I don't know a lot about what's going on down there, except for Trisha um is missing. Yeah. This is 30-year-old Steven Williams learning that his ex-wife Trisha Todd was last seen at a grocery store days earlier. Little did the officers know that he knew exactly where she was. Using the best of his ability, Steven thinks he staged the perfect disappearance. But what he didn't know was that Florida had cameras everywhere, and the timeline he thought was airtight would pull police toward one of the most gruesome discoveries in their careers. Take us to where she would have been found. Where did you take her to? I don't know. Steven, you do know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. It was just dark, and the road was dusty. When we get there, I need you to put this place in where [music] she's at so we can have some type of markers. On the evening of April 27th, 2016, Faith's babysitter had already been working well past her normal hours without hearing anything from Trisha. So, she did what people always do, assumed it was a phone issue, traffic, or something normal. She called. She texted. Nothing. Hours passed, and Trisha still didn't surface. That was when she stopped guessing and called Trisha's brother, Jonathan. Knowing Trisha would never do that to Faith, he immediately reported her missing. The first responders searched her home, bracing themselves for the worst. But she was nowhere to be found. Inside, everything looks normal. There was no sign of a struggle. Everything was in its place. Nothing to suggest she'd skipped town. The only thing that stood out to them was that Trisha's car wasn't in her driveway. Her purse and house keys were in the car, but her phone and wallet were missing. With no leads to her location, the detectives issued a bolo alert for Trisha and contacted the last person known to have seen her alive. Her ex-husband, Steven Williams. Deception is easiest at a distance. On the phone, liars can hide. So, the Florida lead detective didn't risk it. He asked North Carolina police to bring Steven in for a face-to-face interview. Steven didn't hesitate. He walked into the station with the calm of a man certain he'd fool everyone. There was a deputy with Martin County that called up here Okay. asking for one of us to chat with you. Okay. Um as you well know, I'm going to run into this this one here in a minute. I don't know a lot about what's going on down there, except for uh Trisha um is missing. Yeah. Um the information that they got was that you had been down there and had recently seen her. [music] Yeah, so obviously they're talking to everybody that's had any contact with her for, you know, general period of time. Steven knew how the situation reflected on him. Yeah, well, they're probably viewing you still as her husband, and they're like And I and I get it because I feel like I'm living a TV drama right now. Like I don't know how many times this has happened now, and all of a sudden yeah, my girl goes missing. I'm like, "Great. That's freaking awesome." I don't want the limelight. I don't want the issues of like I don't already have the social media and the last thing I need are people like messaging me out of the blue about Faith and stuff. Like I just kind of want that. This stuck out to the detectives. Generally, when there's a missing person's case and someone feels like they're the suspect, even if they're cooperative, the limelight is not something they talk about. Their main focus is always to find the victim and clear their own name. But the detectives couldn't tell Steven that. They needed him to fill the gaps in the timeline from the moment Trisha was last seen alive in her neighborhood Publix to when he last saw her. [music] I don't like doing hotels with my daughter because it's something we're going to do just in our room, and she's just cramped in there. I'm like, "I'd rather just do this house rental." Cuz it's a home. Oh, you rented the whole house? Right. Oh, good. Cuz the whole house that you can rent, but if you have a whole vacation or whatever you want to do. I It was really cheap. So, I was like it was much cheaper than a hotel. Um was it on the water or anything? No, it was just a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in a nice neighborhood, backyard, front yard, and all that. But it was normally like over $100 a night. Like it's over like maybe 100, 200, 300 a night. But there was like some sort of like deal like we looked it up looked at it for like 52, 57 dollars a night. I was like, Yeah, I'm not even going to argue with that. What did she ask you For a full week, I think the price was like $300. I was like, "I'm not even mad." Like I would have paid way more than that to stay in a hotel. So, You were there by yourself? Yeah, I don't know what time So, I know it was Sunday night cuz I went to a hotel called Fairfield Fairfield Inn. Um it's it's Jupiter. It's not far from where my ex lives and where my daughter is. Like a 15-minute drive or something like that. And I was like trying to mentally prepare myself like for a few days. I'm picking up my 2-year-old daughter. So, I picked her up later that day and then bring her back to the house. And >> When you were driving down, did you call Trisha or text her to let her know you were coming to get her or Yeah, that's what I Trisha said that she would be with her normal sitter, Denise. I just spoke with Denise. Like Trisha just texted her and called her. And did you see her address? Where's that at? It's in the same town. It's only a few miles So, that's the sitter. Is it Denise's house or something? Their own home. Denise lives directly in there. Yeah, she gave me her address, and I couldn't remember what it was. Gotcha. And then I just drove over and picked her up and the few things she had had, which was like a bag of clothes and a high chair. Okay. No big deal. I didn't have toys or something, but now Yeah. So, I picked up my daughter and we just kind of hung out at the house for the rest of the day. Uh she was watching little TV shows. She was unfortunately sick, and she didn't feel like No, not too much. Uh she had a fever and stuff like that. So, that was really the main thing. She just kind of hung out at the house all day. And then, you know, I put her to bed, and she was good. And uh Later that night, actually Trisha came over that Monday night um because she had asked for like how everything was. I told her that she's fine, you know, nothing really major. I just kind of have anything for her. Like I don't have any toys. I have no way to really entertain her. I thought, you know, Denise would have some of those, but I guess not. So, she was like, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I'll come over and I'll bring those things." Which was like 11:00 at night before she finally manages to come over. She's like, "Oh, I'm so sorry I was late." I'm like, "You normally work from like, you know, a normal time in the morning till 4:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon. You're telling me you worked until 11:00 at night? I don't see you putting in that much overtime. Let's be serious here." I'm not going to question Plus, what she was wearing that night was far nicer than what Denise would be wearing. Like you know, work From She was