1 00:00:01,043 --> 00:00:04,881 [♪ gentle music playing] 2 00:00:04,965 --> 00:00:08,385 [narrator] Julie Gonzalez is destined to write her own story. 3 00:00:09,469 --> 00:00:12,597 A story she hopes has a fairytale ending 4 00:00:12,681 --> 00:00:17,477 with a happy family, a fulfilling career, and true love. 5 00:00:17,561 --> 00:00:20,230 ♪ What I'm thinking, what I'm saying ♪ 6 00:00:20,313 --> 00:00:23,066 She was a straight-A student. 7 00:00:23,149 --> 00:00:25,318 She didn't have a problem meeting boys. 8 00:00:25,860 --> 00:00:27,696 [narrator] And when she falls for a guy, 9 00:00:27,779 --> 00:00:31,032 her old-fashioned love letters are epic. 10 00:00:31,408 --> 00:00:33,493 She wanted to become a journalist. 11 00:00:33,577 --> 00:00:36,705 I knew she was gonna make something of herself. 12 00:00:37,414 --> 00:00:39,666 [narrator] But Julie stuns everyone 13 00:00:39,749 --> 00:00:42,711 when she posts that she's running away with some random guy. 14 00:00:42,794 --> 00:00:43,879 [notification chimes] 15 00:00:45,380 --> 00:00:48,091 [Samantha Petri] She has a kid, she has a job, she has a family here. 16 00:00:48,174 --> 00:00:50,010 Something's wrong. 17 00:00:51,136 --> 00:00:53,388 [Dora Soto] The police thought, oh, well, this was just a mom 18 00:00:53,471 --> 00:00:54,973 taking off to party for the weekend. 19 00:00:55,515 --> 00:00:57,559 [narrator] Then, a discovery. 20 00:00:57,642 --> 00:00:59,311 [indistinct police radio chatter] 21 00:00:59,394 --> 00:01:01,396 [Sgt. John Brooks] I honestly was spooked. 22 00:01:01,479 --> 00:01:03,189 It just looked like a shallow grave. 23 00:01:04,190 --> 00:01:05,609 [radio crackling] 24 00:01:05,692 --> 00:01:08,653 [narrator] In the end, it's Julie's own words 25 00:01:08,737 --> 00:01:12,073 that will help catch her killer. 26 00:01:13,950 --> 00:01:16,328 [speaker 1] She solved her own murder from beyond the grave. 27 00:01:16,411 --> 00:01:19,539 [speaker 2] The fitness app on the phone, it was overwhelming evidence. 28 00:01:19,623 --> 00:01:22,792 ♪ I've been haunted by the visions ♪ 29 00:01:22,876 --> 00:01:26,129 ♪ That I've seen with my own eyes ♪ 30 00:01:26,213 --> 00:01:29,174 ♪ And the only way to find you ♪ 31 00:01:29,633 --> 00:01:33,261 ♪ Is to go beneath the lies ♪ 32 00:01:35,430 --> 00:01:37,807 [speaker 3] She did help catch this killer. 33 00:01:41,603 --> 00:01:42,854 [♪ gentle music playing] 34 00:01:42,938 --> 00:01:46,858 [narrator] Austin, Texas is a city of infinite possibilities. 35 00:01:46,942 --> 00:01:49,653 It has music and art and the freedom 36 00:01:49,736 --> 00:01:52,197 to be whoever you choose to be. 37 00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:54,616 [♪ upbeat music playing] 38 00:01:54,699 --> 00:01:57,619 What better place for 21-year-old Julie Gonzalez 39 00:01:57,702 --> 00:02:00,121 to try to make her dreams come true? 40 00:02:03,458 --> 00:02:05,877 But one sunny spring morning, 41 00:02:05,961 --> 00:02:08,755 Julie neglects to pick up her baby girl Layla 42 00:02:08,838 --> 00:02:11,508 from her mother-in-law's house. 43 00:02:11,591 --> 00:02:16,429 Her sister Samantha immediately feels that something is off. 44 00:02:16,513 --> 00:02:20,433 [Samantha] Julie and I have always been really close growing up. 45 00:02:20,517 --> 00:02:24,354 She is seven and a half years older than me, 46 00:02:24,437 --> 00:02:27,023 so she was always looking out for me. 47 00:02:30,235 --> 00:02:31,903 My name is Samantha Petri, 48 00:02:31,987 --> 00:02:35,490 and Julie Ann Gonzalez was my older sister. 49 00:02:35,991 --> 00:02:37,200 [clapboard clacks, muffled] 50 00:02:38,159 --> 00:02:42,956 On that day, she hadn't texted me, she hadn't called me. 51 00:02:43,373 --> 00:02:45,750 [phone line ringing] 52 00:02:47,002 --> 00:02:49,170 [narrator] Julie is from a tight-knit family 53 00:02:49,254 --> 00:02:52,966 and is always in touch with her sister, her mom Sandra, 54 00:02:53,049 --> 00:02:54,426 and her aunt Dora. 55 00:02:57,178 --> 00:03:00,473 [Dora] My name is Dora Soto, and I am Julie Gonzalez's aunt. 56 00:03:02,475 --> 00:03:04,227 Friday was Julie's day off, 57 00:03:04,311 --> 00:03:07,647 and she would, uh, call me Friday mornings. 58 00:03:08,607 --> 00:03:09,858 She would tell me, 59 00:03:09,941 --> 00:03:12,152 "Aunt Dora, I'm gonna go do this," or "I'm gonna go do that. 60 00:03:12,235 --> 00:03:14,529 What do you wanna do for lunch? You know, I'm free." 61 00:03:16,031 --> 00:03:17,824 That was our Friday. 62 00:03:19,618 --> 00:03:22,078 When she didn't call me, I thought it's kind of weird. 63 00:03:23,038 --> 00:03:25,832 After lunchtime, that's when I called Sandra. 64 00:03:28,376 --> 00:03:31,338 [Sandra Soto] My name is Sandra Soto, and I'm Julie Ann's mother. 65 00:03:32,214 --> 00:03:34,591 I'm waiting for a phone call from Julie, 66 00:03:34,674 --> 00:03:36,176 but she never called me. 67 00:03:36,259 --> 00:03:38,261 [thunder rumbling] 68 00:03:38,929 --> 00:03:41,014 I started to worry on Friday evening, 69 00:03:41,097 --> 00:03:43,391 and I asked Samantha to call her. 70 00:03:44,476 --> 00:03:46,561 [Samantha] I wasn't getting any answer from her phone. 71 00:03:46,645 --> 00:03:49,189 When I looked on her MySpace account, 72 00:03:49,272 --> 00:03:51,358 all I saw were these posts. 73 00:03:53,818 --> 00:03:55,904 [narrator] The posts don't sound like the Julie 74 00:03:55,987 --> 00:03:58,240 they know and love. 75 00:03:58,323 --> 00:04:01,451 I read that, and I was thinking, that's really weird. 76 00:04:02,786 --> 00:04:04,704 But it wasn't until I read the next one. 77 00:04:04,788 --> 00:04:05,830 [notification chimes] 78 00:04:07,415 --> 00:04:09,459 We didn't know what was happening 79 00:04:10,835 --> 00:04:13,380 but I knew something was wrong. 80 00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:15,423 [thunder rumbling] 81 00:04:15,507 --> 00:04:17,634 [♪ dramatic music playing] 82 00:04:20,095 --> 00:04:22,847 [narrator] Julie grew up in a big Tejano family 83 00:04:22,931 --> 00:04:26,935 living in the hill country, 45 minutes outside Austin. 84 00:04:27,686 --> 00:04:30,605 Life centers around the family general store 85 00:04:30,689 --> 00:04:31,940 and roadside bar. 86 00:04:35,694 --> 00:04:38,863 [Sandra] I was 18 when I had Julie. 87 00:04:38,947 --> 00:04:41,408 Her father and I didn't have a relationship. 88 00:04:43,326 --> 00:04:47,330 When Julie was born, I was in love. 89 00:04:47,831 --> 00:04:49,374 I love being a single mom. 90 00:04:51,918 --> 00:04:54,212 [Juan Soto] She was our first granddaughter. 