Burden of Proof (2023): Season 1, Episode 1 - Episode #1.1 - full transcript

She had the scooter.

She was kind of, you know,

"I'm gonna do what I wanna do
when I wanna do it."

A young teen girl on a scooter
was uncommon,

but it's this great image
of she's just breezing around

this neighborhood
that she lived in.

That was her kind of spirit.
Like, "I'm gonna go

where I wanna go."

A scooter?
Like a moped?

I know a lot of kids
in that neighborhood
did have those.

But I don't remember her
having one.



I don't remember a scooter.

From what I remember,
she was a fun, outgoing girl.

She knew things about music
and makeup

and her heels
and with her hair done.

She was very much a girly girl.

She was not a girly girl,

not one to sit
and play with dolls.

Rocks, and tadpoles, and shells,
and sand, she enjoyed.

And she liked blue jeans
and the high-top Reeboks.

Rugby shirts, she loved those.

She was never really
an affectionate child.

I guess
empathetic is the right word.

She's always nice
to people who didn't fit in.

I always thought
she was spoiled rotten.



Kind of quiet.

- She was outgoing
and carefree.
- She was just needy.

Her disposition
was like most 15-year-olds,

but her highs were higher,
and her lows were lower.

She was just a typical teenager.

Okay, this is Jennifer's note.

So this is a photocopy
of the note that was left

when my sister disappeared.

Jennifer was reported missing
in February of 1987.

I was in college
in North Carolina,

and for the first 22 years
of her disappearance,

you know, uh,
everything I've been told,

you know, was... was a lie.

How I got all this information
was for years of trying to do

the right thing by Jennifer.

In 2014, I reached out
to an attorney in Williamsburg

about whether I could sue
my parents, uh...

for the death of my sister.

Um, and it was not...
not about money.

I don't want money,
or, you know, anything.

I just wanted, you know,
a judge to say, uh,

"You're responsible
and... and you did it."

It was February, it was cold.

Stephen was away at school.

You know, it was getting on
towards bedtime.

Jenny.

I asked Jennifer,
"Will you call
your grandmother?"

Will you call your grandmother?

"And pick up your room."

And pick up your room?

JENNIFER PANDOS, ACTOR: Okay,
I will after homework.

She was most agreeable.

She had her bed and there was
a chest of drawers.

There was a big wicker
rocking chair.

A dressing table,

which had been
a family heirloom.

For the most part,
she was orderly.

You know,
I could see her right now.

In her room, at the end
of her bed.

In the panda night shirt.

JENNIFER, ACTOR: I did, yeah.

It was after fourth period,
before gym.

Mm-hmm, okay.
So, I was thinking

I'm gonna put a note
in his locker.

Because I have to tell him.

That morning, I went downstairs,

not hearing her shower,

and realizing, "Hmm,
she could have overslept."

Jenny. Jennifer Lynn.

And her door was locked.

Jennifer, unlock this door.

And you know,
here I am twisting the door

and pushing on it
and pulling on it,

and calling her name,
and not getting anything,

and calling for Ron,
who's upstairs.

Jennifer Lynn, open this... Ron!

God! What? Jesus Christ.

And getting him
to come downstairs,

and we finally get something
to push the lock open and...

MARGIE, ACTOR: Jenny.

She's not there.

Her coat was gone,
her handbag was gone.

Her contact lens were there,
her retainer was there.

And finding that note
at the end of her bed.

It could have been on the bed

it could have been
on the cedar chest,

at the foot of her bed.

But finding it there,

that's...

where my world ended.

When Jennifer disappeared,

we were living in a townhome

backed up to,
just a little finger,

of what they call
Kingsmill Pond.

Kingsmill was a gated community.

Somebody that would have
picked her up

would've had
to have come through the gate.

If she were on her own,

and could have gotten
to Highway 60,

she could have been picked up
at the convenience store, or,

you know, that's the road
to the brewery.

There were probably trucks
running 24/7.

Anything is possible.

Ron filed the report
with the police

that she was missing.

They did what you'd call
a 'Missing Person Report.'

I guess
it just went cold with them.

I think they just thought
she was a runaway,

and she would eventually show up
at a friend's house,

or a grandparent,
or show back up at home.

To me, there was nothing
much ever done.

Ron and I would sit...

at night on the stairs
looking out the window

into the driveway
and the parking lot

of the condo complex.

Just watch for cars.

It was days and nights
sitting by the phone.

Just... sitting and waiting,

and I'm still sitting
and waiting.

Yeah, no. And I'd say
there's a big difference

between Trump going
into election day

in the mid-forties versus
the low forties...

Sharon, this is Stephen Pandos,

I'm Jennifer's brother.

I'm trying
to get to Williamsburg,

here in the next few weeks,
and would like to meet you.

Thanks very much.

Sharon was the...
the girl who was on the phone

with my sister
the night she disappeared.