wearing pants. She was wearing like a sort of colorful dress and a necklace. And I was like, "Yeah, sure you were at work." But that's my business. But Faith's condition took a turn for the worse. If you If she If she was burning up, and I was like, "Okay, she's really hot. You got to take her and get some medicine or something or, you know, get her to drink some fluids and, you know, and all that." And yeah, and then I sort of like I figured out that she was starting to sign off. And she had a fever, and she clearly really wanted She was really sick. She was really sick. She just needs help to help bring this down. So, I was going to do with her is what's going on. I was like, "Okay, I'll be right over." Together, they rushed Faith to the ER. Once home with Faith finally settled, it was supposed to be over. Trisha tried to leave, but there was a roadblock in her way. And then, when she went to leave, actually she didn't have her car cuz it was out of It's That was probably She's That's That's her thing. Her car never has any gas Um even when we were married, she's actually run out of gas before. And then I had to like come and get her gas. So, there was once before I was on my way, and some stranger was like gave her gas. I'm like, "You got a gas can?" And there was a gas station that would give her gas. I'm like, "Are you kidding me right now?" So, I drove over, and she was like, "My car is like sputtering." I'm like, >> [music] >> "Are you kidding me?" So, I'm at the house, and they don't know if she had a boat, and I'm like, "I don't know if the boat has a gas can." She said, "I'm going to go and check." I'm like, "You can do it. But if it's If it's at least empty, I can just borrow it, put it in the gas can, and it's not a big deal." >> [music] >> Looked around the house and around the backyard, there's no gas can. So, and then I She mentioned that there's a gas station up the street. And I'm like, "You know what? Gas station's gas cans. Like you got any money? I'll just drive my car and go and get you a gas can. It's gas. No big deal." So, we leave the gas station. Maybe a half mile down the Why don't you just let her take your car? Cuz [music] it's my car. CCTV cameras confirmed Steven's story. He did get a gas can for Trisha's car that night, and her car is seen driving towards her house later that night. But the next morning didn't really go as planned. And then next day her sugar getting all the way down. I was taking her to Walmart to buy her like a couple of things cuz she was, you know, >> [music] >> And we go to Walmart. I'll be in the car wash and stuff like that from driving down. And then I go to the what do you call it? It's a the wildlife push wildlife center. >> [music] >> We go there. She gets to walk around and see the animals and all that stuff, you know. And by the time it's 11:30, so I get her a snack there, drive her back home at 12:00, 12:30. I said to Denise, I was like, "Hey, I'm just going to head home. I've been sitting in that Uh she just went to sleep. If you want to come bring her over in a little while, or you can come and get her, just let me know." Not replying replying to that message. Whatever. You can and you can't reply. It's fine. I don't really care. But then like I called after getting no reply after a little while. I was like, "I'll just call her and see what she's doing." Straight to voicemail. I'm like, "I'm annoyed." I wait a little bit longer, and I'll try calling again, you know. And then once again, straight to voicemail. So, the phone didn't ring? No, phone was turned off. Yeah, straight to voicemail. I was like, "I'm going to call her." I'm like, "All right, I'll get her." And I sent her that message like the third time. I think I sent her a message something like, "Hey, I'll check on you or if you took another shift or something like that." And so, let me know what you want to do. Like, you know, where are you going to be? You know, how you want to do this? You know, still no response. Try to wait a while. I waited around, excuse me. I was just like, "You know what? I I don't want to stay here all day. I don't want to drive all that night." And then don't like driving at night. I like a limited, basically. So, I was like to drive, you know, half the day and then maybe half at night, basically. So, I was like, "You know what? I'll just take her to Denise. That's where I picked her up from anyway, and that's who normally watches her. I'll take Denise and like take her." It's I just feel like it's convenient, but I can't take her with me. Steven then proceeded to drive over to North Carolina and didn't hear about the disappearance until the police contacted him. He claimed that the disappearance wasn't even a red flag for him. She always liked to go on late night walks. I was like, "Oh my gosh, she's still doing those." Because when we were together here in North Carolina, even um we lived in Goldsboro up the home we still own there. Uh it'd be like 1:00 in the morning or 3:00 in the morning, and she'd be like, "Oh, I wanted to go for a walk." And I'm like, "I get it. We live like just outside of the city in a neighborhood, and 2:00 in the morning, you're just going to be walking in neighborhood by yourself like you don't even have like some pepper spray, you don't have your phone, like you're just walking the neighborhood. Like that's my point. She's not that kind of person that's oblivious to that stuff. She's always had that like God will protect me thing going on. Like nothing will happen to me. I'm a child of God and God will always protect me. But he knew the truth. She wasn't protected, not in that moment. Steven allowed the forensics department to sweep his car and it came out clean. He knew it would. So while the detectives were suspicious of Steven, apart from him being the last person to have seen her, there was no other proof against him. But they wanted him to panic. You know, there were there were there were times in life where things happen that we don't we can't predict and wish we could take back. And if if this scenario that's involving you you, you know what I'm saying? Is this scenario where you either accidentally intentionally I don't know did something. Now's the time to tell so we can get out of this. Do you understand me? I completely know what you're talking about. He didn't budge. You didn't do anything to Patricia. I don't know anything. I can't I can't help you look. No. Passing out flyers is not going to do any good. This is when they started to doubt their instincts. Was Steven a cold-blooded killer or just impossibly odd? With no body and no evidence, Florida detectives made an unexpected move. They drove to North Carolina themselves, determined to watch his reactions up close and perhaps get something more concrete. Steven, we brought up our polygrapher our polygraph guy. No. Oh, we we want to take one for the road. I actually don't know. I really don't want to. You just said it last time when when Raleigh talked to you. So polygraph? No. I I'll let them search my home, my car, whatever. So you won't take one then? I I just have a I don't like the idea of polygraph tests basically. They'll have me. Did it really? Yeah. Did it hurt? That it may not show on the on the outside but I my heart is racing on the