91 00:04:54,921 --> 00:04:58,049 She spent a lot of time with me and my wife. 92 00:04:59,801 --> 00:05:01,344 You love your sons and daughters, 93 00:05:01,428 --> 00:05:04,472 but when it's in regards to grandchildren, 94 00:05:04,556 --> 00:05:06,766 that's a different kind of love. 95 00:05:06,850 --> 00:05:10,270 [♪ upbeat music playing] 96 00:05:10,353 --> 00:05:13,940 [narrator] Julie has bigger dreams than working in the family business. 97 00:05:14,024 --> 00:05:16,484 She wants to be a journalist, 98 00:05:16,568 --> 00:05:20,488 and when she's 16, she moves to the big city of Austin 99 00:05:20,572 --> 00:05:22,407 to make her dreams come true. 100 00:05:23,491 --> 00:05:25,160 She lives with her aunt Dora 101 00:05:25,243 --> 00:05:28,747 and right off the bat meets a guy, George, 102 00:05:28,830 --> 00:05:31,291 and spends more time passing love notes 103 00:05:31,374 --> 00:05:33,877 than she does writing for the school newspaper. 104 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:35,295 [school bell ringing] 105 00:05:35,378 --> 00:05:38,215 Her best friend Natasha isn't impressed. 106 00:05:38,757 --> 00:05:40,967 [Natasha Navarro] Julie told me when she met George, you know, 107 00:05:41,051 --> 00:05:42,677 she met some guy, 108 00:05:42,761 --> 00:05:45,305 she really likes him, he's really sweet. 109 00:05:45,388 --> 00:05:48,266 And then I met him, and I'm like, I could throw you into next week. 110 00:05:49,726 --> 00:05:53,939 My name is Natasha Navarro, and I am one of Julie's friends. 111 00:05:54,022 --> 00:05:56,066 ♪♪ 112 00:05:56,149 --> 00:05:58,818 [narrator] Julie's cousin Michael is also surprised 113 00:05:58,902 --> 00:06:00,320 by Julie's new love. 114 00:06:00,403 --> 00:06:03,406 George isn't your typical Prince Charming type. 115 00:06:04,199 --> 00:06:06,243 I just remember seeing him and just being, like, 116 00:06:06,326 --> 00:06:07,702 this dude's a nerd. 117 00:06:07,786 --> 00:06:09,704 Like, what are we doing here? 118 00:06:11,957 --> 00:06:13,250 My name is Michael Soto. 119 00:06:13,333 --> 00:06:17,337 Julie was my cousin, basically like my sister. 120 00:06:17,963 --> 00:06:19,965 We were always with each other. 121 00:06:21,258 --> 00:06:22,759 [♪ tense music playing] 122 00:06:22,842 --> 00:06:24,761 [narrator] Things move fast. 123 00:06:24,844 --> 00:06:28,473 Within two years, Julie is married and pregnant. 124 00:06:28,557 --> 00:06:30,141 ♪ Living in a big brown box ♪ 125 00:06:30,225 --> 00:06:32,727 [narrator] But by the time her baby Layla is walking, 126 00:06:32,811 --> 00:06:37,274 the marriage falls apart, leaving Julie a single mom, 127 00:06:37,357 --> 00:06:41,111 wondering if her fairytale ending will ever happen. 128 00:06:41,194 --> 00:06:43,572 ♪ Take me now ♪ 129 00:06:43,655 --> 00:06:45,490 ♪ Take me all the way ♪ 130 00:06:45,574 --> 00:06:48,034 ♪ Show me love without a name ♪ 131 00:06:48,618 --> 00:06:52,122 [narrator] While Julie dreams of finding her real prince, 132 00:06:52,205 --> 00:06:55,750 her family can't imagine her leaving her daughter behind. 133 00:06:57,377 --> 00:07:00,338 Twenty-four hours after she goes missing, 134 00:07:00,422 --> 00:07:02,799 Julie's MySpace posts have stopped 135 00:07:02,883 --> 00:07:06,761 and her family still can't reach her by phone or text. 136 00:07:07,637 --> 00:07:10,098 That's when her friend Natasha tries calling. 137 00:07:10,724 --> 00:07:12,851 [Natasha] And it rang and it rang and nobody answered. 138 00:07:12,934 --> 00:07:15,812 So that right there was kind of, like, suspicious to me, 139 00:07:15,896 --> 00:07:17,314 'cause Julie always answered my calls. 140 00:07:18,523 --> 00:07:19,649 [notification chimes] 141 00:07:19,733 --> 00:07:21,902 But I got a text message, like, immediately after 142 00:07:21,985 --> 00:07:23,361 and it was like, "Hey, what's up?" 143 00:07:23,445 --> 00:07:26,031 And I tried calling again and she didn't answer. 144 00:07:26,114 --> 00:07:27,240 [notification chimes] 145 00:07:29,784 --> 00:07:31,286 And it was like, "Hey, 146 00:07:31,369 --> 00:07:32,829 "I really don't feel like talking on the phone right now. 147 00:07:32,913 --> 00:07:34,789 Like, what's up?" And I said, "Nah, I need you to call me. 148 00:07:34,873 --> 00:07:36,416 "I have some really good news. This is-- 149 00:07:36,499 --> 00:07:37,918 "Like, something crazy's going on. Like, call me, 150 00:07:38,001 --> 00:07:39,294 I need to-- 'cause I wanna talk to you." 151 00:07:39,794 --> 00:07:41,963 And so I called again and she didn't answer. 152 00:07:42,047 --> 00:07:43,340 [notification chimes] 153 00:07:45,759 --> 00:07:47,552 Then I'm like, what the fuck is going on? 154 00:07:47,636 --> 00:07:49,262 James? Like, to Colorado? 155 00:07:49,346 --> 00:07:51,681 Like, she's never even been to Colorado. 156 00:07:51,765 --> 00:07:54,517 Like, she didn't travel, she didn't do much. 157 00:07:55,518 --> 00:07:56,728 What the fuck is in Colorado? 158 00:07:57,437 --> 00:07:59,689 [narrator] Has Julie been abducted 159 00:07:59,773 --> 00:08:03,735 or has her fairytale dream taken over her senses, 160 00:08:03,818 --> 00:08:07,489 making her run off with James in search of true love? 161 00:08:08,907 --> 00:08:12,994 Julie's Aunt Dora finally breaks down and calls the police. 162 00:08:13,078 --> 00:08:14,162 [phone line ringing] 163 00:08:26,383 --> 00:08:28,635 [narrator] A responding officer follows up 164 00:08:28,718 --> 00:08:30,262 and does what anyone would do. 165 00:08:30,971 --> 00:08:33,598 They look at Julie's social media. 166 00:08:33,682 --> 00:08:35,475 What they see makes them think 167 00:08:35,559 --> 00:08:38,395 that Julie is just another runaway mom. 168 00:08:41,064 --> 00:08:44,818 But they still send an officer to speak to Julie's family. 169 00:08:45,485 --> 00:08:47,571 The police were questioning us, 170 00:08:48,697 --> 00:08:51,950 asking us why do you think Julie would leave? 171 00:08:52,033 --> 00:08:54,286 I don't know. She has a kid, she has a job, 172 00:08:54,369 --> 00:08:55,453 she has a family here. 173 00:08:55,537 --> 00:08:58,081 We don't think that she left. We think something's wrong. 174 00:08:58,164 --> 00:09:01,084 [♪ dramatic music playing] 175 00:09:05,881 --> 00:09:08,758 [narrator] Forty hours after Julie goes missing, 176 00:09:08,842 --> 00:09:12,554 Dora takes matters into her own hands. 177 00:09:12,637 --> 00:09:16,308 [Dora] I skipped out on work, and I, I went to drive her route 178 00:09:16,391 --> 00:09:18,059 that she would take to work. 179 00:09:20,562 --> 00:09:22,397 [voice breaks] I was just lookin'. 180 00:09:24,900 --> 00:09:27,777 Lookin' in the streets for her. 181 00:09:28,862 --> 00:09:31,448 I went to her job, to the Walgreens that she worked at. 182 00:09:31,948 --> 00:09:33,366 They didn't know anything. 