Oh [ __ ] >> Yeah, it looks like there's a rope. >> It's literally like she and just not her. >> This is 50-year-old Matthew Moore. Police have just arrived at his home after he reported his wife, Emily Noble, missing. I have this gut feeling right here. It's when my son died. >> A year earlier, Emily's and Matthew's son went missing only to be found dead in a forest near their home. Emily's ex-husband also died by self-inflicted means. And just 4 months after this body cam footage, Emily's body was found in the exact same way as their son. Most disturbing was that when Matthew first reported Emily missing, he somehow knew down to every detail how she would be found months later, leading detectives to suspect him of murder. But Matthew was smart. >> You killed her. >> No, I didn't, sir. >> [ __ ] didn't murder her and he threw her out like a piece of garbage. >> On a Monday afternoon, Westerville police receive a call from a concerned husband reporting his wife missing. This left police immediately worried as just a year earlier he reported his son missing who would turn up dead. When they arrive and start speaking with the man, something about him immediately feels off. >> Hey. >> Hey. How you doing? >> My wife's miss more. >> No. Officer Hollife. >> She's uh uncharacter uncharacteristically missing. >> Okay. >> I have her her wallet's here. She carries a wallet, ID. I have some money. Her phone's here. Cars in the garage. And I've been up since 10:00. Probably >> 10:00 a.m. today. >> Probably guessing. When I got up this morning, all I did was look on my phone, find my phone, and it said she was here. Just figured she was in the other room. Eventually, I got up. I walked around. She wasn't here. She forages. She goes for walks and she picks wild edibles. That's kind of her hobby. She goes around here. It's a real short walk. It's 15 minutes the most. A lot of the time I was like, "Well, maybe she's just out doing that." But >> so you would know where we could look if we needed to go that way. >> Yeah. But I mean, yeah, and it's public. It's on a bike trail. I mean, I don't know why she would stop there. >> At this point, Emily Noble has been missing for 7 hours. And although Matthew has an idea of where she might be, he made no effort to search for her himself. His inaction is unusual. And over the next few minutes, more red flags emerge, leading the officer to question Matthew's possible involvement in Emily's disappearance. >> I have a gut feeling right here. It's when my son died. >> It's right [ __ ] this is so unusual. >> I'm I'm dying. >> I'm afraid something happened. >> This is not normal. >> Yeah. This isn't This isn't uh >> Has she ever threatened to harm herself? Ever done this before? >> No. Okay. Is y'all's relationship healthy? She never threatened to leave you or anything like that? >> No. More than any other relationship. >> All right. So, I see that the bed was made. Did you do that or she did that? >> That is uh I just noticed that. You're right. I didn't make the bed. She did. That bed was made when I got up today. I didn't make it. So, she was I'm guessing computer. >> Where was her cell phone? Was it with her wallet? >> Yes. Okay, I'm going to go talk to my supervisor real quick. He's going to help start circulating the area you told me about. Just give me just a second. And I also want to contact St. An's and see if maybe she's over there. Okay, give me just a second, sir. Thank you. >> Matthew is already expressing concerns that something bad might have happened to Emily. He compares it to the feeling he had a year earlier when his son Joey tragically died by self-inflicted means. Joey was found in a local park near their home in Westerville. The officer finds it strange that Matthew is making this connection so quickly with Emily missing less than a day. Inside the house, Emily's bed is made, suggesting she left the house after waking up. She also left her phone by the bedstand, which seemed unusual. The officer heads out to speak with neighbors, hoping for any leads on Emily's whereabouts. When he returns with encouraging news from a neighbor down the street, Matthew responds with something oddly specific and deeply troubling, >> sir. Okay, >> you don't have to knock. Come on. >> All right, so we found a little bit of information. We still don't know where she is yet. Your neighbor saw her in the garage between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m. this morning. This morning? >> This morning? >> 10 in the morning? >> Yeah, around 9 10:00. Can you show me your vehicle? Is it better to go inside or this way? >> Keys in the