Burden of Proof (2023): Season 1, Episode 3 - Episode #1.3 - full transcript

- Stephen.
- Hey, Butch.

- How are you?
- Good. How are you?

- Yeah. Good seeing you again.
- Good to see you too.

So tell me what's going on.

The last time you and I spoke
about your situation...

- Mm-hmm.
- ...with your sister,

things were more
than a little unsettled.

Can you bring me up-to-date?

Yeah. The police department
lost the original case file.

Turns out that they found it.
Don't know what's in it.

They said
there was some new stuff



that they were following up on.

Is there a way for us
to get access to that...

To the new case file?

If it's
an ongoing investigation,

they will not release
any information

that would affect
the present investigation.

- Sure.
- After 31 years,

it is rare
for a police department

to reopen a file,

a case investigation,
unless they have...

very good reason to do so.

- Now, have you...
- Okay.

...reconciled with your parents?

No, no.



- No?
- No.

I keep coming back to this idea

of you getting your life
back together,

and... and one of the ways

to do that
is if there's a result,

but it's not
the one you anticipate.

What impact is that gonna have
on you?

I don't know.

So, Jennifer Pandos,

you knew her, correct?

Yes, I went to high school
with Jennifer Pandos,

we were in the same classes
in school.

Do you remember
when she went missing?

I can't say
that I remember the exact time.

I knew her a lot more
when we were in middle school

and grade school.

When she went missing,

everything that I knew
of at the time from school,

was that she had ran away.

Oh, okay.

Okay.

So can you start out

by just telling us a little bit
about Jennifer

and your friendship,
and who she was...

...you know, just describe her.

She was like a firecracker.

She didn't have fear.

She sometimes didn't have
a filter.

She would just say
whatever was on her mind.

So, if you don't mind

tell me your name
and your relationship

to the Pandos family.

My name is Kerrie Campbell,
and I was Jennifer's friend.

So we'd always hangout
at school together.

She would go
with the popular kids,

or with those
who weren't so popular

and I was definitely not one
in the popular ones

so it was nice
to have a friendship

with somebody
who didn't really care

if you were
with the in crowd or not.

And if you were having
a bad day,

one way or another,

she would get you to laugh
or smile about something.

I kinda miss that.

Jenny is somebody I knew
from high school days.

We had a good friendship.

We talked most days
on the phone.

You know, she was usually happy.

I know that sometimes though,
she... she struggled.

She didn't get angry often
but when she did,

you could kinda see
that little temper flare.

While Jenny and I
weren't a thing,

I'd be a fool to say
that I didn't have a little bit

of a crush on her, you know?
So part of my conversations

were always looking
for that "in."

But it mostly centered around...

No way. We did not.

...the clowning around. I mean,

it was one of the reasons
I liked talking to her,

you know? She'd make me laugh.

We did talk about the cars

that we liked at the time

and who we thought
we would marry.

Well, for a long time,

she thought
she was gonna marry Tony Tobler.

"A confession.

A confession from my heart.

I've really become
greatly inspired

by caring for you.
You're my fantasy.

One in which I've always
dreamed would come true.

You're my shining star,

my guiding light."

"Carrying me
through the bad times,

through day and night.

You're someone I can count on,
rely on and confide in.

You're my special friend.

What I've said, of course,
is all true.

There never will be,
or ever was,

anyone quite
as wonderful as you."

I lived in Newport News

and my mother lived
in Williamsburg and I

came to live with her,
and started high school

at Lafayette.

And the girls were,
like, crazy over Tony.

I remember that...
Everybody like...

Plus, he was a new guy,
and he was cute.

But the girls went nuts
over him.

We dated for a short time

and then stopped for...

- months.
- Hmm.

- And that's when he dated her.
- Yeah.

Infatuation.
Boyfriend-girlfriend type deal.

I think that's the way
she looked at it.

Um... I don't know
how he looked at it.

He was
two years older than she was,

and they didn't date
like we dated.

There were
no Saturday night movies,

or Friday night football games.