inside. I'm like stupid nervous and I teach every day which is fine. I can go through it like I can, you know, stay calm on the outside but on the inside I'm like a wreck right now and it's a polygraph just scares me so much more than anything. Okay. So that's enough? Please no. I thought that Well, I mean it's up to you. I can't I can't break your arm to go do it. I just said I I just No, it it just terrifies me. I'm sorry. Eventually, he agreed to take it after realizing that a polygraph test might actually clear him as a suspect. He didn't come alone though. He brought his girlfriend Laura with him. Steven got together with Laura before his divorce was even finalized. So if there's anyone who would know if Steven did anything to Trisha, it would be her. And so while Steven took the polygraph test, they kept her in a different room filling in some of the gaps in his story. She was confident that Steven had nothing to do with Trisha's disappearance and was willing to do anything to help clear his name. You don't want to take the polygraph test today? But when the detectives actually sat down with her, that confidence started to falter. You don't think you're going to do a polygraph anymore? But then you didn't want to do one in the first place anyways, right? I said yes originally and then I found out it was going to be two or three hours long. Everybody's been in this room for five hours. Right. So I was not there. I have nothing to do with this and I only came down here to help clear Steven's name and now I feel kind of like a suspect and I'm just I'm I'm done with this right now. But refusing the polygraph doesn't end the conversation. Until she asks for a lawyer or clearly calls it off, the detectives keep her talking and see what slips out. Did you have to drive Trisha down to Florida? No. Did you help her do anything? I don't think last time we talked you said he came home at 11:30 at night. And the reason why he came home was because he had Thursday off. Right? Just spent the day with you. And then that's it? That's it. I've never met the woman. I've never been to that part of Florida. Have you ever talked to her on the phone or anything like that? Trisha? Yeah. I talked to her one time and one time only on the phone and that was over a year and a half ago. Don't lie to us Steven, okay? But we don't want to speculate. We're trying to actually clear him ourselves. That's why we drove 12 hours from Florida to here. [music] Right. All right. I'm almost pretty positive when we leave here we'll be done. Okay. All right. The problem is and you have to understand he was the last one. No, I understand. I know how it is. And we're trying and this is our first time up here actually seeing him face to face. So I'm hoping when we're done here we're done. Okay. But it doesn't take, you know, an hour or two. This is a real extensive investigation. I'm just trying to figure out also where I'm sitting in in this situation. Okay, well the the thing is, okay, I'm going to share with you. There's a neighbor close to the house where he rented a a Airbnb. Yeah, right. Says that they saw a brunette female walking to the house. Not saying it's you. Not saying it's somebody else. Not saying you did anything to Trisha at night. Okay? That's what we have and you're his girlfriend. Okay. And you're a brunette. Okay? Also, you know, the way it could have went down, he might have had help. We don't know. Okay? Cuz you are his girlfriend, correct? I don't know you. Not saying you're a bad bad woman. But it's just part of the what we have to investigate to eliminate everything. Steven, there's video of me working while he was down there. There's video of me working while he was down there. That would be great. But you're saying you're here to clear him. That's blaming you. But you were also just saying that you're pretty sure you're going to clear him. I'm almost pretty sure, yes. Okay. So you still want me to stick around and take a polygraph? It's up to you. From Laura's perspective, Steven shouldn't even be a suspect. I mean, honestly and I mean I know this is going to sound bad from like kind of a personal point of view but he enjoys being a part of her dad. He enjoys having to Skype her, you know, 15, 20 minutes a day, going down there when he can. Why would he get rid of his ex when now he has to take care of her full time? You know what I'm saying? Like that just doesn't make sense. Like I know he loves his daughter, don't get me wrong. He loves her but he enjoys like the lifestyle that he has up here and he enjoys, you know, he would you know, he is glad that, you know, he always wants Trisha in her the daughter's life. Always. He's never said anything other than that. You know, and he's always been more than willing to try to get her her checks and the money. He's never complained about that. He's never complained about what? But that would make child support. No, he's never complained. Even when it wasn't even set in stone yet through like a divorce, he was still giving her plenty of money. Like he's never complained about it. He wants the best for her. Trisha and Steven's divorce was amicable. She didn't want alimony. She just wanted Steven to provide for their daughter and he never missed a payment. They didn't fight. They just went their separate ways. None of this made any sense to her. All right. So you have a you have an alibi cuz you got a video at your workplace. And he didn't act different nothing out of the ordinary when he came home. He was a little stressed and concerned because, you know, when he left he just assumed that, you know, she picked up the shift or something and then come that evening they heard from her. So obviously he was like, you know, what do I do? Like where is she? Like what's up with our daughter and all that? So that's what he said to you when he came home and told you what was going on. He told me immediately what was going on. No, trust me. I would love for her to be found. Like we both would love for her to be found. Just a nightmare is over. I can't sleep. Laura was working throughout the week Steven was in Florida and the camera in her workplace corroborated her alibi. But she was never really a suspect to begin with. It was always Steven. There's no doubt where you were at. Right. Okay. [music] Like I said, the only thing that we're concerned about, you know, and Steven he's he's been amazing. He's cooperated with these guys greatly. He came in here and talked with me in another detective on Friday. You know, like I said, the only thing that that we're worried about is maybe something happened between them on Wednesday. Cool. And so cuz he had said like, you [music] know, everything was fine. Like she was just concerned about her daughter. She was good, you know. Then came another twist of the knife, the polygraph results. Not as proof of truth or guilt but as a frustrating dead end. The test came back inconclusive. But just as the case seemed to stall, there was a break. The people living next to Steven's Airbnb who needed a translator before they could speak to the police revealed something that completely flipped Steven's story. The man drove tried to back up the the red car and then he parked it back this one time. And then the the the guy got out the red car and drove