car. >> All right. Is there keys in the car? No. >> I The worst case scenario in my head, maybe she did something to herself. >> Do you have any reason why? That's what I'm You know what I mean? Not I I I would hate to think even think about something. I mean, >> it's literally like she vanished. It's just not. >> Let me let me show you one thing. And just cuz I'm crazy. >> No. Show me. >> This thing here doesn't belong here. >> What do you mean doesn't belong here? >> Doesn't belong. That's where it belongs. Right there. I just noticed it. I took it and put it there. >> Now, can she reach that? Cuz she's very short. I don't know. I would hate to think. I don't know, man. It's just weird that it's here. >> A neighbor reported seeing Emily in the garage earlier that day, which should have reassured Matthew, but instead, he points out a misplaced power cable. It seems odd and irrelevant at first, but when seen through the lens of staging a self-inflicted death, it takes on a different meaning. He could deliberately be highlighting an object that might plausibly explain Emily's disappearance while letting the officer draw the conclusion on his own. What troubles him more, however, is how certain Matthew already seems about her fate. With no evidence to back that claim, his certainty only makes him appear more suspicious. For the moment, the officer leaves Matthew's house and the police begin searching for Emily across Westerville. What they don't realize is that she's been right under their noses all along. 2 days after Emily's disappearance, police are running out of options. With no clear leads, they still have no idea where she might be or what happened to her. So, while most of the Westerville PD continues searching, investigators bring Matthew in for a voluntary interview, hoping his insight might explain why Emily suddenly vanished. But the interview quickly takes a turn Matthew never expected. [Music] >> Sorry, man. >> Thank you. >> It's hard for me in here. >> Okay. I I can appreciate that. >> And like I told you, you when we were out there, you were not under arrest. Uh you weren't handcuffed coming in. Is that correct? >> Correct. >> Okay. And that door doesn't lock. This is a voluntary interview. >> We could have done this at my house. >> No, this part we can't can't do that >> because it's not voluntary. No, >> it's completely voluntary. >> Then I could leave if I wanted to. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> I don't want to. I'm just >> Yeah. Try that door right now. >> At some point. Could we like I want to help you. I I want to get this going cuz I didn't do it and I want you to find whatever the hell happened to her. I want I want it to to happen. Matthew immediately questions the nature of this voluntary interview. Even though the detective had just reiterated that it was entirely voluntary, already giving them a reason to be suspicious, he declares he didn't do it. An odd statement considering his wife was only missing for 2 days, and neither he nor the police have any idea what might have happened to her. With the formalities over, a second detective steps in. For Matthew, the questioning is about to get much tougher. And it wasn't long before he started contradicting himself. >> Does she always have her phone with her? >> It she always has her phone with her. And the only time she doesn't and I'd said this um when the first guy that came over um she goes out for these forage things and she does this route and um he was like, "Does she ever go out at night, you know, by herself?" And I'm like, "No, but she does." Between 11 and 3, what were you doing? Were you just laying there on the couch? >> 11 in the morning till 3:00 in the afternoon, it was lying in my son's room. >> Okay. And you didn't you didn't notice she was gone or >> Yeah, absolutely. Her sister um made a group text. It was at 3:45. >> Mhm. >> And she says she responded to it >> at 3:45 p.m. on Monday. >> Yes. Let me think. I'm getting up. No, it was 8:45 in the morning. That's what it was. So, while I'm sleeping, >> she said she sent a group text at 8:45 that morning >> to her and I and from that you can tell whether someone views it and she said that we both viewed it at some point. So, to me, she was there at 8:45. Emily was there. And the guy across the street, John, said that she saw her at 10:00 or 10:30 or whatever. >> No, that's incorrect. John has since backtracked. >> So, that makes it look bad for me, I guess. >> Well, it just makes it gray. I mean, not just we're not going to put >> If you guys want to look at any of my body, you want to look at any anything