I just thought
it was hanging out at school.

As far
as a physical relationship,

I had no clue.

No clue.

They were home
from school, 2:30, 3:30,

somewhere in that neighborhood.
And I didn't get home

from work until 5:00.

He had gotten her pregnant,
and we had a... had an abortion.

She just came out and told me

what she and Tony had decided
that they wanted to do about it.

How did I react to it?

Shocked.

Pissed off.

Um...

Wanting to know
what in the world was going on

with both of them.

I did not want her to see Tony.
I did not want Tony to see her.

I knew that that was something

that was an embarrassment
for them.

Like, a major embarrassment
for them.

But...

I don't really think
he liked our relationship

before that happened.

A lot of it has...

The community
that they lived in,

like I said, was at the time,

was the premiere gated community
in Williamsburg.

And I lived in a trailer park.

Her parents did not like that.

Her dad
was a very controlling person.

Like, with the whole family.

- Hey, Wen. I'm Stephen, how are you?
- Hey, Stephen.

I'm doing good. Good to
see you. Give me a hug.

You guys didn't spend
a lot of time at our house.

Right?

- No...
- Yeah.

...not really. I don't know,
there's been a few people

I've been around in my life
that made me very uneasy.

Your dad,
he was one of them people.

Did she ever say anything
to you about...

problems that she had
with my father or mother,

or anything like that?

She had had an abortion.
And then things were...

You could tell
there was more tension

- in the house after that.
- Right.

From that point on,
he was gonna know

everything she was doing.

Of course,
her and Tony breaking up and...

Yeah, I don't remember too much

about that relationship
but was it volatile?

Was it... Or typical, sort of,

high school relationship
kinda thing?

- Yeah, typical high school.
- Yeah.

Tony had done moved on,
you know?

- Right.
- He had done moved on with Cori.

She was torn up
over breaking up with Tony.

And then,
we started dating again.

And...

it seemed fine.
I think it was harder on her

than we realized at the time.

When Cori and Tony
started dating,

it was like a challenge
for Jennifer.

She would walk by his classes.
She would go by Cori's classes.

She would do things...
...just to like,

aggravate her... Cori.

Um, or to make sure
that Tony knew

that she was around.

She would do s...

But that's... you know,

and she would tell me she would
do this stuff, you know?

Um...

She hated Cori.

I can't do this anymore.
I feel like I'm going crazy.

Fifteen is not
the nicest year of your life.

I do remember,
she just broke down

and said she didn't want
to be crazy.

Jennifer knew she needed help.
But she just wasn't ready yet,

or I had not found
the proper person

for her to talk to.

You could see
when your child's in pain.

You want to do everything
you can for them and...

that's my greatest failure
in life.

I was just shocked
that she left.

It just seemed like she had
a good group of friends

that she could've talked to.

I just remember thinking,

"What was so wrong
that you had to just go?"

What was your gut reaction

to the notion
that she had run away?

It kinda seemed like her.

It seemed definitely plausible

that she had decided
to go somewhere for a while.

How well do I think I knew her?

- I mean, I knew her.
- Or you think you know her.

Yeah. But I mean, like,
if you're asking me,

"Do I think it's possible
there was a whole another side

to her that I didn't know?"

I guess that's possible.
I don't know.

And I remember too,

at some point...

It might have been
in junior high.

I do remember Jennifer

running away once.
I don't know why though.

- I don't remember why.
- Right.

You know, just curious,

if you have anything
that you remember

from people speculating
what might've happened when...

about the time she disappeared
or anything?

I... I remember
when it all happened...

- Mm-hmm.
- And, you know, of course,

it was all the whisper
at school,

- you know, because the police were involved.
- Sure.

But I felt like it faded away
pretty quickly though.

Now that I'm older,
I'm thinking back,

"Why did it come off like that?"

To me, it should've been
search parties...

- Right.
- ...it should've been,

"This is not normal.
This is Williamsburg."

- Right.
- And I never got that feeling.

I never... You know? And...

Um...