183 00:09:34,743 --> 00:09:38,079 I was driving back home, and there's a Walgreens 184 00:09:38,163 --> 00:09:40,040 near my home. 185 00:09:40,123 --> 00:09:43,460 I looked over, and her car's in the, in the parking lot. 186 00:09:46,338 --> 00:09:49,466 And so I pulled in there real fast and I got out. 187 00:09:50,634 --> 00:09:53,887 I had her picture with me, and I showed it to the cashier 188 00:09:53,970 --> 00:09:56,431 and I asked him, I said, "Have you seen this girl?" 189 00:09:56,514 --> 00:09:58,767 He says, "You know, she looks a little familiar, 190 00:09:58,850 --> 00:10:01,102 but I couldn't tell you for sure." 191 00:10:01,186 --> 00:10:02,812 I said, "Well, whose car is sitting out there? 192 00:10:02,896 --> 00:10:04,147 Did anybody tell you about that car?" 193 00:10:04,231 --> 00:10:07,359 He said, "They told me that it broke down and they were coming back." 194 00:10:09,444 --> 00:10:10,654 [Dora sobs] 195 00:10:10,737 --> 00:10:14,699 So I went to the car, and I called Sandra 196 00:10:15,992 --> 00:10:17,911 and I said, "Sandra, I found her car." 197 00:10:17,994 --> 00:10:20,789 [sobbing] 198 00:10:23,917 --> 00:10:26,044 [narrator] They found her car. 199 00:10:26,127 --> 00:10:27,462 But where is Julie? 200 00:10:28,463 --> 00:10:31,800 Has her fairytale dream turned into a nightmare? 201 00:10:37,305 --> 00:10:40,308 [♪ tense music playing] 202 00:10:40,392 --> 00:10:43,937 [narrator] Romantic at heart, Julie Gonzalez has been missing 203 00:10:44,020 --> 00:10:46,481 for almost 48 hours. 204 00:10:46,898 --> 00:10:50,277 Her MySpace posts say she's fallen for a new guy 205 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:52,821 and is spending the weekend with him, 206 00:10:52,904 --> 00:10:55,949 but her family thinks it's totally out of character. 207 00:10:59,578 --> 00:11:01,913 I thought, this was not my sister. 208 00:11:04,124 --> 00:11:06,251 And that something bad had happened. 209 00:11:09,212 --> 00:11:11,131 [narrator] When Julie's family finds her car 210 00:11:11,214 --> 00:11:14,092 abandoned in a Walgreens parking lot, 211 00:11:14,175 --> 00:11:17,512 they immediately call the police to come investigate. 212 00:11:21,391 --> 00:11:24,603 Okay, we got the Walgreens up here on the left. 213 00:11:25,979 --> 00:11:27,731 [Brooks] I'm John Brooks. 214 00:11:27,814 --> 00:11:31,610 I was a patrol officer with the Austin Police Department in 2010 215 00:11:31,693 --> 00:11:34,446 when I was dispatched to speak with a family 216 00:11:34,529 --> 00:11:36,156 regarding a missing person. 217 00:11:38,658 --> 00:11:41,536 So when I walk up to Sandra and Dora, 218 00:11:42,871 --> 00:11:45,707 they ask me to open the car and look inside, 219 00:11:45,790 --> 00:11:47,083 but I can't. I can't do that. 220 00:11:47,167 --> 00:11:50,921 I can't just go inside a car because somebody wants me to. 221 00:11:51,004 --> 00:11:52,172 I have to have more. 222 00:11:53,006 --> 00:11:55,300 We get calls like this all the time 223 00:11:55,383 --> 00:11:58,303 where somebody is looking for somebody they can't find, 224 00:11:58,386 --> 00:12:00,347 and there's usually a pretty good explanation for it. 225 00:12:00,931 --> 00:12:02,933 [narrator] But Julie's aunt and mom 226 00:12:03,016 --> 00:12:04,935 are desperate for answers. 227 00:12:05,018 --> 00:12:06,519 [Dora] Sandra spoke to Detective Brooks. 228 00:12:06,603 --> 00:12:08,688 She told him we're suspicious. 229 00:12:09,689 --> 00:12:12,984 Her ex-husband George lives two, three blocks from here. 230 00:12:13,485 --> 00:12:14,986 He still has the baby. 231 00:12:16,029 --> 00:12:17,614 We wanna know what's going on. 232 00:12:18,573 --> 00:12:20,242 [narrator] The family knows that George 233 00:12:20,325 --> 00:12:23,245 and Julie's love story took a rough turn, 234 00:12:23,328 --> 00:12:26,539 but they pray it hasn't turned tragic. 235 00:12:26,915 --> 00:12:30,210 ♪ I gotta think of an escape, I gotta think of a plan ♪ 236 00:12:30,293 --> 00:12:32,712 [narrator] One year before Julie disappears, 237 00:12:32,796 --> 00:12:34,798 after she has baby Layla, 238 00:12:34,881 --> 00:12:37,551 she makes the difficult decision to set her dreams 239 00:12:37,634 --> 00:12:39,553 of becoming a journalist aside 240 00:12:39,636 --> 00:12:41,555 in order to support the family. 241 00:12:42,264 --> 00:12:44,307 [Dora] George stopped working, 242 00:12:44,391 --> 00:12:47,519 so he was now in charge of taking care of Layla 243 00:12:47,602 --> 00:12:49,729 while Julie worked for Walgreens. 244 00:12:50,397 --> 00:12:52,732 That's when things drastically changed. 245 00:12:54,985 --> 00:12:56,736 ♪♪ 246 00:12:56,820 --> 00:12:59,531 When Julie comes home from work, 247 00:12:59,614 --> 00:13:01,950 the house isn't clean. 248 00:13:02,033 --> 00:13:04,077 The baby stuff is everywhere. 249 00:13:04,869 --> 00:13:08,999 Layla hasn't, like, her diaper hasn't been changed in hours. 250 00:13:11,459 --> 00:13:14,796 There'll be times when I'd come over and guess who's playing video games. George. 251 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:16,381 [gunfire on TV] 252 00:13:17,173 --> 00:13:19,467 [narrator] In October of 2009, 253 00:13:19,551 --> 00:13:22,262 after seven months of feeling neglected, 254 00:13:22,345 --> 00:13:25,098 juggling her job and the baby, 255 00:13:25,181 --> 00:13:28,184 Julie decides it's just not going to work 256 00:13:28,268 --> 00:13:32,147 and moves back home to her grandparents' place with Layla. 257 00:13:32,230 --> 00:13:35,984 ♪ I know I can find a way out ♪ 258 00:13:37,235 --> 00:13:40,405 Julie has been missing now for 50 hours. 259 00:13:40,488 --> 00:13:43,325 Officer Brooks hears the family's suspicions 260 00:13:43,408 --> 00:13:44,743 about her ex-husband, 261 00:13:44,826 --> 00:13:48,204 but he also thinks they could be overreacting. 262 00:13:49,623 --> 00:13:51,833 If something bad had happened to Julie 263 00:13:51,917 --> 00:13:53,251 and George was involved, 264 00:13:54,044 --> 00:13:57,339 it seems kind of reckless that he would park her car 265 00:13:57,422 --> 00:13:59,758 so close to his house. 266 00:14:01,509 --> 00:14:04,179 [narrator] Officer Brooks is not a detective, 267 00:14:04,262 --> 00:14:07,265 but he agrees to make the short drive over to George's house 268 00:14:07,349 --> 00:14:09,142 to put their minds at ease. 269 00:14:10,352 --> 00:14:12,896 [Brooks] I asked George if we could come in 270 00:14:12,979 --> 00:14:14,314 and look around. 271 00:14:16,733 --> 00:14:20,487 [narrator] George tells Officer Brooks the same story he told the family. 272 00:14:21,154 --> 00:14:24,199 The last time he saw Julie was at the custody exchange 273 00:14:24,282 --> 00:14:25,951 on Friday morning. 274 00:14:26,034 --> 00:14:29,246 He says she asked him to take the baby for the weekend. 