Buried in the Backyard (2018–…): Season 2, Episode 10 - Deep in The Cornfields - full transcript

Federal agents descend on a tiny Ohio town after a beloved girl goes missing. Fearing their cornfields harbor a terrible truth, theories abound and panic spikes in this serene community. ...

Federal agents
descend on a tiny Ohio town

outside of Toledo.

We had drones up.

We had helicopters up.

Fearing
these backyard cornfields

harbor a horrendous truth.

We noticed bags
upon bags of underwear,

stockings, tube tops.

We found
a fresh pile of dirt there.

It looked like a gravesite.

That was the start
of our nightmare.



Theories abound
and panic spikes.

Toledo is a major hub

for sex trafficking.

Somebody help!

We located zip ties,

duct tape,

handcuffs, handcuff keys.

It's a race against time.

At that point,
we knew something had happened

and it wasn't good.

The ultimate question is,

is where is she?

Though just
a half hour from Toledo,

Metamora, Ohio,
is a world away



from big-city troubles.

In every backyard,

it's cornfields
as far as the eye can see.

It's a great community.

We all have grown up together.

Our parents
have grown up together.

And we all are very friendly.

For the most part,

it's been a very quiet,
peaceful area.

That's one
of the things that I--

I loved about living
in a small town,

I could go to bed at night
and not have to worry

that I didn't lock my door.

But that all changed

for a lot of people.

In the summer of 2016,

those backyard cornfields

become a scene
of chaos and commotion.

I remember our news director

sending reporters
out to the area.

There were people

all over searching for a body.

Our volunteers have showed up,

spent days upon days

walking cornfields

arm in arm, hand in hand,

walking the aisles of corn.

We had drones up.

We had helicopters up.

There was quite
a bit going on.

As day turns to night,

police dogs hunt
for an unmistakable scent.

The cadaver dogs,

they're trained in the odor

of human remains.

And suddenly one of the dogs

appears to have hit
on something.

At that point,
I thought the dog

smelled a body.

I contacted
the sheriff to tell them,

"Get me some help.
This is what we have."

I just, I didn't have a--
a good feeling with it.

Who has been
so grossly disposed of

in this backyard cornfield?

Summer is in full
swing in Metamora

and life here
is pretty simple

during these carefree months.

A lot of family time,

a lot of friends coming over,

having cookouts, bonfires,

people out riding
their bicycles,

you really have to make your--
your own fun.

On this
particularly sultry afternoon,

the Joughin family
is winding down

after a busy week of travel.

We just got back
from a vacation,

kind of gotten unpacked

and my 20-year-old daughter,
Sierah,

was home from college.

She had plans of studying
abroad in the fall,

and I wanted to talk to her
a little bit about it.

But Sierah
has a totally different agenda

that afternoon.

She was very athletic.

And she had just bought
a bicycle,

but she really hadn't had
a whole lot of time

to use it.

So when she did,

she was so excited.

She had her shorts
and her shirt

and her hair all up
in a ponytail.

And she said she was heading

over to her boyfriend,
Josh's.

Josh lived maybe
seven and a half miles

from our house,

so I said,
"Okay. I'll see you later."

And she took off
and headed towards Josh's.

It was probably
about 10:15

that Josh calls me

and asks if Sierah
was at our house.

And I said,
"No, she's not at our house."

And he proceeded to tell me

that he's tried calling her
several times

and her phone goes
right to voicemail.

Mildly panicked,
Josh tells Sheila

that Sierah left his house
a little before 7

and he hasn't seen her since.

And instantly,
I know something's wrong

because Sierah
always answers her phone.

Sheila's first instinct

is to call her parents

who live down the road.

I called my mom.

And she said,

"Sierah's not here."

My dad was gonna go out
to the barn

and look for her bike.

Couple of minutes later,

my father stated that

Sierah's bike
is not in the barn.

That was the start
of our nightmare.

Worried she might be hurt,

Sierah's family and Josh

head out to look for her.

I just hopped
in my car and I was like,

I'm gonna start

just searching anywhere,
trying to find her.

My husband
and my son started driving

and looking on the sides
of the road.

I just assumed that maybe
somebody had hit her

and she had fell

into the cornfield

and she may have broken a leg.

But after an hour of searching,

Sierah's family
finds no sign of her

on those country roads.

So I went home

and I started
putting things out

on any kind of social media
that I could,

frantically asking out there

to her friends,
has anybody seen Sierah?

Has anybody heard from Sierah?