It's so weird saying that.

Saying, "This is Stephen.
This is Jennifer's brother."

I don't...

I don't ever...

have reason to say that really.

I've been at this now
for almost ten years,

trying to figure out the truth
and what happened to Jennifer.

I went to college
in the fall of '86.

Jennifer disappeared
in February of '87.

And what I remember
is getting a call from my mother

and her asking me
if I had seen Jennifer.

She thought that she'd run away,

and for whatever reason,
she may stop and see me,

however she was getting around.

My mother was not hysterical
or frantic.

It was very matter-of-fact.
I remember asking questions,

and not getting
especially good answers.

And when you tried to talk
about it with my mother,

she would just kind
of shut it down.

- Hi.
- Hi.

- Stephen.
- Yeah, Sharon.

- Nice to see you.
- Good to see you. You too.

- You too.
- Come on in.

I believe I found...
This must have been...

We were on our off time.

- Yeah.
- Look.

But then we made up
because she was like...

"Thanks a lot, Sharon."

She had a good sense
of humor about it.

She did.

"Sharon, thanks for what you did
to my picture.

You've been a great friend.

And even though
we've had our ups and downs,

we've pulled it through.
Gotta cruise.

Love you, Jenn Pandos."

Yeah, that's Jennifer, right?

Yeah.

And then in high school,
you were on the phone

that night, that, you know,
when whatever happened.

And... can you tell me
a little bit more about,

you know, that conversation?

- We...
- What you remember?

- We were talking...
- Right.

...and your dad
had opened the door,

I could... I knew he had
opened the door. And it was,

- "Get off the phone."
- Right. Yeah.

And she was like, "Okay, Dad."

- Right.
- And he's like...

Second time he came in.
It was the second or third time,

and it was like,
"Get off the effing phone,"

or the "GD phone."
I mean, it was...

And it was a tone I'd never
heard your dad use before.

Right.

It was the way he yelled.

- It can be intense. I mean...
- It was intense.

- And like, "Okay, Ronald!"
- Right.

Or "Just a minute, Ronald."
Or some...

I remember,
she called him Ronald.

Oh, right.
And that just...
-And I'm like, "Oh, my God..."

- Yeah.
- "...he's going to kill you."

- Right.
- That had to have been

between, like,
nine and ten o'clock.

So we hung up the phone,
"I'll see you tomorrow."

And the next day.
I waited for her...

- Right.
- ...and she didn't show.

- So I called your house.
- Right.

And your mom told me
she was sick.

-Right
-SHARON: Okay.

Again, the second day...

- Yeah.
- ...the same thing,

I waited for her.

She didn't show,
I called the house.

And I think your mom had said,
she was out with your dad.

- Right.
- And then it was the third day,

your mom came to our house.

And, um, I remember,
I was in the kitchen.

And my mom
had answered the door,

- and I heard your mom's voice.
- Right.

And I came around,

and I was like, "Oh, my God,
what happened to Jennifer?"

- Like, "Where's Jennifer?"
- Mm-hmm. Right.

And your mom was like,
"We don't know."

She ran away. I'm like, "What?"

You know,
"Have you heard from her?"

"No, we hadn't heard from her."

It wasn't the, you know,
the frantic mom, like,

"Oh, my kid's missing,
what am I gonna do?"

- Mm, no. No.
- Right? Right.

I mean, Stephen,
she came in our...

She came in the door.

She kind of stood in the foyer.

- Right.
- She never took her coat off.

I think I thought
at first she had run away.

- Right.
- And she that didn't tell me,

and it's like,
"Who is this person?"

- Like we share everything.
- She doesn't...

Right, yeah.

Exactly. You shared everything.
How would you...

How would you not know
that she was having,

you know, such problems

that she would've felt
like she would need to run away?

- Right.
- She didn't take anything.

There was nothing missing
from her room.

That's what I always said, like,

she would have never left
with no clothes.

I believe with, you know,
all that I am

that my father is responsible.

My mom had said
that was one of the first things

I had said though.
"Her dad did something."

I'm like, "I said that?"
She was like,

"Yeah, you said that.

'Her dad did something to her.'"

RON, ACTOR:
Baby, listen, it's after 10:00.

-JENNIFER, ACTOR: I know,
-And you know the rules?

There's no calls after 10:00,
please get off the phone.

No. No, no. No, no.

That doesn't mean start
a whole new conversation.

Okay, okay. Just give me
a second to say goodbye.

What part of "get off
the goddamn phone"

don't you understand?

Fine, Ronald. I'll get off
the goddamn phone.

Sharon, I'll talk
to you tomorrow.

Can you talk about the dynamics

in your household?

Yeah, my father was the heavy.
Yeah, for sure.

What I remember is just
always walking on eggshells.

My parents divorced
in the mid to late '90s.