275 00:14:30,580 --> 00:14:32,707 [Monica Flores] George De La Cruz informed Officer Brooks 276 00:14:32,791 --> 00:14:36,169 that Julie Ann showed up to his front door 277 00:14:36,253 --> 00:14:40,048 and indicated that she needed some time away from her life 278 00:14:40,131 --> 00:14:42,509 and that she was having some difficulties. 279 00:14:42,592 --> 00:14:45,428 Julie would never turn to him for help or assistance. 280 00:14:45,512 --> 00:14:47,013 They weren't even getting along. 281 00:14:47,889 --> 00:14:50,183 [narrator] Officer Brooks looks around the house 282 00:14:50,267 --> 00:14:51,893 for any sign of Julie. 283 00:14:52,561 --> 00:14:54,771 I'm looking for anything obvious. 284 00:14:54,854 --> 00:14:59,609 Blood, uh, obvious bloody weapon, signs of a disturbance, 285 00:14:59,693 --> 00:15:03,029 and surely enough, I did not find anything. 286 00:15:04,364 --> 00:15:06,783 [narrator] Satisfied that Julie isn't here 287 00:15:06,866 --> 00:15:08,243 and the baby looks fine, 288 00:15:08,326 --> 00:15:11,329 Officer Brooks is just about to leave 289 00:15:11,413 --> 00:15:13,873 when something catches his eye. 290 00:15:14,457 --> 00:15:16,042 [Brooks] While we're searching the house, 291 00:15:16,126 --> 00:15:19,045 you can see in the backyard there was a wooden shed 292 00:15:19,129 --> 00:15:22,257 on the right, and when we opened the door 293 00:15:23,717 --> 00:15:25,343 there was actually room to walk in... 294 00:15:25,427 --> 00:15:27,804 [indistinct radio chatter] 295 00:15:29,055 --> 00:15:33,018 ...and there was a section of the wood flooring had been cut out. 296 00:15:33,101 --> 00:15:34,311 There was fresh sawdust. 297 00:15:35,353 --> 00:15:39,149 It was about a four-by-four-foot section of flooring that was loose. 298 00:15:41,109 --> 00:15:43,653 So we lifted that floorboard up 299 00:15:43,737 --> 00:15:46,072 and lo and behold, 300 00:15:47,490 --> 00:15:49,451 a trench, 301 00:15:49,534 --> 00:15:52,621 four feet long and about two feet deep. 302 00:15:54,039 --> 00:15:58,168 It literally looked like a shallow grave underneath the shed. 303 00:16:00,128 --> 00:16:02,547 [narrator] Are the family's suspicions right? 304 00:16:04,049 --> 00:16:08,220 Did George kill Julie and try to bury her in his backyard shed? 305 00:16:08,929 --> 00:16:11,223 [Brooks] So when I asked George what it was, 306 00:16:11,306 --> 00:16:15,060 he said that somebody had tried to dig a trench 307 00:16:15,685 --> 00:16:19,898 to put plumbing in to turn that shed into a residence. 308 00:16:22,067 --> 00:16:25,070 At this point, I've done all that I can do 309 00:16:25,153 --> 00:16:28,323 and the detectives are gonna have to be the ones to follow up. 310 00:16:28,406 --> 00:16:30,659 ♪♪ 311 00:16:33,078 --> 00:16:34,955 [Rogelio Sanchez] My name's Rogelio Sanchez, 312 00:16:35,038 --> 00:16:38,416 and I was the lead detective assigned to the Julie Gonzalez case. 313 00:16:40,377 --> 00:16:46,132 We didn't have any solid evidence that anything bad had happened to Julie. 314 00:16:46,633 --> 00:16:51,555 What they did have was texts saying that she had voluntarily left. 315 00:16:51,638 --> 00:16:52,847 [notification chimes] 316 00:16:54,891 --> 00:16:58,812 [narrator] Days go by and there's still no sign of Julie. 317 00:16:58,895 --> 00:17:02,315 No more posts and no more texts. 318 00:17:02,399 --> 00:17:04,943 We're reaching out to APD, 319 00:17:05,026 --> 00:17:08,780 begging them to help us, 320 00:17:08,863 --> 00:17:12,784 because her estranged husband, George, 321 00:17:13,410 --> 00:17:15,370 why isn't he being questioned? 322 00:17:16,037 --> 00:17:20,333 [narrator] Detectives can't help wonder if the family just doesn't like George, 323 00:17:20,417 --> 00:17:22,752 and that no one could be good enough for someone 324 00:17:22,836 --> 00:17:25,046 as special as their Julie. 325 00:17:25,130 --> 00:17:28,300 George didn't have any kind of extensive criminal history. 326 00:17:28,383 --> 00:17:31,011 There weren't any domestic issues that would've suggested 327 00:17:31,094 --> 00:17:35,307 that George was capable of doing anything serious to her. 328 00:17:36,266 --> 00:17:38,602 [narrator] But as the last person to have seen Julie, 329 00:17:38,685 --> 00:17:41,646 George may have information on the man 330 00:17:41,730 --> 00:17:44,649 who was clearly implicated from the start. 331 00:17:44,733 --> 00:17:47,110 The mysterious James. 332 00:17:47,193 --> 00:17:50,447 So on April 6th, George De La Cruz was brought 333 00:17:50,530 --> 00:17:53,116 to the police station and interviewed by Detective Scott. 334 00:18:11,968 --> 00:18:14,429 [narrator] But George is wrong. 335 00:18:14,512 --> 00:18:16,932 Police discover through Julie's family 336 00:18:17,015 --> 00:18:21,019 that there is another man, not this mysterious James, 337 00:18:21,102 --> 00:18:24,022 but someone who recently came back into her life. 338 00:18:24,564 --> 00:18:28,735 Their story began four years before she even met George. 339 00:18:30,070 --> 00:18:31,529 ♪ Maybe we can roll up ♪ 340 00:18:34,032 --> 00:18:35,951 ♪ Maybe never go out ♪ 341 00:18:36,034 --> 00:18:38,328 When Julie was working at the taqueria... 342 00:18:38,411 --> 00:18:41,289 ♪ You could be mine for a lifetime ♪ 343 00:18:41,373 --> 00:18:46,086 [Sandra] ...she started to see a boy named Aaron, 344 00:18:46,169 --> 00:18:49,714 and he was in his 20s and Julie was still a teenager. 345 00:18:49,798 --> 00:18:51,883 ♪ Tell me in a whisper ♪ 346 00:18:54,094 --> 00:18:57,681 My mother was concerned that Aaron might take 347 00:18:57,764 --> 00:19:01,184 Julie's attention away from school. 348 00:19:01,268 --> 00:19:03,562 [school bell rings] 349 00:19:03,645 --> 00:19:06,606 I was totally against it. I was like, this dude's old. 350 00:19:06,690 --> 00:19:09,776 Like, what are you doing talking to an old guy? We're fuckin' kids. 351 00:19:10,819 --> 00:19:13,238 [Sandra] I told him, "Nope, it can't happen. 352 00:19:14,698 --> 00:19:17,367 You and Julie just cannot date." 353 00:19:17,867 --> 00:19:20,996 [narrator] The Soto family fires Aaron 354 00:19:21,079 --> 00:19:23,915 and Julie's first true love drifts away. 355 00:19:25,083 --> 00:19:28,753 But Julie's love story won't be erased so easily. 356 00:19:28,837 --> 00:19:32,591 ♪ Someone pour me a drink right now ♪ 357 00:19:32,674 --> 00:19:35,802 Four years later, Aaron is back in her life 358 00:19:35,886 --> 00:19:38,763 after a chance meeting at a grocery store, 359 00:19:38,847 --> 00:19:41,975 and it's right around the time that Julie moves out 360 00:19:42,058 --> 00:19:43,643 of George's house. 361 00:19:43,727 --> 00:19:48,857 She comes out, and she's excited but quiet about it. 362 00:19:48,940 --> 00:19:50,358 What got into you, Julie? 363 00:19:51,067 --> 00:19:53,778 She said, "I just saw Aaron." 