the white the the white car away about 15 minutes and came back. >> [music] >> After he came after he drove back the white car and parked at the same spot and then he went inside the house. She went in inside the house about 10 or 15 minutes and then he came out of the house and then drove the white car away again. Steven never mentioned driving Trisha's car at any point. In his original statement, Trisha didn't even leave the Airbnb until 2:00 a.m. But surveillance showed the car on the highway at least an hour earlier. The neighbor's statement gave a timeline of Steven being gone with the car for at least 15 to 20 minutes. That's exactly how far Trisha's house was from the Airbnb. A deep dive into every CCTV camera in that area showed something no one had thought about before. Trisha's car making it to her neighborhood and then a man walking the length from her home all the way to the Airbnb. The only problem was that the footage wasn't clear. But Steven didn't have to know that. Do you recognize this area here? Entrance to the community? Yeah. One way in and one way out. Yeah. Right? One way in and one way out? Have you ever driven up close enough to be able to see the cameras up here? No, I know there's some sort of business there. I don't know what it is. It's a computer place. Okay. He's probably got one of the best camera systems in HD. Yeah. I mean I guess it makes sense. It's a computer business. Okay. So we see her pulling in. So all the way. At the time you said she came home. Perfect. You text her she comes over. She comes in. 1:20. There goes her car coming out. Couple minutes later, that same car in front of this business here which is that's her house, right? No, I can't I have video of Trisha. That's where she lives. Yeah, it's El Agave. Yeah. Okay. That car her car makes a U-turn right here. Okay? And comes back. We see the car coming back in here. So literally went towards her house, came back. Why is that? Home and then didn't go home. You said she never left between midnight and 2:00. Not that I'm aware of, no. Like I said, the only time I You're right, she didn't. Okay. She didn't leave. Right? As far as I know, yeah. Like I said, I left to go get gas and then I came back. And then she left. That's all I know, like I said. I don't think she would have left the home during that time because I don't know why you would leave the home. Just Wait, I'm I'm trying to give you an opportunity here. You know what I'm saying? No, I understand. I I I don't think you do. It's a high-stakes bluff. The footage wasn't HD, but this was the only way for the detectives to corner Steven. He could have easily said, "That's not me." But in that moment, hit with the proof right in front of him, he panicked and they could see it. For a moment, the mask cracked, but not enough for confession, not yet. So, the detectives pivot, switching from adversary to ally, trying to make Steven drop his guard. >> And we had also read in there too where she might have been even been playing with some pills. Have you read that anywhere? >> No. And or had she told you anything about maybe starting to play with some pills? >> Like I said, she kept her personal life super like Oh yeah, very very serious. Yeah, she would never tell me anything. >> [ __ ] cryptic. I mean, I speak in tongues. I'm like, "What is this chick saying?" I had to have a translator. And most things that I do learn are only after the fact from my child's city. Talking with child's city, she's like, "Oh, well, she was, you know, talking to this person online." Once again, I didn't know anything about that. So. I understand, but like I said, it's We know something happened at your house that night or where you guys were staying. I don't think it was your fault, you know what I'm saying? I think she came after you. >> [music] >> That's the angle we're taking it on because because of studying her and all the things she's done in the past and the reactions she tries to get out of people. >> [music] >> You know what I mean? Like I said, like I said, the night before was a reaction, but when I asked her to come over, she didn't seem to care about any of that stuff. She was, you know, "Where's my baby?" kind of thing. I'm like She's not helping, she's, you know, looking for you. Okay. >> Wait, I I understand what I said. We've got her car leaving. No, I Before you said she left. Before This is before even the gas thing. Even then, though. >> There's not She's not going to leave there and pass the gas station and go to her house and come back to your house. I guess. I don't recall her leaving for any reason. Did she take her car? >> She took her car. Mhm. Took her car. I moved it out of the driveway to give space to my car. All right. Obviously, we have video. Oh, yeah. Okay. We also have more video than just of her car. Mhm. All right. And like my sergeant said, all right. Two [laughter] sides to this story. Of course. We're probably never going to hear her side, but we need to hear your We need to hear your side on the reason why, okay? If If something happened where like my sergeant said, cuz I know she's good for it just by knowing you a little bit and what you told me about her her past and me investigating her and her past, she came after you, something happened, you didn't mean it, Or did she have Or did she have an accident in the house? Something. No, but something happened in there. That's what we're trying We're trying to actually get your side cuz that's the side we're going to get and we're trying to get you a way out, but you're not You're not You're not helping me to help you, okay? The detectives needed Steven to say something, anything they could use to get him to admit that his story was fabricated. For that, they had to really make him believe that they thought Trisha was the aggressor here, not him. So, like I said, we've got her car leaving your house before you went for gas and the neighbor said she was driving. And you came back. Said you came back. And then they have you leaving again. We're trying to give you reasons, you know what I'm saying? Mhm. You've got I know you you got a lot going for you, you know what I'm saying? You're good-looking, you're young, you got your [ __ ] straight and you got this crazy ass crazy ex. We're all trying to say I'm saying behind you, dude. You got this crazy ass you know ex and, you know, she's come after you before. You know what I'm saying? Mhm. Did she come after you that night? Something happened and you were just, "Oh [ __ ] what do I do now?" No, she never came after me. Nothing remotely like that happened. Um Like I said, she sleep and then it was the gas thing and she finally like When did she get there? 