My father sold
his accounting practice,

and moved to Texas.

I don't have a relationship
with my father now clearly,

and didn't really before.
He scares me.

And Jennifer and I,
dealt with my father

very differently.

Where she would fight back.
I was just,

"Give it to me
and let me get out of here."

We were three and a half,
four years apart,

in really different orbits.
I was rarely at home.

I was always at the golf course,
or always with friends.

And Jennifer was spending
weekends away from the house.

And I think
it was a survival technique.

Because being at home
just didn't feel safe.

My mother
never protected my sister

or me from my father, ever.

When my father would get angry
and violent,

my mother, she stayed away.

That looks like
a school picture for Stephen,

but that's probably
just a JCPenney snapshot,

or something of her.

Stephen has made it his mission
to convict his father.

And that's fine if Ron did it.

But because I can't say
that Ron did it.

He basically told me,

he never wanted
to speak to me again.

I don't have a relationship
with my grandchildren

because of this.

Believe me, if I had the answers
I'd give them to him.

But I don't.

I think that the, um...
the police department

doesn't wanna
put any more resources

into this.

They think it might be like
a deathbed confession,

you know, kind of thing.

I... I don't understand why...

why there's not more effort
put into finishing something

that they seem
to be so close on.

My name is Sergeant Wendi Reed,

I'm with the James City
County Police Department,

and I was assigned
this case in 2006

when I became an investigator.

I was working on patrol.

In one of our hallways
was a bulletin board,

and on that
was a missing person flyer

for Jennifer Pandos.

She had disappeared

and had never been seen
or heard from since.

That kind of sparked
my interest.

When I got the case,

not much had been done on it
for probably about 18 years,

because the case file

had gone missing
from the police department.

And there had been no contact
with Margie or Ron Pandos.

Because we didn't have
that original case file.

We had no idea

when the family reported
the crime,

who was listed as suspects
or who was interviewed.

So starting from scratch

was my only option
at that point.

I started out just trying
to find out about Jennifer

through her friends.

People's past behavior
is usually a good indication

of what they're gonna do
in the future.

So knowing a lot about Jennifer
and how she was as a person

could lead us
to what happened to her.

I'm Cori Tobler.

And I'm her husband,
Tony Tobler.

I knew her
from elementary school.

She would come and spend
the night at our house with us.

And I met her I think

just coming to a new school,
meeting people.

Yes.

Started dating,
dated for a couple months.

A group of us were friends,
so it just happened.

I think whatever happened
with her was February,

and her and I stopped dating
the summer before that.

- Very high school.
- Yeah.

Yeah. Very, very high school.

She had no fear.

I don't feel
like she ever had fear.

Like I just thought
she left with somebody.

Yeah, like, just ran away.

She is that person who...
"Oh, I could pull that off."

Like, you know, I just... "Wow,
she really did pull it off."

As I was investigating
this case,

I got in contact
with Cori Tobler.

She had spoken
about a Kerry Hendrix

that was an older man
that Jennifer had babysat for.

He would provide them
with alcohol.

He would buy us, um,
alcohol if we wanted it.

What do you think
about that situation?

Then? No, I thought
it was awesome. It was cool.

You know, somebody
was letting us do

what we wanted or whatever.

- But now?
- Yeah. Now you're older

- and you have your own kids...
- Yeah, I wouldn't do that.

I wouldn't want my daughter

babysitting for somebody
like him either, so...

I ran a criminal history

and found that he had
numerous convictions for crimes

that were fairly violent
towards women.

In March of 1990,

he was charged
with attempt to commit rape.

He was also charged
with felony kidnapping.

He would be a very good suspect
to look into.

I was not able
to locate Kerry Hendrix

when I had the case in order
to speak with him in person.

When we're investigating cases,

we have to keep
an open mind to everything.

I interviewed Margie
at her home.

Margie advised me
that she believed

that Tony Tobler
had something to do

with her daughter's
disappearance.

When I asked her why,
she said that,

she wasn't really sure,

he had been involved
in martial arts,

but she had never seen him

be violent
towards Jennifer at all.

If you become closed-minded

and believe this is strictly
a runaway,

you've failed to see things
that are right in front of you.

Now, this is the note.
On March 10th, 2007,

I had gone down to Charlotte
to speak with Margie Pandos,

we had her fill out
a questionnaire,

and one of the questions stated
something to the effect of...

"Are you hiding anything

that is pertinent
to this investigation?"

And she got to that question,
and had her pen on the paper

and she sat there
for a little bit

and then looked up at me
and said,

"Well, I have the note
if you want it."

I was like, "Yeah."

That was the first opportunity
I ever had to really see

what was said in the note.

The handwriting was very messy.

It appeared
as if someone wrote it

with their non-dominant hand.

"Mr. and Mrs. Pandos,
your daughter is with me.

She is fine. She is having
some problems though.