Right,
because I think, you know,

typically, the parents
are the ones, you know,

who drive those kinda things
to happen.

- Right.
- Right?

And I don't know
that my parents ever...

made those things happen.

Right?
If that makes sense. Right?

Yeah, it does.

And honestly, it never
crossed my mind that way...

- Oh.
- ...till now.

I didn't write the note.

I didn't leave it in her room.

I didn't help Ron
remove the body from the house.

- Okay. So...
- I didn't help...

So Ron
removed the body from the house?

If he did, I didn't help him!

- Hey, what's up?
- How you doing?

Have you ever met Lena?

- Oh, no. Hi, Ms. Lena.
- Hi.

- Okay, great.
- Nice to meet you.

- Nice to meet you too. Thank you very much for...
- Oh, you're welcome.

She's gonna help
with the interview with Margie.

- Okay.
- She was

- a Navy interrogator.
- Mm.

She learned how to pick up
on deceptive behavior

and we're gonna team up,
and we've been discussing...

- Yeah. Uh-huh.
- ...our approach and everything.

Going down there to Charlotte...

- Mm-hmm.
- ...to interview your mom,

do you think she's willing

or have you talked
with her recently about it?

I think that
she'll do it. She's done...

everything
that I've ever asked her to do.

Evidently, she feels
in her mind she's already,

for the last 30 years,
had been telling what she knows.

There may be
some really stronger...

I think there are some
semantics to what she says

versus what she knows.
But she knows.

You know, in that interview,
there's this one section

of where she... Almost like
a Freudian slip... Mm-hmm.

...she's like "I didn't help Ron
remove the body from the house."

That's huge.
"I didn't help Ron..."

"I didn't help Ron
remove the body from the house."

Deception,
I look for it, and I hear it.

So, "I didn't" is indicative
of a truthful statement.

Now, not a hundred percent.
If she were to say, "I did not,"

- it's what we call a convincing language.
- Right.

But the fact
that it just came out,

"I didn't help Ron remove
the body..." Mm-hmm.

...seems that it could be
a very truthful statement.

I got in my notes,
in July 23rd, 2009, interview,

one of the questions asked,

"Where do you think
the body is?"

She said, "In the river,
mill pond, railroad tracks."

She made those...

Those were kinda weird comments.

I have had 22 years
to imagine where that child is.

From what I told you,
James River, the river po...

The mill pond,
the railroad track.

God only knows
where he could've taken her.

It was...

kind of a mixed feeling I guess,
once that case file was found.

On one hand, I was very excited
because I thought that

it may give us some further
avenues to investigate

and potentially bring it in
to the case.

On the other hand,
it kind of made us look stupid,

and not very professional.

Can you tell us where it was?

I can only tell you
where I was told it was.

It was found
in the records room,

in a box of old case files.

And how does
something like that happen?

I don't know.

I know the records
had been searched

at least three different times,

thoroughly, for this case file,
and it wasn't there.

And then it was.

It does.

I don't know
all of what Jake has done.

I don't know all of what
was in that case file.

I can see how that would be
confusing for Stephen.

Given that
the original case file

has reappeared,

what is your gut instinct now
about the case?

My 99-percent gut

is that the parents
are responsible for the note.

I challenge anybody
that has a teenager

that wakes up in the morning
and finds this crazy note,

that's not gonna
immediately call 911.

- She's never done this before.
- She has.

She ran away one time,
how long was she gone?

I don't know
but it is part of her...

- Where is she gonna go?
- So, it's not fair to say

she's never done this before.

It's not fair to say.

I just...

It doesn't make sense.

What doesn't make sense
usually isn't true.

We talked
to Stephen this morning,

he's wanting to call you today.

He wants to ask you
to do one more interview.

- With?
- So.

He's hired this PI.

I can't understand why he would
hire a private detective.

I don't know
what they could glean

that the police hadn't already.

Hello?

- Hey, Mom.
- Hi, Stevie.

- How are you?
- I'm all right. How about you?

I'm doing okay.