364 00:19:54,446 --> 00:19:57,407 And my head whipped around so fast. 365 00:19:57,490 --> 00:19:58,909 What? 366 00:20:00,785 --> 00:20:03,079 [Natasha] When Julie ran into Aaron again, 367 00:20:03,163 --> 00:20:05,206 she called me being, like, super excited. 368 00:20:05,290 --> 00:20:07,959 So I'm just like, okay, but you're in the middle of a divorce. 369 00:20:09,252 --> 00:20:12,547 [narrator] The investigators discover that Julie spends the night at Aaron's 370 00:20:12,631 --> 00:20:14,382 right before she goes missing. 371 00:20:15,300 --> 00:20:17,219 They bring him in for questioning. 372 00:20:35,528 --> 00:20:38,198 [narrator] But a few hours after they kiss goodbye for the day, 373 00:20:38,281 --> 00:20:40,492 -[notification beeps] -...Julie sends a text. 374 00:20:41,576 --> 00:20:44,788 Aaron got some texts from Julie's phone during the time that he was at work, 375 00:20:44,871 --> 00:20:47,499 and I wanna say this was probably before lunchtime. 376 00:20:59,844 --> 00:21:00,887 [notification dings] 377 00:21:13,191 --> 00:21:16,778 [Flores] Officers ask to see the text messages on Aaron's phone, 378 00:21:16,861 --> 00:21:19,698 and Aaron, he said he deleted those text messages. 379 00:21:20,699 --> 00:21:22,993 So certainly that was a big red flag there. 380 00:21:23,743 --> 00:21:26,037 [narrator] Investigators wonder if Aaron found out 381 00:21:26,121 --> 00:21:28,373 that Julie was seeing James, 382 00:21:28,456 --> 00:21:30,667 killed her in a fit of jealous rage, 383 00:21:30,750 --> 00:21:33,712 and then went back to hide his tracks. 384 00:21:33,795 --> 00:21:35,422 [Natasha] Aaron was genuine when I met him. 385 00:21:35,505 --> 00:21:37,257 He was very respectful. He was very nice. 386 00:21:37,716 --> 00:21:40,802 Who's to say, you know, what does a murderer look like? 387 00:21:40,886 --> 00:21:41,887 What does a rapist look like? 388 00:21:41,970 --> 00:21:43,763 ♪♪ 389 00:21:43,847 --> 00:21:45,932 You never know what anyone is freaking capable of. 390 00:21:46,016 --> 00:21:47,851 ♪♪ 391 00:21:52,188 --> 00:21:55,692 [♪ gentle music playing] 392 00:21:59,195 --> 00:22:02,198 ♪ See the streets they're about to break ♪ 393 00:22:02,282 --> 00:22:04,451 [narrator] Julie Gonzalez has spent her life 394 00:22:04,534 --> 00:22:06,119 expressing herself through writing. 395 00:22:07,162 --> 00:22:09,706 But after four weeks of silence, 396 00:22:09,789 --> 00:22:13,168 her family fears they will never hear from her again. 397 00:22:15,921 --> 00:22:18,840 Every single day, Layla would ask for her mom. 398 00:22:20,425 --> 00:22:21,551 That broke my heart. 399 00:22:24,054 --> 00:22:26,890 [narrator] All police have are social media posts 400 00:22:26,973 --> 00:22:28,892 and text messages that paint the picture 401 00:22:28,975 --> 00:22:32,562 of a hopeless romantic whose life is on the rocks. 402 00:22:33,230 --> 00:22:37,192 All evidence suggests she's run off with a guy named James. 403 00:22:37,275 --> 00:22:39,694 It's plausible that Julie may have met somebody 404 00:22:39,778 --> 00:22:41,905 that swept her off her feet, 405 00:22:41,988 --> 00:22:44,115 you know, despite her relationship with Aaron. 406 00:22:44,199 --> 00:22:46,243 And it could have been something spontaneous. 407 00:22:46,826 --> 00:22:50,413 [narrator] Julie's family is suspicious of her ex-husband, George, 408 00:22:50,497 --> 00:22:54,501 but police have pivoted to an even more compelling suspect, 409 00:22:54,584 --> 00:22:56,711 her current boyfriend, Aaron. 410 00:22:57,170 --> 00:22:59,839 [Sandra] I didn't think that he was a bad person. 411 00:22:59,923 --> 00:23:02,217 I just didn't like him for Julie. 412 00:23:02,300 --> 00:23:04,970 ♪ This is the end ♪ 413 00:23:05,053 --> 00:23:08,181 [narrator] Suspicious texts all deleted? 414 00:23:08,265 --> 00:23:10,934 And a sudden breakup? 415 00:23:11,017 --> 00:23:14,020 This could hold the key to a potential motive, 416 00:23:14,104 --> 00:23:17,190 jealous rage over a new man in Julie's life. 417 00:23:18,858 --> 00:23:22,237 But suspicion and theories are not enough, 418 00:23:22,320 --> 00:23:24,656 and the investigation goes nowhere. 419 00:23:24,739 --> 00:23:26,741 ♪♪ 420 00:23:29,035 --> 00:23:33,373 Sandra's sister Margarita is done sitting around doing nothing. 421 00:23:37,627 --> 00:23:39,212 [Margarita Soto] My name is Margarita Soto, 422 00:23:39,296 --> 00:23:41,214 and I'm Julie Ann Gonzalez's aunt. 423 00:23:41,298 --> 00:23:43,842 ♪♪ 424 00:23:43,925 --> 00:23:47,429 When we realized that the cops weren't really searching for her, 425 00:23:47,512 --> 00:23:49,764 that's when I came up with the idea that, okay, 426 00:23:49,848 --> 00:23:52,392 I'm gonna get a hold of all these news stations 427 00:23:52,475 --> 00:23:54,936 and let them know there's a missing mom, 428 00:23:55,020 --> 00:23:57,564 that we need to find her, and we need to blast her face out. 429 00:23:59,441 --> 00:24:02,402 Austin mother vanishes with no explanation. 430 00:24:03,278 --> 00:24:05,030 [Dora] Hoping that she'll contact one of us, 431 00:24:05,113 --> 00:24:08,408 hoping she'll stop by, hoping someone hears something. 432 00:24:09,117 --> 00:24:11,161 We had tip lines set up. 433 00:24:11,244 --> 00:24:12,829 Family members and the father of her child 434 00:24:12,913 --> 00:24:14,873 are now pleading for her to come home. 435 00:24:14,956 --> 00:24:19,836 We had private detectives searching the streets of Austin. 436 00:24:20,212 --> 00:24:22,923 I want to see my daughter. I want to know where my daughter is. 437 00:24:23,215 --> 00:24:24,591 That's my little girl. 438 00:24:26,593 --> 00:24:27,969 You need to find her. 439 00:24:28,762 --> 00:24:31,723 We first got the attention of local media 440 00:24:31,806 --> 00:24:33,850 and then national media. 441 00:24:34,476 --> 00:24:37,854 [narrator] The media blitz helps get Julie's face out there, 442 00:24:37,938 --> 00:24:39,773 but it doesn't bring Julie home. 443 00:24:42,776 --> 00:24:44,611 One more week passes. 444 00:24:45,070 --> 00:24:47,572 No word, no peace. 445 00:24:49,449 --> 00:24:51,743 Just when the family is about to give up hope, 446 00:24:52,244 --> 00:24:54,788 Aaron comes forward with a piece of evidence 447 00:24:54,871 --> 00:24:58,208 that corroborates what the family has been saying all along. 448 00:24:59,459 --> 00:25:03,755 An old-fashioned love letter, in Julie's own handwriting. 449 00:25:04,798 --> 00:25:08,260 [Sanchez] Aaron eventually turned over a note 450 00:25:08,343 --> 00:25:10,345 that Julie had written him, 451 00:25:10,428 --> 00:25:13,014 obviously before she left that morning, 452 00:25:13,098 --> 00:25:14,891 talking about how much she loved him 453 00:25:14,975 --> 00:25:19,020 and how she couldn't wait to get married and have children. 454 00:25:19,646 --> 00:25:21,106 You know, that's not a relationship 455 00:25:21,189 --> 00:25:24,109 that Julie just would've abandoned all of a sudden. 