She needs some time away
from this place.

Three to five days max.

She is like a daughter to me,
and I'm like a dad to her.

Here are some
of Jennifer's quotes,

'I'm fine.
I just need time to think.

Both of you, please go
to work tomorrow

because I will try to call you.
I won't call at home,

only at one of y'all's work.

Cancel my doctor's appointment
on Friday.

Please put money
into my bank account.

Do not call the police.

I can easily find out if you do.

And if you do,
I may never come back home.

Don't tell my friends
about this.

Just tell them I'm sick.
Please do what I've asked.'"

And that's the end of it.

During that conversation,

Margie advised me that

the last time Jennifer
had been seen

was February 9th of 1987.

She and Ron waited until Friday,
February 13th,

to call the police department
to report Jennifer missing.

We really don't know

what happened
in those three days.

Ron has told us
that he hung up flyers

at her school
and talked to her friends,

but I have yet to find
a friend that has said

that they saw any fliers

or that they talked
to him at all.

At one point, Ron said
he went up to Pennsylvania

to tell Jennifer's grandmother
that she had run away.

At some point, they say
they both stayed home.

At other points, they say
they both went to work.

When I asked Margie
why she did that,

she told me that the note said
she needed to go to work,

so that's what she did.

I then asked her
about the statement

in the note about putting
the money they owe Jennifer

into a bank account.

And she couldn't give me
a reason

why they went to work
like the note said,

but didn't put any money
into Jennifer's account,

like the note
instructed them to do.

With all
the conflicting stories,

our suspicions started
to move towards

Ron and Margie Pandos
knowing more about this case

than what they were disclosing
to us.

I am Karen Lichtin,
and I am Stephen's girlfriend.

S... You know, life partner.

Whatever you wanna call it.

Uh, four years,
a little over four years.

We met through a mutual friend
and went out. And then,

I think maybe a week later
went on a second date.

And on that date was sort of
when he told me everything.

When you're older and dating,
you know, you just...

You don't play games.
You just sort of

lay it all out there
on the table.

So we both sort of aired
the... the issues in our life.

Stephen's previous marriage
was not a great one.

But he had
two amazing daughters.

He adores them. There's nothing
he wouldn't do for them.

And I'm sure
it crosses his mind.

They're around the same age
as his sister was

when she disappeared.

He has this horrible thing
he's dealing with.

I try and understand it.

I don't know
if I can fully explain it

'cause I'm not
in that head of his,

which sometimes I wish I was,
but I'll say,

"You know, it's not really
your responsibility

to solve this case,"
but he's doing the best he can.

I think
this is a very solvable case.

I retired
from Norfolk Police Department

in 2003.

- I was there 26 years.
- Oh, wow.

And I did a little over
ten years in homicide.

And I was
in homicide for eight years,

and I've worked a lot
of cold cases,
and a lot of stuff.

There are a couple of things

- that I have to ask you.
- Sure.

Just to get it
on the record here.

- Yeah.
- Did you kill your sister?

No.

Do you know
who killed your sister?

I believe that my father did.

Tell us a little bit
about your father.

He suffers from post traumatic
stress disorder from Vietnam.

Very, very short-tempered,
can be violent.

- Did he ever spank you?
- Or worse, yeah.

What do you mean, "Or worse"?

Uh, hit, kick, choked.

What would fire
your father up the most?

In that situation with my sister

probably that night,
just being disrespectful.

And if she had smarted off
at him,

you know, if he's...

It's February, you know,
and he's an accountant

in tax season,

he'd probably been working
120 hours a week.

Why are you so consumed
about this?

Because it's only right.

And Jennifer,
she deserves better.

This is getting to the point
where it's gonna come down

- to probably someone talking
or admitting to something.
- Right.

Would your mom be open
to an interview?

I bet she would.

I can tell you this,
there are a couple suspects

outside of the family.

- Hmm.
- Okay? The boyfriend,

and then there was a guy
that she babysitted for,

I think his name was Hendrix
or something.

- Yeah.
- And that guy had a bad record.

In fact, he got arrested
for some abductions

- and some stuff later on.
- Right.

The thing that I can't get over
is the note.

Who is this mystery man
that wrote the letter.

None of her friends
know anything about this man

that's "like a daddy to me."

- But nobody knows,
not even her best friends know.
- Right.

And then for the handwriting
to be disguised.

And the personal information...

Look, you're running away
from home, okay?

Right.
And you don't take anything.

And you don't take anything.

- Who gives a crap
about some money going...
- That's right.

...in your account or cancelling
your doctor's appointments?

I mean, if something
doesn't smell right

- it's not right.
- Right. That's right.

- You know?
- It's gotta make sense.

It's gotta make sense.

"Dear Mr. and Mrs. Pandos..."

"Your daughter is with me.
She's fine.

She's having
some problems, though.