So on Saturday,
would you be open to talking

to Donnie Norrell
and his partner, Lena,

about Jennifer?

I have no problem with that.

Okay. Well,
I didn't think that you would.

But I just... I just have
to ask. That's all.

Okay.

All right, well, I miss you lots

and love you lots, and, um...

I'll uh...

- I miss you too.
- I know you do. I know you do.

I will talk to you
in a day or two.

Just let me work out
the details here, okay?

- Okay.
- Okay. Bye.

- Bye.
- Bye, Mom. Bye.

I don't know how long it's been
since I've seen him.

I really don't remember.

Oh, well...

When I prepare for an interview,

the question
is purposely phrased

- to elicit a narrative response.
- Mm-hmm.

And so, as she's giving me
a narrative response

and I'm detecting deception,
it helps me determine

whether or not
you're being truthful.

All right.

I'm gonna have a, you know,
a short chat with her before

and just encourage her
to tell the truth.

Are we gonna be
in a position to...

- Hmm.
- ...make any offer

about the family
being back together

or see your grandkids,
that kinda stuff?

I think the most honest answer
is I'm willing to do the work.

So we're on the way
to see my mother.

Maybe the first time
I've seen her in...

quite a few years.
I haven't been out to her house.

I can't even remember
the last time I was here.

I'm very nervous.

Last time I saw him,

he wouldn't even let me
touch him.

You know, first I want
to say that I believe in you,

I love you, you're forgiven.

You still have immunity.
And I'm here for you.

I'm with you.

I don't know what happened.

And... and you're rolling your
eyes and throwing your head.

All I know is that Jennifer
was not there

when I went downstairs.

It's not what you want to hear.

It's not
what you think you need.

But that's...

what I have.

The story, you know,
around Jennifer's disappearance

has... has got to make sense.
It's got to be logical and...

reasonable and...

It doesn't make sense.

After all your father
has put me through...

Mm-hmm.

...why in the world
would you think

I would protect him?
I have no reason to.

- I... Mom, I... You know...
- I have no reason to.

You know, I think Dad
was abusive, emotionally, to you

and I think it's just...
I think it's really complicated.

I've gone back in my mind,

I can't think of anything
that happened

that would make me suspicious.

Nothing.

Just try.

Think of everything
you have to gain.

I have your back.

And I always have.

- You know, we... I... We...
- I know that, and you've said that,

and it just makes me feel

like you're the judge
and the jury,

and you've convicted me

of something
that I haven't done,

that I have no knowledge of.

I want you and my grandchildren
back in my life.

I want to see you happy.

But I don't have it
to give you, Stephen.

- I just don't have it.
- Okay.

Now, if you want to convict me

and take me to James City County

and throw me in the jail
right now, today...

all I have to do
is make two phone calls.

- And...
- Don't...

- ...sign over any money I have to you.
- I don't want it.

You've threatened
to take my home.

- Me?
- Yes, you did.

- I don't... I don't need it, Mom. I...
- I know you don't need it.

- I don't need...
- But that's what you threatened to do.

Yes, I did look
at... at suing you and Dad.

But it was not over money.

It was just
because I wanted a judge

to say you did it
and you're responsible.

Nothing was ever about money.

- I...
- No, I know th...

What you were doing
was not out of needing money

- or wanting money. It was for punishment.
- It was just... No, Mom.

- Yes.
- It was... I just...

- Excuse me a minute.
- You know...

it's not about you,
it's about Dad. But...

It just hurts
that you don't believe me.

Just try, you know?

That's all I'm asking.

Okay?

I gotta go. This is just
too hard for me right now. Okay?

- I love you.
- I love you too. Okay?

All right. All right. Mm-hmm.

It's okay. It's okay.

Okay?

- Yes. Okay?
- Okay.

All right.
And just try, all right?

I love you lots.

- I love you.
- Okay.

Bye.

I know nothing makes sense.

Nothing has ever made sense.

It's just hard

to not be believed by anyone.

Let's get this over with, folks.

- Hi.
- Hey there. Hi.