at all, I'm I'm I'm here. >> Well, let's just let's just talk. And >> I hope you guys know that I love my wife and I would never hurt her. >> Matthew gives conflicting answers about whether Emily might have gone out overnight, something detectives quickly pick up on. But when they later reviewed body cam footage from 2 days earlier, they noticed a flashlight sitting on top of the box where the misplaced power cable had been. This suggested one of two things. Either Matthew was being completely honest, or he had been extremely meticulous in his involvement with her disappearance. He claims Emily was still at the house around 8:45 a.m. pointing to a text she viewed from her sister and citing a neighbor who claimed to have seen her at that time. But that neighbor had already retracted his statement, admitting that he may have been mistaken about the day, stripping away one of the only details backing up Matthew's story. And it's here that he begins making disturbingly specific assumptions about what might have happened to Emily. You guys got married two years ago. >> We got married August 28th, 2018. Easy one to remember, right? >> 82818. >> And I had a son. [Music] Do you need tissues or anything? Drink of water. Okay, we know about him. We don't We don't need to They love each other. It was horrible. Oh, schizophrenia is the worst thing that happens. Um, I don't know where to go now. What do you want to know? >> So, scale 1 to 10, relationship with her, what would you what would you rate it? >> It would it would fluctuate, but we were on since 6 months. It was an eight. eyes. I did not hurt my wife. I did not hurt my wife. I loved her. I would speculate to say that she might have hurt herself, but if she did, you would have found her by now. She would have went down somewhere close >> and done it. Was there times when she would kind of say, you know, I'm not afraid to this thing. Yeah. I mean, don't they all kind of be like that? >> And why why would you think she would hurt herself? I mean, possibility >> because she was not not that she ever would. I'm just saying she she she was emotional. She would get emotional. >> If you ask me, if I had to bet, I I feel like there was some foul play involved. I would think it's very odd that she would leave voluntarily, leave all of her possessions, items behind, not go to work. So, it's a possibility. It's happened before, but very unlikely. Or is she involuntarily missing? So, my question is, what happened to her? We know that you were the last person to see her. That's what we know >> definitively. >> Is there anything I can do to make it so you guys don't think that? Is there a polygraph test? Is there anything anything unique? >> Matthew speaks about Emily in the past tense. Something detectives quickly take note of. He also suggests she may have been contemplating self harm. Yet, police had confirmed through interviews with friends and family that she had no history of mental health issues and wasn't taking any medication. Even so, Matthew insists he isn't involved in her disappearance and even offers to take a polygraph to prove his innocence. That chance would come soon enough, but instead of clearing his name, it does the exact opposite. For now, detectives decide to confront Matthew with what they believe might have happened to Emily. And that theory immediately casts him as the prime suspect. Was Emily in a rough? >> Uh, she like um um was rough. I mean, not really. Did she like to be choked? No, but I mean, not to the point where she couldn't breathe or like really hardcore like that. talking with with one of her friends. There was a time within the the last year where she had bruises on her. The friend was concerned that you were being physically abusive towards her. Dem then told her that no, that's not the case. It it was right, which again completely legal. >> Well, there you go. I don't understand why that would help you find where she is right now. >> Would you pass a lie detector test? Absolutely. Let's do it. You do it. You go. >> When asked directly, Matthew downplays their intimacy, insisting that they didn't really practice choking. Detectives immediately challenge this with messages between Emily and a friend. Only then does Matthew admit they engaged in it. Though he frames it as something mutual and consensual rather than abusive. By now, detectives are increasingly skeptical of his version of events and decide to put him through a lie detector test, a test he had previously claimed he was eager to take. But it wouldn't go the way he expected. [Music] >> All right, Matthew. >> Yes, sir. >> As I said, there