they had found

Cyndi and that she was dead.

Well, "closure" is a big word.

There hasn't been --
people think closure

Like you just shut a book.

It's not that way at all.

Narrator: Williams then takes
investigators to the bodies

Of melissa and michelle urbin.

For their parents,
the seven months of not knowing

Is finally over.

Kathy:
It was 2:00 in the morning.

I opened the door,
and he says,

"can you get your husband?

I'm not going to say anything
until he comes out."

I knew what he was there for.

He says,
"we've had a confession."

Narrator: The last of williams'
revelations are the details

Of the final hours of
the urbin sisters.

I'd seen them around.

Jansson: He told us that
he'd been stalking them

For a couple of weeks.

Knew that they like to go
for a walk together.

They were always together.

[ gasps ]

- Don't scream after
- after leaping out

With a knife...

Come on.
...Williams raped the sisters...

Come on, let's go.
...One after another.

Then strangled them.

Jansson: He subdued one,
he took one a distance

From the other sister,
killed her.

Came back and then killed
the second sister.

Kathy: He buried them
with a blanket on them.

And I thought, "at least
we can close that part.

At least we have them
and we can bury them."

It was like the weight
of the world

Was taken off my shoulders.

I knew where my girls were now.

I knew they were honest.

They went the direction
they said they were going.

Hard to imagine

Because all parents
mind their children.

Their children.

[ speaking indistinctly ]

I'm sorry.

♪

Narrator: On June 1, 1992,

All four girls are buried
in their respective home towns.

Hoeft: I'd always called church
god's house, and I told the kids

We were going
to god's house with cyndi.

Elizabeth, one of her sisters,
young at the time,

Misinterpreted that we were
going to go there

And meet cyndi.

The pallbearers came up
to walk cyndi out of the church.

And elizabeth looked
at me and said,

"can cyndi come out
of the box now?"

I said, "honey, cyndi is
not coming out of the box.

Cyndi is with god."

That child left off
with the worst scream.

I never want to hear a scream
like that again in my life.

Reporter: He has confessed,
and now leslie allen williams

Is in the court's eyes...

Narrator: Leslie allen williams
pleads guilty

To the murder of cyndi, kami,
michelle, and melissa.

Took a knife, and I stabbed her
in the chest one time.

Reporter: One by one, williams
acknowledged the vicious acts...

Narrator: He is sentenced
to life in prison.

Reporter:...He wanted
a psychiatric exam.

Callahan: I've never been
in contact with somebody

That has been so evil.

He would have never stopped
if he wouldn't have been caught.

He would have continued
to do that.

Mcdonough: The word "closure"
I don't agree with

Because you can
never get closure

When you lose a loved one.

Never should have happened.

I don't know
how it can ever stop.

In our hearts,
it's not going to be over.

I am glad that he's been
brought to justice.

I was angry.

I would have wanted him
put to death.

And it's not like me
to feel that way.

I think leslie allen williams
represents a failure

Of the entire
criminal justice system,

Particularly the parole system.

Leslie allen williams never
should have been on the street.

From the time he committed
his very first crime

At the age of 14, he never went
longer than four months

Without violating
his probation or his parole.

This man is a serial rapist,
and he vows that

If he ever gets out of prison,
he will rape and kill again.

Right, leslie?

That's correct.

♪

♪

♪