Stephen just wants
to know the truth.

- No matter what, a son...
- "No matter what...

- No...
- ...I've got your back."

- No matter...
- "You know, you got immunity."

I am tired of hearing
those phrases.

- I want to help Stephen.
- Well, good.

But I think he's so far
down that rabbit hole

that he's never gonna
come out of it.

Why don't we just start off
with you bringing us

back to that night?

She went to her room

and when I got ready
to go upstairs,

I knocked on her door
and went in, and...

Describe that to me.

Where was she in her bedroom?
What was she wearing?

She was wearing a night shirt
that had a panda bear.

Her bed was on that wall

and there was a table
beside her bed.

In that "L," that's where
she was standing.

And I remember that,

that picture is engraved
in my mind.

- I will never lose it.
- Yeah. And?

And...

what happened between the time
that I saw that note

and what was said
between Ron and I at that time,

I couldn't tell you.

So, how did you feel
when you found

and read that note?

Panic.

I was afraid of her anger...

if we didn't do
what we were asked to do.

Mm-hmm.

Several days later, I noticed

the Venetian blind
on that Palladian window

in the front was raised.

Somebody was looking out
and had raised the little slat

in the blind,
and it hadn't gone down.

There's a lot
of accusations that Ron

- had something to do with it.
- Right.

How do you feel
about those accusations?

I live in two worlds.

- My child disappeared.
- Mm-hmm.

- She left home.
- Mm-hmm.

And then...

the world
that her father killed her.

I knew the world

- that my daughter disappeared...
- Mm-hmm.

...that she'd left home...

far longer...

than the world
of Ron killing his daughter.

I never suspected that.

Never.

I do wanna ask you
this one question.

- Margie, did you write that note?
- No.

No, I did not.

Could you have been
put into a position

where Ron said,
"I'm gonna go to jail for this

- if you don't help me out."
- No, no.

- I don't know. I mean, I'm just...
- No, never, never, never, never.

Whose idea was it

to not call
the police right then?

I can't say
that it was mine totally,

- but I know I had a voice in...
- I got you.

Did you ever see the note
and go,

"Ron, who the hell
is this father figure?"

- "Do you have any idea?" You never?
- No. No.

- You never did that?
- No. No. No.

- See, I'm a little...
- I know you're confused and...

I am confused
because I'm trying to think of...

I'm trying to put my shoes...

- into your shoes.
- It fits the bill of not being

- what the normal would do.
- Right.

That has been thrown
in my face a kazillion times.

And I'm not really sure
about this.

What would you want us
to tell Stephen today?

That your mother
honestly doesn't know

what happened to your sister.

The thing is,
with this case, we don't have

concrete evidence or facts
to use in it.

We have a lot of hearsay,

we have things
that have been retracted,

we have been told something,
then said,

"Well, that wasn't the case."
So when we interview people,

the only thing
we have to go by is,

and especially for me,
is detecting that deception.

She remembers everything
up, you know, to the point,

and she cried every time
she pictured Jennifer.

Like, "I remember
she was standing here,

this is what she was wearing,"
to the detail,

and she would cry every time
she had that last image.

And she was very emphatic
with us, saying,

"I did not see her after that."

I believe she's being
a hundred percent truthful.

That was the last time
she had eyes on Jennifer.

So then, how does my mother
fail a polygraph?

And was it a failure,
or was it inconclusive?

One thing that I remember
off the thing from my mother

was like, you know,
deception indicated.

- It wasn't inconclusive.
- Oh, right.

But then you got
to go to the specific questions.

- There's so much you need to know.
- Yeah, I know.

I thought
the handwriting on the note,

that your father was...

- He was ruled out.
- ...ruled out,

- but the mother wasn't.
- That's right.

And that's why I just feel like
she wrote the note.

Right.

My top of the list is still
Ron accidentally killed her.

And I would believe that.
And that is, you know,

consistent
with my father saying,

"Hypothetically, I hit her
and she fell and hit her head."

That's my top
of the list, really.