are no tricks. I have not lied to you since I first went up to your house yesterday. I'm not going to start now. Now, when I ask you the questions, I just want you to answer yes or no. Is your name Matthew Moore? >> Yes. >> Are the lights on in this room? >> Yes. >> Do you know where Emily is? >> No. >> Is this the month of May? >> Yes. >> Did you kill Emily? >> No. >> Are we in the city of Westerville? >> Yes. How do you think it went? Did >> you comfy with it? Yeah. Does it make sense and everything? >> I I said maybe no something that was a little awkward. >> Okay. >> The CVSA test has now concluded and detectives escort Matthew out of the room so they can assess it. And almost immediately, it's clear something about his answers doesn't add up. This is not good. Number four is you know where she is. >> Yeah, that's definitely he said four and seven. >> The CVSA test flags signs of deception in Matthew's responses, particularly when asked about Emily's whereabouts. While not definitive proof, investigators consider the results significant enough to guide their next steps. With this in mind, they bring Matthew back into the room. And this time, their questioning takes on a far more confrontational tone, reflecting how strongly they now suspect his involvement in Emily's disappearance actually was. >> How do you think you did? >> Good. I mean, >> you did not do good. This one that you picked out? >> How can this be? >> You I'm just pointing it to you. >> Do you want me to take another test? Do you want me to do it again? >> No. >> I mean, I am extremely nervous. What do you think happened to Emily? >> She would say that if she was going to do it, she would do it where you where she would be easily found and she wouldn't want to cause any problems. >> Okay. Cuz we said she hasn't been easily found. Is it plausible that she didn't herself? >> No, I don't know what to tell you. I I wish there was something I could tell you. I love my wife. I want my wife to come home. She's dead at this point. She's dead. >> Well, realistically, she's dead. She She's not going to float out of the mouth. >> You found her body. >> No. No. >> This is very odd. Now, I'm suspicious of what's going on now. What am I doing? Can I >> Am I Is this still a consensual thing? >> Absolutely. >> Can I leave? >> Yes, >> you can do whatever you want. I have to leave. >> You understand how this looks. >> I didn't do anything. >> You understand how this looks, though. >> Can I ask you one more question? You can word it how you want, but her text messages about your relationship, your marriage were bad. >> I guess um I'm really super positive and you know what I mean? Try to >> focus on though, man. >> I don't I don't really >> If someone asks you a question, you still answer it honestly, >> especially in a very important situation like any human being. >> I answered it wrong because you're not trying to find your wife right now. >> Yes, I am. >> Don't lie to the cops. >> Any inconsistencies? Any inconsistency? You lied. >> I didn't. I didn't lie. >> You didn't lie to officer Hollis. You didn't lie to us. >> I didn't lie to anybody. If I If I said something, I misrepresented something. I wasn't an intention. >> Misrepresentation is aing lie. >> I didn't. That is a lie. There's truth or lies. That's all there is. There's no misrepresentation, misunderstanding. That's [ __ ] >> You killed her. >> No, I didn't, sir. >> Bull. >> I didn't. I didn't kill her. >> You killed her and it was an accident and we need to get this resolved today. >> It didn't happen. It didn't happen. It did happen. She's dead. >> How do Where is she? What are you talking about? >> That's why we people are here. >> People are saying they have seen her. >> You people are full of that her phone says you're done. I have done >> that thing's full. You understand how this looks though that everyone >> you guys I didn't I didn't do anything to my wife. >> I murdered her and you threw her out like a piece of garbage. >> I didn't I didn't tell me where she is. >> I don't know. Fix it right now. I didn't I don't know why this is happening. That's fine. Okay. >> Phone back. >> No. Nope. >> Westerville police didn't have evidence to hold Matthew, so he was released. But they continued to watch him closely. Inconsistencies in his story, his repeated references to Emily in the past tense, and the CDSA results all made investigators increasingly uneasy. A full-scale search was launched. Officers canvased the neighborhood, local parks Emily frequented, nearby bike paths, and the wooded areas, including the park where Matthew's son had been found