456 00:25:25,652 --> 00:25:27,153 [narrator] With no trace of James, 457 00:25:27,237 --> 00:25:30,156 and this new profession of love for Aaron, 458 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:32,450 the family is even more convinced 459 00:25:32,534 --> 00:25:34,953 that George knows more than he's letting on. 460 00:25:35,829 --> 00:25:40,208 I knew that George was hiding something. 461 00:25:40,292 --> 00:25:43,169 We didn't know what, but he was hiding something. 462 00:25:45,463 --> 00:25:48,216 [narrator] Five weeks after Julie goes missing, 463 00:25:48,300 --> 00:25:52,137 an unexpected phone call provides a new opportunity, 464 00:25:52,220 --> 00:25:56,141 a chance to pressure George into admitting what he knows. 465 00:25:56,224 --> 00:25:57,851 The Dr. Phil show called me 466 00:25:59,519 --> 00:26:00,979 and asked me, "How can we help you? 467 00:26:01,062 --> 00:26:03,189 We wanna help you. How can we help you?" 468 00:26:04,024 --> 00:26:08,778 I told them, "Get George to take a polygraph test." 469 00:26:10,989 --> 00:26:14,409 I just wanted to go to Dr. Phil to just confront George. 470 00:26:14,492 --> 00:26:16,036 I just wanted to stare at his face 471 00:26:16,119 --> 00:26:17,746 because he was avoiding us. 472 00:26:19,331 --> 00:26:21,291 [narrator] Now, on a popular talk show 473 00:26:21,374 --> 00:26:23,126 seen around the world, 474 00:26:23,209 --> 00:26:25,629 the Sotos will discover the truth. 475 00:26:25,712 --> 00:26:29,049 I'm gonna tell you what the results are right now. 476 00:26:29,132 --> 00:26:31,468 And I looked at him and I said, "You're full of shit." 477 00:26:31,551 --> 00:26:33,470 I told him, "You're a motherfuckin' liar." 478 00:26:33,553 --> 00:26:35,555 ♪♪ 479 00:26:40,143 --> 00:26:44,231 ♪ Can you hear the sound of thunder ♪ 480 00:26:44,314 --> 00:26:48,193 [narrator] On May 7th, after 43 days living in agony, 481 00:26:48,276 --> 00:26:50,528 Julie's family comes face to face with George 482 00:26:50,612 --> 00:26:53,114 and his mother, Victoria, on Dr. Phil. 483 00:26:53,990 --> 00:26:56,993 They're hoping a polygraph test will expose him 484 00:26:57,077 --> 00:26:59,204 in front of the entire country. 485 00:27:00,330 --> 00:27:01,498 But will it? 486 00:27:02,874 --> 00:27:05,043 I'm gonna tell you what the results are. 487 00:27:05,794 --> 00:27:08,922 He was asked, "Are you responsible for Julie's disappearance?" 488 00:27:09,798 --> 00:27:10,924 He answered, "No." 489 00:27:11,007 --> 00:27:13,385 Those were not truthful answers. 490 00:27:13,718 --> 00:27:16,012 He failed the polygraph test. 491 00:27:16,513 --> 00:27:17,973 -We knew he would. -We knew it. 492 00:27:18,682 --> 00:27:20,475 [Dr. Phil] This was not a close call. 493 00:27:20,559 --> 00:27:21,601 This was not a close call at all. 494 00:27:23,478 --> 00:27:26,898 [narrator] For Julie's family, the results are vindication, 495 00:27:26,982 --> 00:27:30,235 but George's mom, Victoria, is furious with her son. 496 00:27:30,318 --> 00:27:32,445 -What did you do? -I didn't do nothing. 497 00:27:32,529 --> 00:27:35,407 I didn't do anything. I just felt that I should've stopped her. 498 00:27:35,490 --> 00:27:37,367 -Where is she? -I don't know! 499 00:27:37,742 --> 00:27:38,910 Tell me the truth, Georgie. 500 00:27:38,994 --> 00:27:40,996 I don't know, Mami. I don't know. 501 00:27:41,454 --> 00:27:43,540 [narrator] Shaken by the polygraph results, 502 00:27:43,623 --> 00:27:47,627 George's mother scours her house for signs of her daughter-in-law. 503 00:27:49,170 --> 00:27:50,505 She finds nothing. 504 00:27:52,340 --> 00:27:54,634 Then she remembers seeing George in the shed 505 00:27:54,718 --> 00:27:56,761 around the time Julie disappeared. 506 00:27:58,513 --> 00:27:59,723 [Flores] She went to the shed... 507 00:27:59,806 --> 00:28:01,600 [door rattles, creaks] 508 00:28:01,683 --> 00:28:03,852 opened up the door, 509 00:28:03,935 --> 00:28:05,562 and began to dig. 510 00:28:08,523 --> 00:28:09,608 [shovel scrapes] 511 00:28:11,192 --> 00:28:14,195 And when she began to panic and began to hyperventilate, 512 00:28:14,279 --> 00:28:16,072 she called the Austin Police Department. 513 00:28:17,949 --> 00:28:20,535 [narrator] Victoria has discovered the suspicious trench 514 00:28:20,619 --> 00:28:23,496 under the floorboards that Officer Brooks inspected 515 00:28:23,580 --> 00:28:25,248 six weeks earlier, 516 00:28:25,332 --> 00:28:27,584 yet no one followed up on. 517 00:28:29,085 --> 00:28:30,712 [phone ringing] 518 00:28:56,488 --> 00:28:57,989 She was pretty distraught about it 519 00:28:58,073 --> 00:29:00,242 because she said it wasn't there when her husband built the house 520 00:29:00,325 --> 00:29:01,451 before they got divorced. 521 00:29:01,534 --> 00:29:04,079 ♪♪ 522 00:29:04,162 --> 00:29:07,374 She was just afraid that George may have been involved, 523 00:29:07,457 --> 00:29:09,125 and something may have happened. 524 00:29:16,341 --> 00:29:18,218 [narrator] That call from George's mom 525 00:29:18,301 --> 00:29:22,764 spurs on the Austin Police like nothing else has in this case. 526 00:29:23,848 --> 00:29:27,269 That hole should have been inspected properly weeks ago. 527 00:29:28,728 --> 00:29:30,355 Detectives arrived here this morning. 528 00:29:30,438 --> 00:29:34,067 Now this is the home of Julie Ann Gonzalez's estranged husband. 529 00:29:37,195 --> 00:29:39,864 [narrator] Fifty days after Julie vanishes, 530 00:29:39,948 --> 00:29:43,660 detectives move the case from the missing person's division 531 00:29:43,743 --> 00:29:45,078 to homicide. 532 00:29:46,246 --> 00:29:48,331 I was there, along with our forensics team 533 00:29:48,415 --> 00:29:49,499 and other detectives. 534 00:29:50,333 --> 00:29:53,086 George answered the door, and we went to work. 535 00:29:54,379 --> 00:29:57,841 They were able to go inside of George's home 536 00:29:58,508 --> 00:30:00,176 and inside the shed. 537 00:30:02,888 --> 00:30:06,808 The trench was five feet long, two feet wide, 538 00:30:06,892 --> 00:30:08,184 and a foot and a half deep. 539 00:30:09,769 --> 00:30:11,771 Julie Ann was about five feet tall. 540 00:30:13,565 --> 00:30:16,192 [narrator] The forensics team takes soil samples 541 00:30:16,276 --> 00:30:19,779 looking for signs of human remains and sends them to the lab. 542 00:30:20,906 --> 00:30:23,658 But the trench isn't the only thing they find. 543 00:30:25,493 --> 00:30:28,580 In the house, they discover some receipts. 544 00:30:28,663 --> 00:30:31,625 ♪♪ 545 00:30:31,708 --> 00:30:33,710 [Sanchez] What we did find was evidence 546 00:30:33,793 --> 00:30:36,713 of one of the financial transactions of some items 547 00:30:36,796 --> 00:30:39,382 that were purchased at a Walmart using her debit card. 548 00:30:40,383 --> 00:30:42,260 [narrator] Julie's texts to Natasha say 549 00:30:42,344 --> 00:30:45,889 she went to Colorado that day with a guy named James. 