Nobody has seen or heard

from Sierah for hours.

Sierah's mom isn't wasting
another minute

and calls the police.

I got the call from a sergeant

telling me that we had a--
a missing adult female.

and the path of where
she was supposed to have taken.

At that point I thought,

"Well, I'm gonna do
some looking,

check along the-- the roads."

Back home, Sierah's family

prays for any news

and it's less than an hour

before they get a call
from a concerned neighbor.

She said that County Road 6

was blocked off.

And so, of course,
I go running out

when we see all the commotion,

and the officer
standing there is like,

"I can't tell you anything.

I can't let you go down there."

I felt this--
this fear, this panic

because I just wanted to know,

did you find her?

A lot of times,

it is somebody
that's close to the victim

that ends up
being responsible.

We thought if Josh
is missing his helmet,

then clearly Josh may have

some type of role in this.

Hours after
20-year-old college student,

Sierah Joughin,
vanished riding her bike home,

her worried-sick family
gets an alarming call

that police have blocked off
a nearby road.

They had blocked
the entire road

so nobody could get

to my mom's house
or my sister's.

We were frustrated

because they were not
telling us everything.

Whatever is unfolding

on that country road

has investigators
in the small town

rattled enough to enlist
the help of the FBI.

In the early stages
of an investigation,

we're still trying
to determine

exactly what happened,

so we would never want
to provide

a family member or anybody else

with any false information.

They promise to deliver

any information
as soon as they can.

Sleeping
was not even an-- an option.

I mean, everybody was just...

wide-awake and,

trying to think of things
that we should be doing.

The next morning,
Sierah's mom and aunt

are desperate and refused
to wait for answers.

My sister
was calling all local hospitals

to see if any unidentified
female had been brought in.

Call after call
turns up nothing

until a promising lead come in

from nearby Detroit, Michigan.

We had heard
that a young woman

who looked like Sierah
was in a hospital

and with no identification
at that time.

She had escaped
a moving car

and was badly hurt

and she had many broken bones.

A nurse asks Sierah's family

for identifying marks
on her body.

She always had the scar

on the back of her calf,

and she had her
bellybutton pierced.

The hospital said
the girl had a bellybutton ring

and she had a burn on her calf.

When they told us those things,

we really were hoping

that it would be her.

We found out that it wasn't.

When we heard
that it wasn't Sierah,

it was depressing.

It was, like, "Well,
then she's still out there."

And there's nothing
more frustrating

than knowing that your daughter
is out there somewhere

and you have absolutely no idea
where she's at

or what's being done to her.

Law enforcement

kept going over the fields

which is why we kind of

anticipated that maybe they...

were looking
for Sierah in there

even though they were
absolutely telling us

nothing at that point.

Later that morning,

solemn-faced investigators

show up at the Joughin house,

ready to reveal what happened

the night before
in a nearby cornfield.

When I come across
a couple cornstalks

that were broke down,

so I parked my car,
I got out,

and it appeared to me
as if there was

some sort of scuffle
inside that cornfield.

At that point,
I'd noticed a motorcycle track.

I backed out the way I came
so I didn't disturb anything.

That is when
I'd seen a reflection

and I realized
that that was a bicycle.

The bike
that they had discovered

in these cornstalks was purple.

And that was the color
of the bike

that Sierah
had been described as riding.

And investigators
have unearthed

more disturbing clues.

They also found
male sunglasses,

a pair of female sunglasses,

a sock that may have
contained blood,

and a screwdriver.

So they told us

that they had found the bike,

but they had not found her.

It was absolutely devastating.

We knew something
had happened and...

it's not looking good.

We suspected that Sierah

had been abducted
from that location.

With no time to waste,

investigators are unrelenting

in their questioning
of Sierah's inner circle.

They were asking us
questions about Josh.

Sierah and Josh

had been friends

since they were seven.

They started dating

their freshman year
of high school.

They were a very fun couple.

Traveling to different areas,
they went skiing,

and they just-- they were
a very active couple.

When high school was over,

Sierah went to UT

and Josh was going
to Bowling Green.

They had talked about marriage,

but Sierah wanted
to finish college first

before traveling
down that road,

but, they were
definitely very serious

about one another.

We learned that Sierah
had come over to Josh's house

in the early afternoon hours
on July 19th.

At about 6:30, Sierah decided
she was ready to go home.

She got back on her bike

and the two of them
traveled back

towards her residence.