Yeah, top of the list,
but I do...

I believe your mom
is telling the truth

with not knowing what happened.

I believe your mom
doesn't know what happened.

But I... I believe she helped
comprise the note.

Stephen has put a lot of stock

in the fact that his mother sat
for a polygraph examination,

and it showed deception.

But when you read the summary,

Jennifer had
a dental appointment

and Mrs. Pandos
could not remember

whether the dental appointment
was the tenth or the ninth,

and so she was confused
on those dates.

But this disappearance
occurred in 1987

and this polygraph examination
was done in 2009.

I'm gonna be confused.

Now, part of the problem
with a polygraph examination

and one reason that they
are notoriously unreliable

and are not admissible evidence,

when there's confusion
in the brain,

blood pressure goes up.

And that'll cause the needle
to register.

It is merely an indication
that there's been a change

in this person's
physiological makeup

at that moment.

Take everything in the note
that implicates the parents.

And I know that the profiler

who did an analysis
of the note...

looked at all of that.

Let me make reference to that.

"Staging a runaway
or abduction...

leads me to no other conclusion

than the writer of the note
either perpetuated..."

"...the writer
of the note either perpetrated

or assisted in, before or after,
the crime of abduction

and, or murder
of Jennifer Pandos."

"Based on this premise,

your note is most likely
written by someone

who would immediately come
under scrutiny by the police."

What else can I tell ya?

It's a staged crime scene.

This person who wrote the note
is familiar with Jennifer

and her routine,
and her schedule,

and things
that were important to her.

Can you talk a little bit
about that in general?

Yeah, I can talk
about that in general.

From a profiling standpoint,
if I were to create a profile,

say, if I were to look
at a crime scene

and come up with a profile
of the unknown offender,

I would need
a lot of information.

I don't want to know anything
at all about any suspects

because that's gonna bias
my opinion.

What I... What I wrote there
is based on what's written.

Nothing else. You know,
again, it's written in a vacuum.

Yeah.

Right.

"If your note
contains personal information,

your most plausible offender

would be one
or both of the parents."

Yeah, at the time

that I was called in
to the investigation,

they were the only suspects.

The main reason
why I pointed to them

was because there
was no one else about.

I guess
what I should've written,

in hindsight... hindsight now is,
"The perpetrator was someone

who had a very close
relationship to Jennifer."

And left it
somewhat ambiguous like that.

Think it's wrong. Was it this?

It was the statement
I made, right?

- Is that what you were reading here?
- It... Yeah, it was that margin

that the parents
were probably the offenders.

Well, I mean, what you wrote is,

"If your note was fabricated
to misdirect the investigation."

We don't still know
that it's fabricated.

- Right.
- Is there a possibility that Jennifer was there

when the note was being written?

- It... It's possible...
- I mean,

it's still a possibility...

And she's provided
the information.

...that she left that night
on her own,

thinking it was only gonna be
for a few days

and something took place.

"Your most plausible offender

would be one
or both of the parents."

You know, I've read this
dozens of times and it's...

haunting.

He doesn't come out and say
that we wrote the note,

but that's his implication.

And it didn't happen.

I can understand how Stephen,
in reading this,

would feel the way
he does towards me but...

these people don't know me.

The mistake that Stephen made

is he's keyed in on his parents.

And then, Jennifer disappears
with this cockamamie letter,

well, then you have
a profiler saying,

"Well, it's someone close
to Jennifer who wrote it,

and there's no one else,
so it's probably the parents,"

so he...
He just latched onto that.

Well, he's painted himself
into a corner 'cause now...

I guess he hates his parents
and his parents hate him.

I don't know.

Can I keep this one?

I just like the picture
of my mom.

You know, she was so young.

You know, baby me.

But I like the picture
of my mom.

Evidently, there's a new lead

that the police are following.

The investigator
that did the analysis,

he's back and a little bit off
the direction of the parents,

- maybe he knows something that we don't know.
- Okay.

Yeah, I'd like to know. I wonder
what is making him back off.