12:00? Well, after 12:00, maybe about 12:30, 12:40? What's happening after that time frame? She's just on the couch. I'm just over by the So she's hanging out with her ex-husband? Is that >> No, no, no. The couch and for me personally, I don't want to be, you know, on her. I'm not going to sit next to her on the couch like that cuz, you know, we're In my opinion, we're not like that, you know, she's not buddy-buddy. We're just We're cordial. So, I'm Trying to go How do I explain it? Like the There's like a little island like thing coming off the kitchen and there's like two chairs there. I'm over there and I can see them and the TV's on or whatever. Can Can you tell me something? Why were you getting ready to cry a minute ago? Excuse me? You look like you were getting ready to cry a minute ago. Were you getting upset about what I was saying? No, no, I'm trying to explain where the island is. Okay, no, I'm just saying this before that. I know you were with her for a long time, okay? She's the mother of your daughter, beautiful daughter. You know, and you got a lot going for you and here you go, you got this crazy chick. And now look Very distant relationship. Look, oh, that's the ex. I don't like to paint her to be crazy. I don't know. Like I said, she's a little though. She is. It's okay, we will. We will. That's been our job for the last month is looking all into her. But I have to I don't know. I just never tried to So, please tell me why you took her car and left before the gas incident. Before you got gas in your car. I don't have an answer for you. I'm sorry. It's the same You're not telling me yet. You don't have any information. You're You're telling me that this is a emotional moment and don't want to tell me. And I understand you're scared. I don't know how else to put it to you, that, you know, things happen to good people. Things happen to good people and you might have just freaked out. Didn't mean for anything to happen. You don't seem that way at all. You are the most chill, cool, calm, likeable person I've ever sat across and I know you got your stuff together and you want your daughter and you got your career. And that's why we're trying to paint this for you, but we can't do it with without you. And she's already done half of it for you. I understand. So, pull up a map. Can you tell me where she's at? No. Yes. Um what's left of her? Cuz wherever she's at, there's not going to be really much left of her at this point. I can't tell you cuz I don't know. I understand why you're scared, but I can't go back with that answer, Steve. I'm not asking you to fabricate anything. Even if you got to go around to what happened at the house, I need to know where she's at. The detectives asked Steven, without hesitation, if he could point out where pieces of Trisha might be and he didn't even comment on it. He just skipped to the next question. Anyone trying to clear their name wouldn't even leave a sliver of doubt in the detectives' mind. They jump onto every opportunity to clear themselves of the blame. This was enough for the detectives to know he's close to cracking. It was time for a new approach. The next strategy, break him from the inside. They brought Laura in, the person he trusted most. I trust you more than anybody more than I ever have before and I'm completely done with all this. I know that. Okay, well, you talked to them. I told them everything to help. Where were you going? Where did you go to church? Where did you go? In the next room. No, nothing happened. Did you do anything to her? Did she do something to you? No, she was jealous and lonely. Did she do something? No, she I think she intentionally hurt herself. I can't I don't want to be together now. You don't talk. If you could go away, man. For what? Just cuz I don't know something? Because we have you on multiple cameras. We have evidence. It doesn't look good against you. Okay, whatever happened, it's okay. Just tell me. We just need you to bring closure to this, Steven. So everybody can move forward. And not just her family, I need to know too. I can't keep living with you and pretend going on with this way if I don't know the answers to these questions. I understand. And I still don't have any answers for You've got answers, she's just not giving to you. Even you're shaking. You've been shaking there for a while. Excuse me? You're trying to tell me I did something that I know I didn't do and who wouldn't be shaking in that situation? I do what I can to not be in situations like this. Sure, but this is what happened, a coincidence and video. It's not a matter if it happened, it's it happened. Now what's the best What's the best explanation as to why? How long have we been sitting here for? How long trying to get you out so that you guys can move forward? You know, just like I said, I can't stay out forever. Steven tried to stick to his script, but Laura's presence changed something. The emotional strain started to show and the detectives sensed it. She knew it was time to press even harder. Now, do I do I go back and do I paint this picture of a cold-blooded person that all they're going to see is everything that's laid out there? And then again, it's not falsifying any evidence. It It's straight up This is what happened this time. This is what we have at this time. And it just goes all the way down. Is that the picture you want painted of you? Cuz that's what we have at this point, Steven. Of course I don't want that picture. Okay. Well, then help help me get a better picture of you, okay? Like I said, is this I have given you this camera opportunity. And I'm willing to sit here as long as you want. >> And then it happened. I just Steven, okay? You're doing okay. Steven, yes, you are. Excuse me? I was laying down and I got up. Okay, fine. I felt the next worst thing happen cuz I came back, she was lying on the floor and she wasn't very responsive. And I kind of freaked out cuz I'm like, "Oh my god, now she's lying on the floor. She's not responsive and this looks really bad and I can't explain. I don't know what's going on. I don't know if this is a game she's playing. I don't know if she's going to pay attention to me or and she's not responding. She's breathing but she's not responding. Okay. So I just put her in the car and the gas can. I leave and I'm still freaking out because I don't know what to do. I'm just driving and thinking and driving and thinking and then I decide I'm just going to leave her at her house. I don't I know you live over here. I'm just going to leave you. I'm leaving. I don't I want no part of this. Like you come to and hopefully go home. I don't care but I don't want you part of this. I don't I don't want like this is not I don't know what you did. I don't I don't want any part of it. And so I just I go home and walk. I'm just I'm going to go home. I'm not dealing with this. This is not my problem. I didn't do anything. I just don't want this. Where did you call her? Well, you dropped her off at home. I just drove. And she didn't You drove under a 211. And I got you walking out at 4:21. [music] You drove. Did you just freak out and put her somewhere? You didn't put her somewhere. Look look you and I know in my mind I was like if she wakes up she'll come to and then she'll go. I know you dropped her off there. I know you didn't drop her off. I did. And that's why when you're asking me where she is I know because of the because of the pills. And she threatened suicide for him. You know that, right? No. She ever tell you that she was talking about jumping off the whole Sunshine Bridge. No. I all I'm just telling you this is stuff that I read and that I can justify. She never told me any of that. She never told you anything from her journal. And that's why I didn't know about any of that. I don't know when I came back and she's lying on the floor not responding I'm freaking