Josh explained
that part of the reason

that he went with her
was that he was worried

about her traveling
on her bike by herself.

Josh got on his motorcycle

and he rode with her
for a couple of miles

and Sierah made him
turn around and go back

because she's
an independent person

and she's like,
"I'm gonna ride my bike home."

So, they parted ways

and he said he went back.

Josh says he went home

but nobody can ignore
the glaring evidence

of the motorcycle tracks
found in the cornstalks

close to Sierah's bike.

The troubling question is,

could they be Josh's?

Everybody is considered
a person of interest

until we rule them out.

Twenty-four hours

after the mysterious
disappearance

of twenty-year-old
Sierah Joughin,

detectives in Metamora, Ohio,

have eyes
on her boyfriend, Josh.

A lot of times, these crimes

are crimes of passion

and it is somebody
that's close to the victim

that ends up being responsible.

Will the motorcycle tracks

discovered near Sierah's bike

prove to be Josh's?

We weren't able
to tell of the make and model

from those tire tracks,
but they did seem consistent

with a motorcycle tire.

Investigators can't afford

to rule anything
or anyone out.

We began by trying
to determine,

the most likely path

that Sierah would've traveled
from Josh's residence

back towards her residence.

Simultaneously,
we're setting up a command post

where phone calls
are coming in.

It isn't long

before a promising clue
comes in.

A neighbor had advised
that on the night of the 19th,

as he was driving,
he observed a helmet

laying on the side of the road.

He told his son, he says,

"Jump out,
grab that helmet

and throw it
in back of the truck."

They went on home

and never gave it
a second thought.

Well, after he had heard
what was going on,

he'd checked the helmet.

He was able to notice
that it had some red staining,

which he believed to be blood.

He indicated that
the motorcycle helmet was found

in the general area
of where Sierah's bike

was also located

in the matted cornfield.

The helmet
was a key piece of evidence.

We thought if Josh
is missing his helmet,

then clearly Josh may have

some type of role in this.

In a tell-all moment,

detectives confront Josh
about his helmet.

Josh was able
to provide his helmet

and show it to investigators

and they were able to rule out

that this helmet that was found
along the side of the road

had belonged to Josh.

We were able
to determine that Josh

had returned back to his house.

Josh's parents saw Josh there.

It allowed us
to quickly rule out

the likelihood
that Josh was involved

in the disappearance of Sierah.

He was very shaken up

because he was a suspect,

which is really hard
for me to say

because he was never
a suspect in-- in our eyes.

We wanted to identify
the owner of that helmet,

as quickly as possible,

so it was submitted
for DNA testing.

Fearing there
may be a predator among them,

the entire town
of Metamora rallies

to find their hometown girl.

They met over
at Evergreen High School

and then the search parties
were formed to find Sierah.

Hundreds of people
who were helping us,

taking flyers
to different areas,

gas stations, rest stops,

anywhere we could
possibly put them.

Despite the outpouring

of community support,

there's still
no sign of Sierah.

Then, two days
into the investigation,

detectives receive
an unsettling call.

There was a tip that came in

to our tip line
that we put out

through the media
that there had been a van

speeding through the area.

The first place

that my mind took me

was that she was abducted

and she's in the back of a van

being taken somewhere.

It was awful.

It was absolutely awful.

Some people
in the community thought

maybe Sierah
had been abducted

and she was being
sex-trafficked.

Metamora, Ohio,

is located
just outside of Toledo.

Toledo is a major hub

for sex trafficking

because of I-75,

and because
of the Ohio Turnpike.

We've had several cases
in our area

where people have been...

taken from the area
and found in Detroit

or Las Vegas
or Pennsylvania.

Fortunately, the tipster

provides investigators
with a plate number.

We ultimately found out
where that van was,

we interviewed that person,

and the reason
that he was speeding

through the area
is that another vehicle,

potentially
one of the family members

who was out searching,

actually sped up behind them

which scared them a little bit
and they sped off.

It was quickly determined
that that individual

had nothing to do
with the abduction of Sierah.

More than 48 hours
into the investigation

and with no leads,
Sierah's despondent family

finds it harder
to keep hope alive.

As each day passed, you know

that the chances of survival

and the chances
of finding them alive

is-- you know,
just continues to go down.

The community
did a candlelight vigil.

There was tons
of people there.

I do believe
that they needed somewhere

to show all their emotions,

because Sierah
kind of represented

everybody's daughter,
everybody's sister,

she just wasn't
an all-American girl.