a year earlier, but they came up empty, and Emily's whereabouts remained unknown. That changed 4 months later when a group of women walking in a Westerville park near the couple's home discovered a body. The group of women immediately called 911 and officers rushed to the scene. They knew the dead body could be the very person they had been searching for over the past several months. What they didn't expect was that the body would be discovered exactly as Matthew had described months earlier. >> So, you heard this call, right? >> Yep. >> Person. >> Yep. [Music] All right, back out. Hey. Hey, get them out of here. Set up crime scene tape. >> Yep. >> This is been there a long time. >> Yeah. >> What was it? May >> May was when she was in the hell it's the cape and everything. So, the big thing now is setting up a perimeter. You know who this likely is? >> Yes. >> And getting a car over to that house >> to tell them, >> "Hey, Dickson, what? Make sure those people aren't texting this out to anyone." >> Hey, grab their phones for right now. You guys take pictures. >> All right. Grab their phones for right now >> cuz the second this gets out, something's going to happen over there. Yep. So, Dude, that's a uh a computer cord. >> That's a USB. That's a USB. That's a computer. You can see right there. >> Yep. >> What is she wearing? >> Looks like a >> some kind of like a night out. >> And exactly. >> What is that? >> What is that? >> That's the top of the >> That's a water bottle. >> Water bottle. Maybe >> that's a water bottle. Police find a woman dead, almost as if she was intentionally laid out under the base of a tree. One arm rested by her side near a black water bottle containing a peachcoled alcoholic beverage. Nearby lay a wedding band and an engagement ring. Somehow, officers had missed the dead body despite searching for Emily extensively over the past 4 months. The coroner's examination confirmed that the body was indeed Emily. Astonishingly, Matthew had predicted almost every single detail of how she would be discovered, close to home, by apparent self-inflicted means, and even using a chord similar to the one he had mentioned months earlier. By this point, the eerie accuracy of Matthew's statements had become too much for the Westerville police to ignore. The next morning, he was indicted on two counts of murder and one count of felonious assault in connection with Emily Noble's death. Officers went to his house to take him into custody. What they didn't know yet was that Matthew wouldn't remain in custody for long. >> Hands on your feet. >> You see him good? >> His elbow. I can see him good. >> Use your left hand and unlock the door. Only your left hand. Put your hands back on your head. Do not move. >> Yes, sir. >> Keep your hands right where they're coming off. >> You got anything on you? All right. Step straight out here. We're going to work. >> Come on. Good, guys. All right, we're going to walk over here towards the grain. All right, got >> together. >> Matthew was taken into custody in June and remained in jail until his trial the following August. During that time, investigators built their case, convinced he murdered his wife, 52-year-old Emily Noble, and staged her death to look self-inflicted. Prosecutors pointed to his behavior after she went missing, like not joining volunteer searches as evidence he knew she was already dead. They also stressed his past tense references to Emily in interviews and the CVSA tests that suggested deception, though those results were not admitted in court. The defense countered that the case was built on speculation. There were no eyewitnesses, no DNA linking Moore to the scene, and self-inflicted death was a real possibility. Emily's first husband had died the same way, and Moore's teenage son had also taken his own life the year earlier. They also pointed out investigative errors, mishandled evidence, and Moore's cooperation with police. Expert testimony proved conflicting. A forensic anthropologist noted fractures consistent with strangulation or a staged scene, while the coroner ruled the death a homicide, but defense experts showed the branch and USB cord could have supported a self-inflicted death, arguing the injuries were not definitive. In closing arguments, prosecutors emphasized circumstantial evidence and timeline issues while the defense urged jurors to focus on reasonable doubt. After less than 3 hours of deliberation, the jury acquitted Matthew Moore on all counts. He broke down in tears as the verdict was read, and the judge reminded the court that convicting the wrong person would never serve true justice.