She needs some time away
from this place."

I've never, physically...

seen...

But it's just weird how,
you know, it starts off,

"Mr. and Mrs. Pandos,"
and then there's quotes.

If Jennifer wrote it,

why would she dictate this

- to someone else to...
- Right.

...to write it?

But it's also like,
the way I see this.

There's like a lot
of scratching out.

Right, you're trying to come up

with a story on the fly.

- Yeah, or you're like...
- At the end of something,

whatever horrible just happened.

And you're trying
to piece this together.

The premise that an adult
is gonna go into someone's home

in the middle of the night,
and help someone run away

in Kingsmill, of all places.

You know?

It's crazy.

This was the main thing
for me. This note.

My name is Kenneth Morris,
and I was called in

as a criminal profiler
with the Virginia State Police.

Well, as a profiler, what I do
is go to a crime scene,

and then tell investigators

what type of personality
committed that offense.

With this case here, of course,
there was no crime scene.

I looked at the letter
that was left in her bedroom.

And by reading that,

I was able to come up
with a profile.

There's intimate knowledge
contained within that note.

Doctor's appointments,
bank accounts,

things that only Jennifer
or someone who knows Jennifer,

would be familiar with.
It's pretty much,

"I'm leaving
with a father figure.

I'll come back,
I'll contact you in a few days."

It's written
to delay the investigation.

It's not realistic.

It's something you might see
in a Nancy Drew

or Murder, She Wrote.

When I spoke to Ken Morris,

he said that was one
of the most ridiculous things

he's ever seen
in law enforcement,

and that it was consistent
with staging,

which I totally believe.

Yeah, I better put
my glasses on.

"The leaving of a note

in a missing person case
is unusual.

Typically, its only purpose
is to explain the disappearance.

If the absence is by force,

the message will be a demand
for some type of ransom

or action needed

for the safe return
of the victim."

♪ "Mr. and Mrs. Pandos,

your daughter is with me,
she is fine."

"It is my opinion

that Jennifer had nothing to do
with the creation of the letter.

It is rare for a teenage girl
to run away from home

without previous warnings
of her intentions.

Awkward wording,

and the use of quotes
highly suggest

Jennifer's contribution
was absent

during the formation
of the letter.

There's no evidence to the claim
of a devoted stranger.

No close friends
were aware of this man,

and the writing style suggests

a distant, emotionally-detached,
loveless writer.

The inclusion
of personal information

in the letter,
suggests the writer had

an extremely close
relationship to Jennifer.

It can thereby be averred
that the letter

is an instrument created

to facilitate
a staged crime scene.

Based on this premise,
your most plausible offender

would be one
or both of the parents."

In August of 2007,

we sent the note
for handwriting analysis.

Jennifer, Ron,

and another individual
were ruled out.

Margie, the mom,
was not eliminated

as being the producer
of that handwriting.

What are your thoughts

on what makes the most sense
out of all this?

I think that my father...

basically threatened my mother.

- And made her write it.
- And made her write it.

As an investigator,
I just feel that this right here

is the key to the whole case.
And that this note

is what's gonna lead
to this case being solved.

Even in suicide notes, like,
if I was to commit suicide,

and I left a note here,

the police would come in,
take the note,

stick it in plastic,

where they could protect
any fingerprints.

They would make a copy
of the note,

and put a copy in the file,

and the original note
would be put in evidence.

What was going through your mind

when Margie produced that note?

I couldn't believe it.

I didn't think
this note existed anymore.

The former investigator
that worked this case said,

that the original note
was in the original case file

and that he had never given
that back to the Pandos family.

There was no logical reason
why Margie should have had it.

So when she gave it to me,
I was kind of floored by that.

So one of the mysteries
of this case is,

the missing case file.

And in 2006,

there were two detectives
assigned to the cold case.

And that was investigator
Wendi Reed

and Sergeant Jeff Vellines.

So, I guess
Jeff contacts Margie,

and Margie has somehow located
a set of dental records,

which were supposedly
turned over,

according to the dentist,
to James City Police.

So that's two items

that were initially
in possession of the police.

And I got to believe
that Jeff's thinking,

"What the hell's going on?

How the heck is this evidence
getting from our files

to the family?"

- Hey, how you doing?
- Hey, how are you?

- Good. Jeff?
- Good.

Jeff, Jeff Vellines.

Hi, Jeff.
Donnie Norrell.

Nice to meet you, Donnie.
Come on in the house.

I understand that you picked
this case up as a cold case.

You weren't
the original investigator on it,

- right.
- Right?

We started in the process
of cold case investigations.

At that point, I needed the file
and the file was missing.

Hmm.

And that gave me great concern.

There's no question in my mind,
the file disappeared

from the police department.

But when Margie produced
those X-rays and stuff...

- Right.
- ...you knew at that point...