out because I understand. I don't know what to do. And I'm thinking like sure I just call 911 you can explain it but then I can't explain it because I called 911 and I don't know what to do. Okay, so then you're telling me from 211 you know you're telling me you just drove. You know I'm thinking at this point is this where you said I got to get out of this car. I left her in her car. I left her in her car because I left her she was and then I'm thinking like hey you wake up you're home. You've been doing good. You've been doing good. I I believe you. But that's what I and that's why when you're telling me to like point on the map I can't I can't tell you where she is I don't know where she is. You just drive. I I think you leave her somewhere hoping she'd wake up and she'd wake up and leave. No, I took her home because I'm like if you wake up and you're home you're fine. She didn't you did not take her home did you? I think she drove anywhere. And that's why I can't tell you where she is because I don't know where she is. When I left she was there. Do you not remember where you put her? I didn't put her anywhere. You didn't leave her there. I left her home. This was the first time Steven admitted to seeing her unresponsive. For him it sounded like an alibi. For the detective it was confirmation. For the next hour she circled through the same story with him again and again. Each time he changed details inching closer to what actually happened that night. In her car and all I thought was like now what do I do because if she goes to the hospital she's going to say I did this. She's going to say I I hit her or I drugged her or I did I did something and I'm thinking like it's your word against mine and my word doesn't mean [ __ ] in this situation. She lied. Holy we know her Did you hear me what I was saying? We know her background but all I thought at that time was I am I am unbelievably screwed. It's her word against mine and she's really good at playing the woe is me card to put on absolutely. You know I'm just so distraught. I have no it's No, absolutely. I come I understand where you're coming from. No, I thought it is it doesn't matter what I say. It doesn't matter what I do. It doesn't matter what you say. Going to the station now. And I thought well if I just take her home then she'll be okay but then I drove towards the house and I freaked out. I just kept driving and I was like well I don't know what to do. Where do I go? What I just freaked out. I didn't even know what to do. I just freaked out. Okay. I believe you. All right. All right, it's okay. All right. Well, we'll both look at the map and see where she is. And I can't I can't point to you on this map. I have no idea. All I know is okay if I made a right I'm thinking yeah that was probably what Now if I can just retrace our route. Okay. Okay, it was a dark road. I just drove and it was dark and I thought I had no idea where where I'm going. I don't I don't know where I'm going. I don't know what I'm doing. I'm just I just stopped because I was like what are you what are you doing here? You don't know where you're going. You went down dirt road. And I just Do you remember Steven do you remember going down a dirt road? No, I just turned around. I turned around. Where did you turn around? And even then I just didn't know what the hell I was doing because now I'm like okay tell me Steven. I can't if you I have no idea. I don't know anything. 12:00 you leave here. Yeah. Okay. You Both you and I know. Okay, I I understand. I get it. She's passed out in the car. I think she passed away in the car and you freaked out even more like oh [ __ ] But then I still can't tell you where she is. And that's the Steven that's the worst part is I don't I don't know. I don't know. I just I I don't know where I stopped and then I just I stopped I just thought more and then none of it made sense and then all I thought was I'm still going to prison now. Like it doesn't make a difference because I'm still going to freaking prison. >> [laughter] >> I just turned around and I stopped again and I was like I don't know what the hell I'm doing. Like where am I going? Just take her home and then like just you may as well just take her home. Like you're just done. Just Steven you're you're like going 100 miles an hour in the back, okay? Drink some water. Okay. Please drink some water. Relax. Okay. I need to be able to show them that you have Listen, whatever Okay, hold on. COD she fell she hit her head. You found her like that. Otherwise I Because I don't know what I can't tell you where she is. And that's the worst part. I don't really want closure but I can't tell you where she is but I can't I have no I have no idea on this map where she is. I have no idea. I don't know where she is. Anywhere out here. I have no idea. 6 hours into the interview Steven was sticking to this version of the story. What he didn't know was that the detectives had one last trick up their sleeves. You really need to get her and bring her home. Whatever's left of her Steven. I don't know where she is. Are you willing to take a drive with us and show us around where I don't know where I am. But are you willing to I'll go with you but I have no idea where I am. You will go with me? Sure. I'll go wherever you want me to go but I have no idea where They flew him out to Florida to retrace his steps and tell them exactly how the night unfolded. They were hoping that putting him back into the crime scene and the night it all happened would force the truth out of Steven. He told the story he told multiple times before right up to him stepping out to get gas for Trisha. We we move her car out of the way. She stays in here with Faith while I go and get gas. And then I come back put the gas in her car put the gas can in her trunk and then I come back inside [music] and figure she'd still be here or wherever but she wasn't. So where was she? I got some >> [music] >> gas. It was a little light bulb. So >> [music] >> that's when I figured she wasn't here. Looked over here she wasn't there. So that's when I turned around and I thought maybe I walked past her or something. And then I came back out here and I saw [music] she was lying in there on the floor. And then where was she lying? Just in there just lying on the floor. In the hallway here? No. We can we can go in. Where was she? She was in here and she was laying this way. She was lying on the floor. I just saw her lying on the floor and all I thought was like what is happening? I didn't have any words even. I just just completely confused about what was going on at that moment. Okay. You had mentioned she had a cut or something on her. She had a small [music] mark on her head towards the top up here. Mhm. Where do you think that was from? I just I have no idea. I just remember seeing that I stepped into the room and I just I just kind of freaked out and I [music] stepped back out and I just I paced for a minute. Did you check for any vitals or anything? I didn't even touch her initially but [music] I didn't even know what to do. I just kind of paced and tried to figure out what I was supposed to do. How long was she on the floor before you had decided to check her or do something with her? I had no idea. What did you do with her? I tried to