Can we rule suicide out?

But her body
would've been found.

What, is she gonna trek
across the United States

- to commit suicide?
- Yeah, true.

Yeah. We would expect her
to turn up somewhere.

Take this scenario,

tell me what you think.

Dad gets into it with her.

And then she says, "That's it,
I've had enough of this crap."

- And she calls somebody.
- Mm-hmm.

Hey, you have to come get me.

I... I can't stay here anymore.

They have to somehow
get past the security gate.

And so, a person
couldn't come through and say,

"Hey, I'm here
to see Jennifer Pandos.

She lives at blah, blah, blah.
Here's a..."

They'd have to call the house.

- Really? Wow.
- Yes.

What about this?

Friend parks his car
outside the community,

walks, sneaks through the woods,
or whatever, walks to the house,

they walk through the community
to his car outside the community

so the car never has to come
through that gate.

But the location
of the Pandos residence

from the gate is,
I'm just gonna guess,

over a mile.

What if Jennifer
made the phone call?

Remember, she used
to babysit for that guy, right?

- Yeah. Mm-hmm.
- Called someone and said,

"In twenty minutes
or half an hour,

meet me at the 7-Eleven
or wherever, I'll be there.

Pick me up, I'm done."

Then leaves the house,

walks by herself
through the path

and meets whoever's
picking her up.

What about the note?

Jennifer didn't write the note.

The note's written
out of a notebook

that's there at the scene.

See, this is why the note

gets me
in almost every scenario.

Just say this scenario.
Someone parks,

walks through the woods
to the house

to come to get her, okay?

- Or she just meets him.
- I...

Yeah, but the note is there.

Investigator Rice.

Hey, Jake. Stephen Pandos.

I was just following up to see
if there was any kind of update

- as to what you were doing?
- Not at this time.

- You know, we're still working...
- Yup.

...with what we're working on,

but there's nothing
that I can...

- divulge or give out.
- Okay.

So, no...

Having a wide open,

"Here's every step
that I'm doing,"

I just can't do it.

I've let him know
everything that's going on,

it's 'cause
it's an open investigation,

and he's running a...
his own side investigation.

And that's the hard part for me.
I mean, yeah, he calls

but until I have something
that's in concrete,

that I can give him
the information,

right now, I gotta keep cards
to myself.

I just hope I catch who it is.
That's what I'm after.

For me to sit here and say

that I have no suspicions
on the parents would be a lie.

I still have suspicions.

There is still some things

that you're like,
"Why'd this happen?"

If I had to personally
describe this case,

it's just like a roller coaster.

That's the way it's went
over these years.

We've had times
where we were down,

there's nothing, and then,

we have something
to work that file.

Now we start to get somewhere.
And now, it's got other suspects

so maybe we need
to do a loop back.

So if the police are looking

at other suspects now,
who do you think that would be?

The only one whose name
I've heard before was, um...

a guy, last name "Hendrix,"
I can't remember his first name.

Kerry, maybe...

Um...

who apparently, my sister
and some of her friends

used to babysit for.
I don't know him.

So I have no idea.

In 2006, I was given information

that Jennifer and another friend
had gone

to a adult male's home
to babysit for him.

And he would often
provide them with alcohol.

As I started to look
into that individual's history,

I found that he
had been convicted

of kidnapping,
and attempted kidnapping.

I had a few locations on him.

I had gone to the residence
that I believed he was at

and tried to locate him there,

but I was never able
to speak with him directly.

Kerry Hendrix was a older man.

There was mention in the note
of a father-like figure.

He was arrested
for attempted abduction

of a female on a college campus
there in Williamsburg.

A peer said it was
a sexual assault attempt.

He would be somebody

that you would definitely
have to look at

as a possible suspect.

This is Robin.

Hey, Robin.
My name's Donnie Norrell.

We're talking about anything
you can remember

in reference to Kerry Hendrix.

- And, um...
- Yes.

...back in 1990.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

- Well, thanks again, I appreciate it.
- All right, no problem.