Sierah was absolutely
the center of everybody's world.

As a little girl,
she was happy and-- and funny,

but she also had
a lot of spunk,

and sass,
and she brought a lot of joy

and happiness to the house,

and to our lives.

- Great job.
- Great job.

Okay.

She just always
made me smile, you know.

Even when she did
something wrong,

she always made me smile.

She's always very adventurous.

When she got into high school,
she played volleyball.

She was one of those girls
that was very comfortable

and very confident.

I loved that about her.

Resolved
to give Sierah's family

the answers it deserves,

investigators continue

their door-to-door search.

And it brings them
to a farm not far

from where they found
Sierah's bike.

The property sat on...

probably a little over
an acre of land,

the property contained,

a small residence,

a trailer,
and then a large barn.

That residence
was owned by James Worley.

They began talking
to Mr. Worley

about the day
Sierah went missing,

and whether he had heard
or seen anything.

He had stated
that he had actually

been riding his motorcycle
in the area

of the abduction site,

that his motorcycle
had broken down

and he had lost a couple items,

those items being
a screwdriver

and a motorcycle helmet,

the same items found
at the crime scene.

It was a huge surprise
for somebody to place themselves

at the initial scene.

That, of course,
definitely set off

our alarm bells like crazy.

It's been
a heartbreaking 48 hours

since college student
Sierah Joughin went missing.

And after a rather
strange encounter

during a neighborhood canvass,

detectives are taking
a closer look

at longtime local
James Worley.

Mr. Worley told
investigators

that he had dropped his helmet

in the area where
Sierah had come up missing.

He said
he had lost items,

those items
being a screwdriver,

a fuse box,
and a motorcycle helmet.

The fact that one
of those items contained blood

definitely piqued
their interest.

Detectives also observed

some scratches on Mr. Worley.

This, of course, is consistent

with a possible struggle.

As soon as I heard
the information

that Mr. Worley provided,

the red flags went up.

Highly suspicious,

investigators return
to the station

where they run
a background check on Worley

and make a chilling discovery.

He had
a criminal history.

He had tried
to abduct a young lady

about 26 years earlier.

I was 26 years old.

It was the Fourth of July

and we were about to have
a neighborhood picnic.

My mom's making potato salad

and getting ready
for the picnic,

and I decided just to go
for a bike ride.

It was about 95 degrees
and humid,

and I did not have water

and proper things,

so I was thinking
about turning around

and going home,

but I could hear a car
coming behind me,

and I was thinking,
as soon as it passes me,

I'm gonna turn around
and go home.

But then I felt the impact

of a car hitting me.

And I flew into the ditch.

The person that hit me stopped

and he came out,
and he said, "Are you okay?"

And the next thing I know,

I got hit over the head
from behind.

And I knew immediately

that this was turning
into a nightmare.

He put a screwdriver
into my throat

and pushed me toward the car

and told me to get in
or he would kill me.

He put handcuffs
on my right wrist

and locked them.

He kept trying
to get my arms behind me

and all I did was hold
onto the steering wheel

as hard as I could.

And I was screaming

at the top of my lungs,

and there was nothing
but corn around.

I remember almost passing out
many times.

As Robin struggles
to stay conscious,

she sees something
in the distance

that stirs a pang of hope.

Right at that moment,

a motorcyclist came down
the road toward us.

And I was flailing
as much as I could

and tried to make him realize

that I was in distress
and I really needed help.

When he stopped,

I realized I had
a chance to live.

The man
on the motorcycle

startles Robin's attacker.

The next thing I know

is I don't feel him

holding on
to my right side anymore.

I was actually free
for a moment,

and I just started running
to the guy in the motorcycle

and said, "You need to help me

because this guy's
gonna kill me."

The good Samaritan
quickly takes Robin home.

I collapsed
like a ragdoll.

And he and my mom's boyfriend
called the police.

While Robin
is rushed to a nearby hospital,

the motorcyclist
takes police back to the scene.

The odd part about
the Robin Gardner case

was, upon law enforcement's
response to the area,

they actually located
Mr. Worley with his vehicle.

Mr. Worley remained
at the crime scene,

provided information
of who he was,

but also, of course,
told an alternate story.

He said
that I was riding my bike

and swerving into the road,

and that he could not
avoid hitting me.

His story of the handcuffs

were that I was hysterical

and he was going to handcuff me

to the steering wheel
of the truck

and go get help.

James Worley
is arrested.