550 00:30:47,140 --> 00:30:50,227 If that's true, why was her bank card 551 00:30:50,310 --> 00:30:52,812 being used in a South Austin Walmart? 552 00:30:55,065 --> 00:30:57,567 [Flores] Detectives went to the Walmart 553 00:30:57,651 --> 00:31:00,070 to track down surveillance video. 554 00:31:00,904 --> 00:31:06,034 What they did find was George using Julie Ann's debit card 555 00:31:06,117 --> 00:31:08,578 and pushing Layla in a shopping cart, 556 00:31:08,662 --> 00:31:10,705 and Julie Ann was nowhere to be found. 557 00:31:13,416 --> 00:31:15,043 Given the fact that George was unemployed, 558 00:31:15,126 --> 00:31:18,755 did not have money, detectives had to keep an open mind 559 00:31:18,838 --> 00:31:23,426 to the possibility that in order to purchase items for Layla, 560 00:31:23,510 --> 00:31:25,762 Julie Ann left her debit card with George. 561 00:31:29,474 --> 00:31:31,560 ♪♪ 562 00:31:31,643 --> 00:31:35,146 [narrator] The dirt samples come back negative for Julie's DNA, 563 00:31:35,230 --> 00:31:39,067 and cadaver dogs let loose on the property find nothing. 564 00:31:39,943 --> 00:31:42,279 Two months after Julie disappears, 565 00:31:42,362 --> 00:31:44,990 all investigators have is a handful 566 00:31:45,073 --> 00:31:47,867 of social media posts and texts. 567 00:31:48,451 --> 00:31:51,746 Detectives strongly suspect George is involved somehow, 568 00:31:51,830 --> 00:31:53,373 but they have no proof. 569 00:31:54,291 --> 00:31:56,126 Her family can now feel it. 570 00:31:56,710 --> 00:31:58,420 She's not ever coming home. 571 00:31:59,212 --> 00:32:01,089 -[speaker] What's your name? -Julie. 572 00:32:01,172 --> 00:32:03,466 -[speaker] And how old are you? -Five. 573 00:32:03,550 --> 00:32:04,926 -[speaker] Five? -Mm-hmm. 574 00:32:06,469 --> 00:32:10,056 [Michael] You know how a twin, they lose their other 575 00:32:10,140 --> 00:32:11,766 and they feel it. 576 00:32:11,850 --> 00:32:13,518 [speaker] Get down, Mike, get down. 577 00:32:13,602 --> 00:32:15,395 It's like, that's how I felt. 578 00:32:16,021 --> 00:32:17,856 Like, I just felt like something was missing. 579 00:32:18,315 --> 00:32:20,358 [♪ gentle music playing] 580 00:32:20,442 --> 00:32:22,986 ♪ Every day ♪ 581 00:32:23,069 --> 00:32:27,991 ♪ I take that with me ♪ 582 00:32:28,742 --> 00:32:31,536 I told my mom that we had lost Julie. 583 00:32:32,913 --> 00:32:33,914 [sniffles] 584 00:32:35,332 --> 00:32:37,334 [narrator] Detectives hope that Julie's cell phone 585 00:32:37,417 --> 00:32:39,044 can help them break the stalemate. 586 00:32:40,420 --> 00:32:42,505 But they need an expert to crack the code. 587 00:32:43,215 --> 00:32:45,884 [Sanchez] So that summer of 2010, 588 00:32:45,967 --> 00:32:49,221 one of our digital forensics detectives that was involved in the case, 589 00:32:49,304 --> 00:32:52,390 he was quickly able to identify that Julie's cell phone... 590 00:32:53,433 --> 00:32:55,268 had never left Austin. 591 00:32:55,352 --> 00:32:56,686 [notification chimes] 592 00:32:58,730 --> 00:33:01,399 [narrator] That means someone else has been pretending 593 00:33:01,483 --> 00:33:03,443 to be Julie all along, 594 00:33:04,402 --> 00:33:07,906 just like her family and friends have been insisting 595 00:33:07,989 --> 00:33:09,282 this whole time. 596 00:33:09,366 --> 00:33:13,828 And James is and always was a big fat lie. 597 00:33:15,580 --> 00:33:22,003 But without a body or a crime scene, how will detectives ever prove it? 598 00:33:22,087 --> 00:33:23,838 ♪♪ 599 00:33:23,922 --> 00:33:27,175 [Sanchez] I mean, this is not your typical case where you have the body, 600 00:33:27,259 --> 00:33:28,927 and you have a murder weapon, and you have witnesses. 601 00:33:29,010 --> 00:33:30,595 I mean, we had none of that. 602 00:33:30,679 --> 00:33:34,641 ♪♪ 603 00:33:34,724 --> 00:33:38,353 [narrator] What they do have is a single piece of paper 604 00:33:38,436 --> 00:33:42,732 that may hold the key to unlocking the identity of her killer. 605 00:33:42,816 --> 00:33:45,735 ♪ Like a restless wanderer ♪ 606 00:33:46,403 --> 00:33:48,989 ♪ Through sandy storms I walk ♪ 607 00:33:49,072 --> 00:33:53,326 ♪ I see them burning down ♪ 608 00:34:01,585 --> 00:34:03,587 ♪♪ 609 00:34:03,670 --> 00:34:04,838 [narrator] It's been four months, 610 00:34:04,921 --> 00:34:08,425 and finally, a break in the Julie Gonzalez case. 611 00:34:10,468 --> 00:34:13,889 After learning Julie's cell phone never left Austin, 612 00:34:13,972 --> 00:34:16,057 detectives are convinced George is involved 613 00:34:16,141 --> 00:34:17,851 with her disappearance. 614 00:34:17,934 --> 00:34:21,062 But with no proof, they turn to a digital expert 615 00:34:21,146 --> 00:34:22,981 to help lead them to the truth. 616 00:34:24,441 --> 00:34:25,609 [Jim Cook] My name is Jim Cook. 617 00:34:25,692 --> 00:34:27,819 I'm a digital forensics expert, 618 00:34:27,903 --> 00:34:30,405 and I work with various law enforcement agencies 619 00:34:30,488 --> 00:34:31,823 throughout the United States. 620 00:34:33,491 --> 00:34:37,537 In today's environment, it's not just about DNA. 621 00:34:37,621 --> 00:34:40,123 It's about the digital footprint we leave behind. 622 00:34:41,708 --> 00:34:43,752 So one of the first things that we did 623 00:34:43,835 --> 00:34:46,630 is we got the call detail records 624 00:34:46,713 --> 00:34:49,090 related to Julie's device. 625 00:34:50,008 --> 00:34:53,887 And what we found is that on the day that Julie went missing, 626 00:34:53,970 --> 00:34:56,431 her device is at the Walmart... 627 00:34:58,683 --> 00:35:01,394 and George is on video at the Walmart, 628 00:35:01,478 --> 00:35:05,106 and George is using Julie's credit card at the Walmart. 629 00:35:05,565 --> 00:35:07,692 And you can see the cellular activity 630 00:35:07,776 --> 00:35:10,362 connecting to that antenna that covers that Walmart, 631 00:35:10,445 --> 00:35:12,822 exactly during that conversation. 632 00:35:15,825 --> 00:35:19,162 Therefore, it wasn't Julie trying to pretend to be Julie. 633 00:35:19,246 --> 00:35:22,332 It was actually George pretending to be Julie. 634 00:35:25,585 --> 00:35:27,921 Julie's cell phone data corroborated 635 00:35:28,004 --> 00:35:29,464 our suspicions already, 636 00:35:29,548 --> 00:35:31,508 that she never left Austin 637 00:35:31,591 --> 00:35:36,096 and that George was our primary focus. 638 00:35:36,638 --> 00:35:39,849 [narrator] But investigators still need more to make an arrest. 