Going in the back of my mind,
I'm thinking,

"Okay, this is my probable cause
that's kicking in."

Right. Right.

I placed a call
to the Commonwealth Attorney's
Office of Virginia.

Hmm. Here.

And I said, "I think
I've got enough probable cause

to get a search warrant
for her house,

because we're getting
the dental records,

we're getting this,
we're getting that,"

and I was denied.

What would you
have been looking for?

I'd have been looking
for the case file.

Okay.

And you believe
she possessed the case file?

I believe she did.

Did you ever find
the original file?

No.

- Well, thank you again.
- Yes, sir.

- I appreciate it.
- Thank you.

- Good meeting you.
- You too.

I'll walk you out.

So talking to Sergeant Vellines,

both of us had a little bit
of suspicion

that something nefarious
may have happened to the file,

and his theory was

that Ron had been golf buddies
or friends

with the chief of security
at Kingsmill,

and that's where Ron lived
at the time.

And the chief of security's wife
was actually a secretary

for James City County
Police Department.

They thought some arrangements
had been made

between the three of them
for her to obtain the file

and remove it
from the police department,

so Ron could actually see
what the police knew,

and what the police
had in the file.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Right.

Nothing.

That I could tell
from our end, you know?

Uh...

Well, the speculation
is that Ron has it,

or did have it.

And I've never really known him
to throw away anything.

So he probably still
has it somewhere.

I've never come across it here.

Hmm. No, I don't.

Um...

There's, you know...

the speculation
that he killed her.

Uh...

And if he did,
I'm assuming that that's why

he wanted it to see
if they were, you know...

looking at him as a suspect.

- Hey, Stephen, how are you?
- Hey, Wendi. How are you?

- Good to see you.
- Good, you too.

I was just asked
a couple of weeks ago,

what your biggest professional
regret has been,

and it's this case,
'cause it drives me crazy

that we haven't been able
to bring it

to any kind of resolution.

My opinion
is my father is responsible.

Two, I think my mother
knows more than what she says.

I think the evidence definitely
points in that direction.

And I think your mom's gonna
be the key to it.

I mean, you know,
she's gonna be the one
who's gonna say what happened.

She's the weak...
the weakest link.
Mm-hmm.

Do you have any objection
to me talking to her?

I don't, it's not my case.

Your mom would never contact me.

I can't recall her
ever calling me,

or ever emailing me first.

- It was always me
reaching out to her.
- Right.

Your dad, on the other hand,
was always fishing

for what's going on
with the case,

almost as if he was trying
to insert himself

in the investigation.

So if you were back
on the case now,

what would you do next?

Those woods behind the house,
I'd explore a little more.

There's some overheads
of the house.

This is water.

Yeah, this is the mill pond.

Where do you think she is?

I don't know.
The police asked me that.

And I told them, "In the river,

in the pond
or on the railroad track."

And...

I don't know who put her there.

Your mother,
she names three places.

She said something
about some railroad tracks.

And I think that's another time
where she's almost coming out

and saying
where they took the body.

Are you okay with the fact
that your mother could be

just as involved
in this as your father?

No, I'm not okay.

You just... Do you wanna
know the truth?

I wanna know the truth.

And I don't believe
that my mother...

I think my mother
knows what happened.

And I think my father
scared her,

and threatened her
to keep this a secret,

and it was a bad decision

that has snowballed
into a catastrophe.

So when was the last time
you talked to your mother?

Probably
at my grandmother's funeral

some years ago.

- And you live...
- Twenty minutes from her.

...20 minutes from her.

Have you had
any phone conversation at all?

- Has she seen your kids?
- Mm-mm. Not since the funeral.

I just, you know, I...

If... I can't go along
with this charade.

After my sister disappeared,

I would ask questions
from time to time.

I remember asking my mother
far more than my father.

Just getting
a "We don't have an update"

kind of an answer.

That changed,
Christmas Day, 2008.

I walked into my mother's house,

and I knew that she would ask me
if I called my father

because we only spoke
three times a year,

birthday, Father's Day,
Christmas.

My parents
were long divorced by then.

And then she said to me,

"I don't mean
to ruin your Christmas,

but your father's
a convicted felon in jail,

and got remarried
two years ago."

Needless to say, I was...
I didn't know any of that.

In 2008, Ron Pandos
was in jail in Oklahoma.

He had opened six bank accounts
for NFL players,

and embezzled
over 54,000 dollars.

He had pled guilty,

and then violated his probation
by possessing firearms.

And it wasn't too long
after that,

that Wendi Reed came
and asked my mother

some questions about Jennifer,
and my mother asked me

if I would be there.
And I said, "Sure."

And then Wendi asked my mother
to take a polygraph,

and that was the first
really weird moment

that registered with me.

When Wendi asked,
my mother glanced,

to the left as she was thinking

about whatever
she was thinking about,

and I answered for her.
I was like, "Yeah,

of course she'll take
a polygraph."