And a jury doesn't buy
his far-fetched story,

finding him guilty
of abduction.

They sentenced him
to the state prison

in Mansfield, Ohio,

for six to ten years.

He got out three years later

on good behavior.

It was very scary
to have him free.

I was fearful
that he would strike again.

Now, 26 years later,

it looks like Worley
may have done just that.

In 2016, July,

I was living
in Washington state

and I got a text

from a former
next-door neighbor,

and he said,
"I'm so sorry, Robin,

if this is gonna bring up
bad memories,

but I thought
you might wanna know,"

and I learned
that it was daytime,

and it was July,

it was her riding her bike

next to cornfields,

and I was nauseous.

And I immediately
called the police.

Armed with the information

about Worley's dark past,

deputies race back to his home,

search warrant in hand.

It was very important
for us to move fast.

Sierah could still be alive,

that maybe
she is being held captive,

and there's a still a chance
in rescuing her.

Three days
into their investigation,

detectives have just learned

longtime local James Worley

did time for abducting

an Ohio woman 26 years ago.

The similarities between
the two incidents were clear.

You had two young females.

Both were taken
from their bike.

It was immediately decided

that we needed
to take a further look

at the Worley property
to find Sierah

as quickly as possible,

and to find her alive.

During the initial search
of the main house,

in which he shared
with his mother,

there was nothing
inside that residence

that appeared to be
out of the ordinary.

Undeterred,
detectives turn their attention

to Worley's vast backyard.

There, they find a small barn

with neatly stacked bales
of hay inside.

As we were removing
those bales of hay,

we located a small green crate,

probably six foot long.

Inside that, we noticed

the bags upon bags
of underwear,

stockings,

tube tops,

things like that
that were labeled

in plastic bags.

There were a pair
of purple panties

that appeared
to have blood on them.

Detectives
hold their breath,

dreading what they might
uncover next.

We noticed that
there was a piece of plywood

laying on the ground.

Upon removing
that piece of wood,

there was a small,

couple-cubic-feet freezer,

which had been buried
in the ground.

Extremely strange location
to have a freezer.

Upon opening it,

we noticed that the interior
of the freezer

had a strange odor
coming from it.

There was a real strong
chemical smell,

kind of like bleach,

and that's an indication
to law enforcement,

maybe the destruction
of evidence,

trying to get rid of something.

Partially hidden
by the hay bales

are more alarming items.

We located
an air mattress

that had several
different stains on it.

There were also zip ties,
duct tape,

handcuffs, handcuff keys,

numerous things
which were consistent

with items that could be used

in an abduction.

Every item taken
from the Worley property

was submitted

for DNA testing.

Worley tries
to explain away the items

as part of a pornography
business

he's trying to start.

But the evidence
is enough to arrest him

for the abduction
of Sierah Joughin.

We couldn't have

even wrapped our brain
around it,

being someone that lived

just miles from our home,

it just wasn't even something

that we would ever think.

But they still
don't know where Sierah's at.

Of course,
we have a million questions,

and half of them,
they won't answer.

The ultimate question is,

is where is she?

We continued
an extensive search

of the Worley property.

We brought in cadaver dogs
to sniff around,

we drained a pond,

we went through the attic,

removing insulation,
and things like that.

Every inch

of that property was searched.

We continued to expand
that search,

even across his property lines,

onto the neighboring properties.

We thought we're gonna
keep going

until we find Sierah.

We looked everywhere.

I was hoping we would find her

and everything would be good,

but as each day went on,
it was...

getting to the point
where it was highly unlikely

that we would find her alive
or at all.

We were just holed up
in the house

just waiting to hear any--
any information.

And I remember praying

that we find Sierah,

she comes home.

For three days,

weary detectives have been
working round the clock

when finally a call comes in

that may bring
this case to a close.

A farmer
was walking his field,

he observed a matted-down
area of corn.

He then proceeded
to take a further look

and observed a mound of dirt
built up.

He assumed it was
a potential gravesite

based on the fact
of what had been happening.

I remember them
talking to us

and saying that they had a area

they were looking at.

They weren't saying it yet,

but my gut

was that they had found her.

So now I'm just trying
to prepare myself.

And, you know, we waited.

It seemed like
we waited forever.

When investigators arrived,

they found a fresh pile
of dirt there.

It looked like a gravesite.

So, they immediately
started processing that scene.

Somebody had been out
in that field,

had dug a shallow hole,

but had stopped.

And so that did not result

in finding Sierah
at that location.