When I finally went back in there I tried to shake her. She didn't do anything. She didn't even make a sound. She just she just laid there. She she didn't like make any sounds or whatever. Where was her phone? Her phone was in her car still. All right. So what did you you pick her up obviously I mean she didn't walk to the car. I brought her out here where it was more space so I could see and try to figure out what's going on and she was still unresponsive. She still didn't Was she bleeding from her head? You said she had a cut so was it like a fresh wound? Like well I mean did you see it when she had come over earlier in the evening before you left to get gas? Did she have that wound on her head? >> [music] >> No. There was there she was fine. There was nothing. She was talking you know she seemed normal for her. I could see she was breathing [music] but the breathing just sounded funny. I didn't even know. It's like I didn't know if it was like snoring or I just didn't know anything and then it just it just none of it made sense. Was there any blood on the floor from her cut? I didn't see any at the time. No. I didn't notice any. When you cleaned up cuz you had to clean up the next day was there any blood? There was a small spot I just wiped and I hoped it was good. Where was where was that? It was on the floor. Can you show me where? Near where your chair is. >> [music] >> Was it in back of the room obviously? What did you use to clean it up with? I already cleaned up. You used my daughter's other thing. The same rag? It was a small spot over there that was. So there was a small spot of blood around there but you found her head over here. No. She was she was in the room. She Okay. So you carry her out you take her to the living room you try to try to assess [music] to see what's going on. You bring her out here to the living room. And then where do you take her from there? I just put her in the car. And then I just figured if I just >> you carried her out? Did you carry her like this or did you throw her over your shoulder? >> I just carried her. Okay. >> know if she [music] was able to get her up and carry her. All right. So, show me show me how you walked to your to uh walked her to the car. Or you carried her? I just went around. You went around this way here? I just remember putting her in the car. That's it. I just put her in the car and I thought I'll take you home. All right. Let's walk to the car. Show me where You know, do you remember what side you put her in? I don't even know. I just I just remember putting her in the car. And even after that, I didn't know what to do. Did you put her in the front, Steven? About this side right here? No, I didn't put her in the front. I put her in the back. >> [music] >> You put her in the back seat? Yeah, I wanted Faith to be in the car so that she could I was hoping she'd come to and I don't know. She was still and obviously she still had that cut on her head, right? This is just for the record, this is Trisha's car, which I remember being Trisha's car, right? Yes. All right. So, when you put her in, where do you put her head? Um initially I just sat her here. I didn't lay her all the way down. Okay. I had to go around the opposite side. Like got my arms under her and pulled her through. I just laid her head down. Okay. I didn't get caught at the door. I just kind of sat there. I just I don't know. I just did a lot of >> [music] >> a lot of I don't know what's going on. A lot of I don't know what to do. And then Where's her phone at this point? It's It's in the car. I think it's in the front somewhere. Her phone was in the front. What color was it, do you remember? No, I don't. I just remember it was her phone. You mentioned yesterday it was an iPhone. Yeah, she has an iPhone. And where was her purse and wallet at this point? They were still in the car. They were in the back seat. They were still in the Okay. All right. So, then you get in the car from there or what do you do after she's in the car? I went back inside and I just kind of sat for a minute thought and sat and I still didn't know what to do and I was like, I'm just going to take her home. I'm just going to [music] take her home. Like I'll just I'll just take her home and then maybe I don't know, but I can take her home and she's okay. And by this time, she's already deceased, correct? >> [music] >> I didn't check at that point. I just figured I could just take her home. I didn't know what to do with her. I just Why don't you have mentioned yesterday, you know, the house heard [music] the shallow breathing and after some more time we had determined that you know, she was deceased in the car. I just I just didn't want any part [music] of that. All right. So, you took this car, right? You drove it around, right? All right. Let's Let's go back in the Because he was so emotional, Steven didn't realize where he was, on the same road he claimed to have driven Trisha. Just do your best to remember the area which you took her to. And I remember you said that you we had discussed her already passing away by this point cuz you mentioned or you mentioned to me you looked in the looked in her eyes with the flashlight that she had in the trunk. Yes. And you didn't get a reaction, but she was peaceful looking, right? Yes. Okay. When detectives sense a suspect is close to the truth, they'll often start filling in the gaps, making it easier for the suspect to agree and finally say it. Well, you wanted to make sure she was somewhere where the average person wasn't going to find her. I just drove. I didn't even know where I was going. I just drove just to drive. Did you have to climb any of the little ditch banks or anything? No, I don't remember doing any of that. Do you remember being any fencing around? No. Trees? I couldn't see them if they were there. It was so dark. Well, she had headlights. Steven, you you got to finish this, man. You're so close. I know it was dark. We've already established that. We've already established that you freaked out. >> I didn't even know where I was. I just You have to know the general area. I don't know where I I don't even know where this is. Remember it yesterday, there was so many things you couldn't remember, but I'm not going to sit and drive around with you for 5 6 hours again today. I understand. And if I knew You do know. >> I would take you right there. You do know where she's at. The only reason that you would not take us to her is if something else happened at house and you're not telling me. >> [music] >> She will be found. She will be found. >> by now she already would have been found. Okay. Then take us to where she would have been found. Where did you take her to? I don't know. Steven, you do know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. It was just dark and the road was dusty. Do you love your daughter? Of course I do. Okay. You need to get her mother back to her. But I can't. I don't know what >> I told you she's going to need some type of stability and you're all she's got. You are the only living parent that she has left. Show your daughter, right, that you took us to her mother. You need to show her, right? She's going to grow up saying, "My dad did something to my mom and he left her out. He left my mom out to get eaten by animals." Is