At this stage
of the investigation,

we were given permission
to bring in cadaver dogs

that could detect
human decomposition.

Initially, they went around
the outside of the residence,

and showed interest under
the house into the crawlspace.

We dug several holes,

we were unable
to find any human remains.

According to the K9 handlers,
that indicated the possibility

that a body had been there,
but not buried there.

After that,
the Secret Service conducted

a polygraph examination
on Margie.

I proceeded
to take the lie detector,

and fail it miserably.

One-hundred percent...

failure.

Which further convinced him
that I was protecting Ron.

I couldn't believe it.
How did she fail the polygraph?

I dug into it,

learning that
when my parents moved

from Williamsburg,
they didn't call

and update contact information
with the police department

for like two and a half years.

How do you do that?

After that, I said,
"This really could be reality

that my parents are involved
in my sister's disappearance."

All right.

- Oh, you got eggs.
- Another one.

Oh. Oh, my goodness,
yes, I've got eggs.

I didn't know you had a thing

about eggs in your potato salad.
Now, where did this come from?

I was 17 years old
when it happened.

So all I know

is what I've really been told
as an adult,

which was only probably
in the last 15 years.

Because it's just something
that was not talked about.

I got the call. She'd been gone
a month is what I remember.

And very calmly, no hysteria,
no panic.

"Jenny's gone. She's missing.
Have you seen her?"

Not a hysterical mother

out of her mind with worry.

After my mother
failed her polygraph,

I called my mother's sisters,

so I could talk
to all of them at the same time

and tell them everything
that was going on.

And then my aunts came
to Charlotte that weekend,

kind of like
a family intervention.

And my mother didn't really have
a good story about any of it.

After talking
with Margie that night

at her house,
and supposedly what went on,

and all she can say is,

"I excused myself
from the situation."

And what are we to think?
Did she hear what was going on?

The hypothetical fight.

It's like she knew too much.

And then we had Stephen
come over the next day,

and that just ended up being...
In a screamfest.

And we really
didn't get anywhere.

I knew there was strain
on their side of the family.

I did see one incidence in...
It was 1996, Ron struck Margie.

And that was the first time
I'd ever seen

any physical violence.

It's just hard
to wrap your head around

the level of emotional abuse
that Margie has been under

all of these years,
that she would defend this man

over her daughter.

That's why I don't understand
why she doesn't roll on Ronnie.

You know, if Jenny's gone,
why not take him down?

So here you are.

Hey, there.

Hey. How are you?

Mm, I'm okay. I'm okay.

Are we ready to eat?
Is everybody starved?

It seems like all...
alls I remember is eating
at the little kids table.

The little kids table.

- Can we ask you?
- Mm-hmm.

What... What do the girls know?

They don't know
any of the details at all.

They know about Jennifer,
that she's missing.

So they've asked
why they don't see Grandmother?

Yeah.
And I've just told them

that I just have
a disagreement with my mom.

After, you know, that one time
we went to Charlotte

and had the big sit-down
with your mom,

I still don't think
we've ever all sat down,

and talked about it, any of it,
ever again.

That did me in, that day,
you know?

That was it for me.
I knew right then and there.

Somebody had gone down.
Something had happened.

Why can't she go after
the guilty one? The one...

Why can't she go after
the abusive husband, father?

That's what we don't understand.

Their relationship's over.

And... And he's...
my father's been off
and remarried twice since then.

I wish she would take
the risk, right?

I mean,
it's what she has to gain.

- Not what she has to lose.
- What does she have to gain?

Peace. You know,
the chance of a relationship

with her son and grandchildren?

Have you actually said
those words to her?

That she could have...

What if you forgave her?

If that would be the peace,
that would...

- There are no magic words.
- There's gotta be a...

There's gotta be a...
There is though.

- No, no.
- There's gonna be a ma...

We don't know what it is.

There are no magic words.

People take this
to their deathbed.

And I hate...
I really would hate that

that would be our situation,

that she would take
this to her deathbed.

So Stephen,
you have been at this

since like 2008.

Do you ever think
about just moving on?

I feel like I have just, um,

have more resolve.

Like I want resolution
one way or the other.

Even if, you know,
if it's... a dead end
and nothing...

nothing to follow up on.

Okay. Well,
then get to that point.

'Cause I, you know...
I haven't given up on Jennifer.

I would never give up on,
you know,

heaven forbid something happened
to either of my daughters.

I would...
You just don't... You don't quit.

No matter what, you do not quit.

Yeah, I think I've...
For sure I've learned,

you know,
more about Jennifer than...

than I knew.

And a lot
of affirmations, right,

I always thought of,
you know, Jennifer, as a...

you know, a fighter.

She was not gonna back down
from anybody,

even our father
and Sharon reaffirmed all that.