They proceeded
to canvass out

and search
the adjoining areas.

We had drones up,

I had--
the dogs were available.

We had helicopters up.

There was quite a bit going on.

That's where they located
another mound of dirt

with freshly matted corn

a couple hundred yards in.

At that point,
I thought the dog

smelled a body.

Crime scene investigators

began to excavate that area.

While continuing to dig,

investigators located something

that they immediately
recognized to be human.

They believed it was the body
of Sierah Joughin.

Three agonizing days
after hometown girl

Sierah Joughin disappeared
from Metamora, Ohio,

investigators believe
they've found her body.

They had located
something

that they immediately
recognized to be human.

In this small town

where everyone knows everyone,

investigators immediately
recognize the girl

in the shallow grave.

We clearly identified

the body of Sierah Joughin.

Sierah was found
in the bottom of the hole

with her hands behind her back,

handcuffed, her feet bound
to those handcuffs,

and a object in her mouth

that was lodged in such a way

that it restricted her airway

and that she was not
able to breathe.

It is believed
that that item

is what caused to her
to asphyxiate and die.

For this young girl,

for these to be
her last moments,

it's very heartbreaking
when you think about it.

Later that night,

Sierah's family gets the call

they've been fearing for days.

As soon as that phone rang,

everybody knew...

what the call was gonna be.

And the silence

that took place

when my husband
was on that phone

was silence like--

like I've never heard.

It was just this like deep,

dark hole that everybody
just stood in

as we waited.

And then, when he got off
the phone...

I mean, he didn't even have
to say anything.

He just looked...

and...

I mean, everybody just...

broke down.

The-- the sounds of despair...

just everybody was crying

and it just...

sounded like howls,

and just people

just fell to their knees.

It was the worst sound

I could ever hear,

just absolute despair.

There was some relief
in the fact that

we weren't searching
for her anymore,

that I knew she was home,

that,

as angry as I was at God

for letting this happen to her,

um, I knew
that she wasn't in pain.

Almost a month

after Sierah was abducted
and killed,

James Worley
is indicted on 19 counts,

including kidnapping
and aggravated murder.

This is when we removed
the bicycle from the corn.

Two years later,
he stands trial

and pleads not guilty
to all charges.

His head was hung low

and he just had this meek,

like, "poor me" kind of a
appearance when he came in.

And I thought,

you know, how dare you
come in here

looking like you're the victim

when you actually took
another person's life.

Sierah's family sits through

eight torturous days
of testimony

during which the prosecution
unfolds a terrifying story.

Sierah was riding
her bike

on this country road

and Mr. Worley was in the area.

It's believed
that he may have struck her

with his vehicle.

He may have struck her

with that helmet that we found

on the side of the road,

abducted her,

and put her in that barn.

There's DNA
that placed her there

because there was blood

in the purple panties

that were found in the barn

and the blood
that was on the helmet

was James Worley's
and Sierah Joughin's.

Once in his barn,
detectives believe

Worley assaulted
and murdered Sierah Joughin.

We believe that Mr. Worley

disposed of her remains

in this cornfield
on a rural road

as her family
was looking for her.

Robin Gardner
prays her story

will help put Worley
behind bars for good.

I was the last person
on the witness stand

for the persecution side

and he was 20 feet away
from me.

And when I exited
the courtroom,

I just started
shaking and crying,

and I could barely breathe.

The evidence against Worley

is overwhelming
and it takes a jury

just six hours
to reach a verdict.

The jury saw exactly

what we saw,

and he was found guilty
on all counts.

We were relieved.

We really did not see

how it could any other way.

But I wanted the people to say,

"Yes. You are guilty

of the crime
that you committed."

But it's small solace
for a young man

who never imagined
losing the love of his life

that day on a country road.

Josh is a little lost.

You just don't ever think

somebody's gonna be
ripped away from you

and it's just--

it's really hard
to pick up the pieces.

So, it's been difficult.

Like so many
of the best souls,

Sierah died far too young,

but her legacy lives on.

Her family made sure of that.

The night she went missing,

we were able to pull up

the sex-offender registry.

However, there is no
database in Ohio

that has past violent offenders.

So, we started working

on a violent-offender registry.

In the state of Ohio,
it's called "Sierah's Law."

Had we had something
that night,

that could've made
a world of difference.

It could-- you know,
it's life or death.

Sierah's name means mountains

and in her life

I felt that she moved mountains

and she will continue
to move them.

For more information
about Buried in the Backyard,