that what you want your daughter to grow up thinking? >> What the detectives didn't know was that the truth was far darker than anyone imagined. And as long as Trisha's body hadn't been found, Steven held onto it. Without the body, Steven couldn't be charged with first-degree murder and the rest of the evidence was circumstantial at best. They needed him to confess. When that didn't happen, it was time for plan B. Steven didn't realize that while he took the detectives on a wild goose chase across Florida, his story was that he left with Trisha unconscious and came back to his Airbnb later that night. The entire time he left Faith alone. He was charged with child neglect and brought into custody. Knowing he was going to be behind bars, he made one last-ditch effort to spin the truth. Yeah, there was a mix-up with the check, but that's not my fault because you told me this was your address. So, yeah, that's where I mailed it to. And then she's telling me that's not the mailing address. So, what am I I'm like, that's not my fault. If you told me you moved, I did the responsible thing. I thought she's going to go to court and all this other stuff. It's my fault. And I'm just like, this isn't even my fault. Like you told me you moved, so I adjusted it. Like just calm down. Like this isn't even that serious. This is easily rectifiable. Why are you getting all out of hand about this, you know? And and and yeah, I know I didn't go through the court to pay child support. But every time I tried, it was just she just stole all my money. Like I don't want to do that because I'd pay money to send you money, which is stupid. I was like, just let me have your account information. Just Just like account number and I'll direct deposit and this will never happen. And then oh, that was that's not going to work. You can't do that. You owe me all this money. And then she's going to go to court and make me pay you all the other money from the divorce that I already took over 10,000 like 20-some thousand dollars in debt that I have to have to pay back in 18 months. And then if I don't pay all that back, I got another 6,000 dollars I got to pay. You just went from zero to 100 and I'm trying to understand like what just happened. Like you were just here earlier. Everything was fine. You left. We're arguing about something that I'm sitting and thinking this is unbelievably trivial and it's going to be fixed. I can fix this by the first. Just give me time and I'll make sure you get the money. I'll make it in two separate payments or whatever you need me to do. It's just not It's just not good. It's not going to work. None of this works. And she eventually falls asleep anyway, but she's still like arguing with me over in the the foyer area. And I'm just like, please just leave then. Just go. No, I'm not leaving till we fix this. Like Just get out. Like I don't It just escalated. And then I just moved her away and then she slipped. And that's when she freaking fell and I'm like, oh [ __ ] I asked her if she was okay. It was like a weird sound. She didn't say anything though. And then I freaking panicked and then I I just freaking panicked because I didn't I didn't try to hurt you. I just wanted you to stop being here in my face and yelling at me as I'm trying to back away. I'm trying to de-escalate. I don't want Whatever this is, it's not It's not that serious. I don't know why it's so serious about this money. It's always been so like even after the divorce, every penny it's just been so serious about her trying to get every dollar. >> He claimed he didn't know what happened, but he did. It just kept getting worse. Just She just wasn't responding. And she had She made weird breathing sounds and I'm thinking, oh, I wanted to kill you. Like I wanted to kill you. It was a moment that I never wanted to hurt you. Never. I don't think he did. wanted her to be hurt. I I never wished ill on her. I tried to always do right by her no matter what the situation. I just tried to do the right thing. >> [snorts] >> And all day it is, I'm going to jail for for trying not to hurt you. >> [music] >> And that's I mean that's that's exactly why I wanted you to tell me. I tried to just I wanted it to just stop. It was only a couple of minutes. I just wanted to just go back. I just >> [clears throat] >> Okay. In that moment, Steven held to his story that he left her body in the open and had no idea what became of it. But right before the case began, he negotiated a plea deal. He wanted to be charged with second-degree murder in exchange for the location of the body. It seemed like the perfect solution, but no one was prepared for how things would unfold. All right. You have the trash bag, okay? And when we get there, when we get there, I need you to put this place where she's at so we have some type of marker so we don't get it wrong. Okay? >> [snorts] >> This All right. You take >> This small pit had been completely submerged underwater because of the frequent rains in the area until the day they drove back out there. But the horror was yet to worsen. >> [music] >> Buried deep inside the ground was a gray plastic tub. Inside was what was left of Trisha Todd. Her body had been dismembered using a chainsaw and then submerged in acid. Acid that he'd bought weeks ago in North Carolina. By the time it was retrieved, there was barely anything left. >> [music] >> Before burying the box, Steven had removed all of her teeth and cut off the tips of her fingers and then burnt them along with her clothes. Whatever was left, he threw into a lake nearby thinking no one would ever look there. But the detectives did. He wanted there to be no way for anyone to identify Trisha's remains, but ended [music] up having to point to them himself. The level of planning that went into executing the burial proved that wasn't a crime of passion. He planned this murder for months and thought about every possible angle. The reason why his car came out clean was that he was always going to use Trisha's car to transport the body. So even if traces of DNA were found, they could be explained. But he didn't account for Trisha's car being out of gas. If he didn't have to get out there and refill it, he would have never been caught on CCTV. That one piece of footage ended up being the one reason Steven's plan fell apart. On September 30th, 2016, [music] he was sentenced to 35 years in prison for second-degree murder and [music] 5 years for child neglect with a 5-year term running concurrently because of his plea deal. The only way Steven could ever receive a longer sentence is if the Air Force steps in to charge him. But it's been almost a decade since the crime was committed and that hasn't happened. Steven's choices left Faith without a mother and now without a father. But Trisha's brother stepped forward becoming the rock and guardian her daughter would need. We love the little girl. We were pillows to have her enter our family. >> [music] >> We sought to adopt her. It was about a 5-month process. So we're raising her as our own. >> Her wild personality, where she's giddy and and hyper and running around and and so playful, it's it mimics my sister's personality. She'll grow up knowing the best parts of her mother, but sadly also with the truth about who took her away.