And it makes me sad
for what I missed, right?

How would she have evolved?

What would have become,
you know, of her.

You know, beyond a 15-year-old.

JENNIFER, ACTOR: "I can't erase
the things I've done.

There is no place left to run.

Life is hard, but it goes on.

The times of the past
are forever gone.

I can no longer sit and dwell.
I have to leave my lonely shell.

Go on with my life. Start anew.

Live my days
as if they were my last,

without looking back
and forget the past."

Pandos.

Huh?
I'm just filming him.

Just me.

- Okay, awesome. Thank you.
- There you are.

This is the place
that our parents lived

in Williamsburg.

I haven't been back here
in a long, long time.

It was this last condo here
on the end.

This is... strange.

- Hi.
- Hi, there.

I used to live here years ago.

Yeah.

Yeah. My parents rented
it from you, probably.

- They may have.
- Yeah, Pandos.

I lived here in the...

My parents lived here
in the mid to late '80s.

That's right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. No, no, I'm sorry.

- Okay.
- Oh.

It's okay. All right, thank you.

I'm gonna see if he'll let us
come inside the condo.

Sort of being in here
makes me think about,

you know,
what happened that night.

I can hear it, you know,
as Sharon described my father

yelling at my sister,
"Get off the phone."

I can see him.

You know, I can just hear it.

- Hello.
- Hi.

- Hi, I'm Stephen Pandos.
- Stephen Pandos. Yeah.

Paul Fortin.

- Mr. Fortin,
nice to meet you.
- Yeah.

- Uh, thank you for...
- Yeah, okay.

- ...letting us in your home.
- Okay.

This is like, the master bedroom

- over here.
- Correct. Mm-hmm.

And I don't know y...
Whether your sister was here.

Yeah, she...
Her bedroom was here.

That's surprising.
Where was the parents'?

Upstairs.

So the parents were not
in the master bedroom.

- That's right. Right.
- Okay. Okay.

Well, then there's the room
right there.

The story goes
that my parents came in.

Uh, Jennifer's bed
was exactly there.

Um, and there was a cedar chest
at the bottom of the bed,

where they found the note,

and none of Jennifer's things
were missing.

All of her clothes were here.
Everything. Yeah, this is it.

Yeah, when did
the police come back?

Were you here when they had
the cadaver dogs

and stuff over here?

Uh, I was unaware

that this incident
ever occurred at all.

They brought the cadaver dogs
in and I said,

"Geez, after 17 years

what the hell
are they gonna find?"

- Right.
- They said, "Don't worry.

They can find ancient bones."
You know?

And they really never got a hit.

- Yeah.
- The only place they got a hit

was in the living room
where I keep candy, in a drawer.

And they wanted
to do the outside

and underneath the house.

Yeah, the cadaver dogs
that were here, you know,

underneath the house
where they all had positive hits

in the same place,
and you know, this was it.

Uh...

It's strange being in here.

God, the leaves
are really falling down

- like crazy now.
- Yeah.

Oh, it was windy, yeah.

My father would've brought
Jennifer's body in here

and the dogs got hits close up
to the front of the house.

Just on the other side
of those two sort of columns

towards the front that way.

Yeah, this is creepy.

Um...

- But yeah, that's...
- Yeah.

That's where it would have been.

Um...

This must be
very emotional for you.

Yeah, I could feel...
When we were coming in here...

I mean, I haven't been here
since... since my parents
moved away.

-Yeah.
-You know?
And as I'm driving in,

I can feel, you know,
my chest getting tight,

my heart is racing
a mile a minute right now.

On August 19th of 2009,

the Secret Service conducted
a polygraph on Ronald Pandos

who was in jail in Oklahoma.

The polygraph examiner
asked him,

"Did you cause
the disappearance of Jennifer?"

Ronald answered, "No."

And the polygraph examiner
advised

that he was showing deception.

Ron began to draw out
an overhead

of the area that they lived in.

He also put an X in the woods.

Ron began to say he was sorry
for what happened,

and told
the Secret Service agents

that if they could get a plane,

he would take them
to Jennifer's body.

And then changed his mind,

and said he didn't know
what happened.

Here, these are
interviews with my mother.

I got a call at six o'clock
on Wednesday night

that my father had failed
his polygraph.

At noon, the following day,
I had my mother in the car

and took her to Williamsburg

to finally talk
to the police department

about all this,

that there was just
too much information,

and too much was out,
that she had to tell the truth.

The following day,
Stephen brought Margie

to be interviewed.

And I spoke
with our commonwealth attorney.

He was willing
to provide immunity

for Margie on all charges
except for homicide.

Her telling the truth
with immunity

was an opportunity
for her to be in some control

of the events.

She knew what it meant.

That day was different.

Obviously, having great
expectations

because Margie
was coming up to tell us

what happened to Jennifer.