- All right, take care.
- Thanks.

- Bye-bye.
- All right. Bye.

He would be somebody

that you would definitely have
to look at

as a possible suspect.

Is he the father-like figure
that she was talking about?

Could he have written the note?

All of those things
are possible.

Hello?

Hey there.

Could we interview you?

Yeah, it's been
like, a long time though.

That's okay.
This was the last place

that we had for you,
and so we took a chance

and drove up here.

Hmm. So, tell me
how you know Jennifer Pandos?

It seems to me,

I was newly divorced,
and I had won custody

of my then one-year-old son.

I'm thinking that I saw
an advertisement somewhere,

like a teenager

looking to babysit,
make money on the side.

And did you ever
suspect that the cops thought

that you may be somebody
who was harboring her?

Yeah, yeah. I believed that
about her father and the police

the whole time. I mean,
I was their prime interest.

Um...

And, you know... And I could
understand if she was...

If I was one of the few people
in her life

that was outside the family, I'd
be... I'd be looking that way too.

Well we've been
following every...

- Yeah.
- ...potential lead

- or anybody that had...
- Hmm.

...any interactions
with her at all, we've been...

You know, in Williamsburg...
Williamsburg's a small town

and I had a troubled childhood,

like I said, I was
in trouble a lot.

And so they always had me
and my little circle of friends

as number one suspects
in anything that happened

in that town. These girls
were getting raped in college

and we were suspects. And we,
you know, won the case.

And so, you know,
they build this image

of you based on their...

their suspicions
and it sticks with you.

Yeah, we did see...

- Yeah.
- ...on your record

that you had been convicted
of attempted abduction

- and they... What was that about?
- Abduction, yeah.

And see they thought
that was a rape attempt.

It was attempted robbery.

I was addicted
to cocaine at the time

and I tried to snatch a purse
which wound up being a backpack.

And, you know,
because she thought

that I was trying
to push her in the car,

they thought that I was trying
to abduct her.

There was no evidence
of no abduction.

Cori, who's the girl

that came over
to your house with Jennifer,

she said that you actually
gave them alcohol.

No. No.

No. I would
never do it. Never do it.

Would you
have considered yourself

a father figure
for Jennifer at all?

I probably was
at the time because,

you know, I was a father.

And I mean,
that's why she was there.

To babysit my son.

And she was telling me
some stuff about her family life

where she was having problems.

She didn't really say
what the problems were,

she just said she
didn't feel comfortable there

and she was looking...
Didn't know what to do.

And she was thinking
about running away.

And I cautioned her
against that.

And then she just...

Never came around anymore.
And her father called

and thought that she
was staying over there.

So that's when I kinda learned
that she went missing.

And I kinda figured
that she ran away,

that's what
she had been talking about.

Well, he called first.

And I said, "You know,
if you wanna come by and look,

look for yourself, that's fine,
but she's not here."

And he did. He seemed
like a nice-looking guy,

and I think he was just there
very briefly.

But he was very cold. And, um...

like "push away"
kind of personality,

at least with me.

And I... I understand
why he felt like

I was harboring a girl there
or something. But, uh, um...

seemed like the police had...
They came by or at least called,

I can't remember. I don't think
they came by, they called.

And I told them
the same thing. And...

that you're more than welcome
to come by and look anytime.

She's not here, you know?

What you doing?

Hey, Andrew. This is Jake.

I'm just making sure

that you got that stuff
that I sent you.

Reference, "Pandos."

Right. I mean, that's my belief
and that he had more to do

than what he's telling us.

Yeah, I mean, that's my thing.

He might be having us
on to a different location.

Okay. So we're going down
the right road.

All right, bye.

I mean, right now, I'm waiting
on lab results to come back.

I will say that.

'Cause I don't want anyone
to know who might be

or might not be on the radar.

If they get tipped off
that we're coming,

it can prepare them
for what they wanna tell us.

So I would rather...
me know and that's it.

And me make that surprise visit.

Are you hopeful still?

I'm very hopeful.