639 00:35:39,933 --> 00:35:42,477 ♪♪ 640 00:35:42,561 --> 00:35:46,898 They go over all the evidence they found at George's mom's house, 641 00:35:46,982 --> 00:35:48,942 and one thing stands out. 642 00:35:50,860 --> 00:35:52,571 [Cook] George was an excessive gamer, 643 00:35:52,654 --> 00:35:56,366 oftentimes gaming up to 18 hours a day. 644 00:35:56,449 --> 00:35:58,618 The day that Julie goes missing, 645 00:35:58,702 --> 00:36:01,663 and he has over 20 hours between gaming sessions, 646 00:36:01,746 --> 00:36:06,376 which did not occur on any other day for the records we reviewed. 647 00:36:07,127 --> 00:36:09,713 [narrator] Twenty hours without an Xbox fix? 648 00:36:09,796 --> 00:36:12,924 For George, that's really weird. 649 00:36:13,008 --> 00:36:16,928 After Julie goes missing, George takes his Xbox 650 00:36:17,012 --> 00:36:20,557 and goes to North Austin to his friend's apartment 651 00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:24,561 where they hack into the WiFi of the neighbor across the hall 652 00:36:24,644 --> 00:36:27,105 so they can actually play their video game. 653 00:36:28,523 --> 00:36:32,277 But at the same time, Julie's phone connects to a tower 654 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:35,030 covering the vicinity of that apartment complex. 655 00:36:38,033 --> 00:36:41,786 Julie's device and George's Xbox 656 00:36:41,870 --> 00:36:45,457 are in North Austin at the exact same time. 657 00:36:45,540 --> 00:36:48,501 ♪♪ 658 00:36:50,545 --> 00:36:52,756 [narrator] It takes two years for detectives 659 00:36:52,839 --> 00:36:55,675 to gather enough digital evidence to arrest George 660 00:36:55,759 --> 00:36:58,303 for the murder of Julie Gonzalez. 661 00:36:59,804 --> 00:37:01,848 Whenever we take a case to trial, 662 00:37:01,932 --> 00:37:04,559 we know that we have one shot to prove this case 663 00:37:04,643 --> 00:37:06,394 beyond a reasonable doubt. 664 00:37:06,937 --> 00:37:10,023 Without a body, it was going to be an uphill battle. 665 00:37:14,819 --> 00:37:16,905 [Samantha] It took a toll on a lot of us. 666 00:37:16,988 --> 00:37:18,907 The holidays were very hard. 667 00:37:19,866 --> 00:37:24,537 Julie was the glue around the holidays. 668 00:37:24,621 --> 00:37:26,957 She is what kept us together. 669 00:37:27,791 --> 00:37:30,043 It wasn't the same without her. 670 00:37:31,920 --> 00:37:33,255 [narrator] Two years later, 671 00:37:33,338 --> 00:37:36,216 the prosecution is finally ready for trial... 672 00:37:38,385 --> 00:37:42,055 but circumstantial evidence doesn't sway the hearts of jurors. 673 00:37:42,889 --> 00:37:45,433 It's Julie's own words to Aaron 674 00:37:45,517 --> 00:37:48,270 written on the morning she disappeared 675 00:37:48,353 --> 00:37:51,106 that shine through the fog of doubt 676 00:37:51,189 --> 00:37:53,525 and help catch her killer. 677 00:37:53,608 --> 00:37:56,069 "I still can't believe how lucky I am to be with you." 678 00:38:00,365 --> 00:38:02,117 [female narrator] "I'm really glad I got to spend 679 00:38:02,200 --> 00:38:04,452 "the last couple days with you. 680 00:38:04,536 --> 00:38:05,745 "Since you're still asleep, 681 00:38:05,829 --> 00:38:08,373 "that gives me a chance to write your letter. 682 00:38:08,456 --> 00:38:12,127 "I'm happy to say that you make me feel beautiful, 683 00:38:12,210 --> 00:38:15,964 "and no one's ever been able to make me feel that way before. 684 00:38:16,047 --> 00:38:19,009 "I believe we do have a great love. 685 00:38:19,092 --> 00:38:21,720 "August will be here in no time. 686 00:38:21,803 --> 00:38:24,139 "I'm so happy that it's so close. 687 00:38:24,723 --> 00:38:26,308 "Then we will be together. 688 00:38:26,975 --> 00:38:30,687 "Okay, mi amor, I really gotta get ready for work now. 689 00:38:30,770 --> 00:38:35,775 "So, I love you, always and forever. 690 00:38:35,859 --> 00:38:38,194 Love, Julie." 691 00:38:41,573 --> 00:38:43,742 [man] We, the jury, find the defendant, George De La Cruz, 692 00:38:43,825 --> 00:38:45,911 guilty of the offense of murder. 693 00:38:46,453 --> 00:38:49,289 [narrator] Six years after Julie went missing, 694 00:38:49,372 --> 00:38:53,126 George is sentenced to life in prison for her murder. 695 00:38:53,209 --> 00:38:54,961 [speaker 1] Justice has been served for Julie. 696 00:38:55,045 --> 00:38:56,755 -Amen. -[speaker 2] Amen. 697 00:38:56,838 --> 00:38:59,216 And for Julie, the criminal was gone. 698 00:38:59,299 --> 00:39:03,428 [narrator] To this day, Julie's body has never been found. 699 00:39:04,930 --> 00:39:08,016 ♪ We never had the chance ♪ 700 00:39:08,099 --> 00:39:11,436 ♪ To say our last goodbyes ♪ 701 00:39:11,519 --> 00:39:14,022 [narrator] Layla is now a teenager. 702 00:39:14,105 --> 00:39:15,649 She was raised by George's mom, 703 00:39:15,732 --> 00:39:18,568 and she has only recently started taking calls 704 00:39:18,652 --> 00:39:20,153 from her mom's family. 705 00:39:21,446 --> 00:39:23,531 As far as she's concerned, 706 00:39:23,615 --> 00:39:27,035 the Sotos put her dad behind bars, 707 00:39:27,118 --> 00:39:29,913 and she will never forgive them for that. 708 00:39:31,539 --> 00:39:33,458 [Dora] There's no peace in my family. 709 00:39:33,875 --> 00:39:38,463 He's robbed Layla of a mom, of having a normal life. 710 00:39:39,631 --> 00:39:42,551 We deserve to know where Julie is. We all do. 711 00:39:42,634 --> 00:39:45,136 We need to put her body at rest. 712 00:39:45,220 --> 00:39:46,429 [crying] 713 00:39:46,513 --> 00:39:49,057 ♪ But how long can I go ♪ 714 00:39:49,140 --> 00:39:52,310 ♪ Without thinking I'm alone ♪ 715 00:39:53,562 --> 00:39:57,566 I want Layla to know that... 716 00:39:58,608 --> 00:40:00,110 her mom was great. 717 00:40:01,820 --> 00:40:05,574 And that Julie would do anything in her power 718 00:40:06,533 --> 00:40:10,078 to make sure Layla is loved, taken care of. 719 00:40:11,746 --> 00:40:13,915 I just wish Layla would know that. 720 00:40:15,917 --> 00:40:18,837 George's mother, I hope she listens to what I'm gonna say, 721 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:24,551 that Layla is the key to find out what happened to Julie. 722 00:40:25,635 --> 00:40:27,178 When Layla gets old enough, 723 00:40:28,430 --> 00:40:30,432 I would love for her to say... 724 00:40:31,224 --> 00:40:32,976 what did you do to my mom? 725 00:40:33,059 --> 00:40:34,394 Where is she? 726 00:40:34,477 --> 00:40:36,479 [voice breaking] Tell me what you did to her. 727 00:40:39,900 --> 00:40:42,277 I'm sorry. Please. 728 00:40:43,862 --> 00:40:46,990 ♪♪ 729 00:40:50,452 --> 00:40:53,788 ♪ I don't know where my head is lately ♪ 730 00:40:53,872 --> 00:40:55,999 ♪ Have I lost my mind ♪ 731 00:41:04,007 --> 00:41:07,427 ♪ But I know that I have a secret ♪ 732 00:41:07,510 --> 00:41:09,888 ♪ And it's only mine ♪ 733 00:41:17,646 --> 00:41:20,941 ♪ And the only way to find me ♪ 734 00:41:21,024 --> 00:41:24,778 ♪ Is to go beneath the lies ♪