True Crime Vault: What If?
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This is Deborah Roberts. Welcome to the 2020 True Crime Vault. Each week, we reach back into our archives and bring you a story we found unforgettable. Only a true psychopath could do this. A pool of blood coming from his head. Somebody had been paid to kill me. Why would you want your husband killed? Take a listen. Coming up...

A pregnant daughter vanished. I don't think I can survive if I don't find her. And a mother who won't give up. A mysterious disappearance. The disappearance of Kelsey Schelling. Long after she fears the worst possible outcome. We do not have a record of Kelsey Schelling ever being here. An on-again, off-again boyfriend. A high school hoopstone.

as a person of interest. - You're on video, dude, in her car with her critical. - Then, a mysterious late night Facebook message blows everything apart. Your daughter is not dead. She will be back home alive. - A picture was sent, a name was given. - Halfway across the country, another family with a missing daughter gets a very similar message. - He says I know where Megan is.

And I can get her back. I see him. That should be him. We go undercover in search of a man in a red cap, a money drop in a McDonald's parking lot in exchange for missing girls. Come into a parking lot to collect $75,000? A lot of people would say that sounds like a criminal enterprise. I'm as shocked as you guys. It is the ultimate showdown, the two lives still on the line. It was just what if, what if, what if?

I'm John Quinones. Two young women missing, their abandoned cars left behind, two mothers desperate to find them, and the unnerving connection between two families, strangers living more than a thousand miles apart.

Were the disappearances of Kelsey Schelling and Megan Lancaster related? And who was the mysterious person saying they could help find them? Three years after Kelsey's disappearance, Ryan Smith first brought us this story of a mother's never-ending search.

February 2013. Dawn breaks cold and clear on a Tuesday morning in Denver, Colorado. And as morning turns to midday, a question hangs in the thin air of Mile High City.

Where is Kelsey Schelling? The vivacious 21-year-old recently discovered she's pregnant. Now she's late for work at this Denver housewares store. She didn't show up for work. I tried calling her, I think from my cell phone and the store phone, couldn't get a response. At his hardware store in Holyoke, Colorado, Kelsey's father, Doug, also has trouble connecting. Then I thought, well, I'm going to call and see how she's doing. She didn't answer her phone, which is pretty rare.

Tuesday turns into Thursday and the silence gets louder. Concern morphs into panic, especially for her mother, Laura. - All of her friends started contacting us saying, "We've been trying to reach Kelsey and we can't reach her." And when that happened, that is when I got really, really scared because I just thought there has to be a logical explanation. - But since that fateful February week,

No explanation has arrived. Developments of the disappearance of a Denver woman. 22-year-old woman. Kelsey Jean Schelling disappeared on a trip to southern Colorado. Father, we pray that you would help us to find clues today. With no word from Kelsey, Laura spent years searching on her own.

What do we want? Justice! Knocking heads with the local police department for their handling of the case. We appreciate you all so much. Your support keeps us going. And getting wrapped up in a mystery of her own involving allegations of sex trafficking and extortion. More on that later. It's unbelievable to me doing all the things that I'm doing to just, you know, get out and fight people like I have.

The story traces back here to a town called Holyoke, a couple of hours east of Denver, where the scenery looks more like Kansas than a Coors commercial. This is where Kelsey was born and raised. Where's the papa? She liked to be silly, liked to laugh.

You know, you look at, like, these pictures and you can just see that. Mother and daughter develop a tight, unbreakable bond after Laura and her husband Doug split up when Kelsey was just 11 years old. It was just she and I together alone for a lot of years, you know, so we were very close, pretty inseparable, basically.

Kelsey attends nearby Northeastern Junior College with plans to study psychology. There, she becomes fast friends with her roommate, Allie Sandoval. She was very fun. She was laughing all the time, always getting into trouble and just out to have a good time. And at school, a key figure enters her life, Dante Lucas.

Their backgrounds cannot be more different. Dante hails from the central Colorado town of Pueblo, a place more Walmart than Little House on the Prairie. Blue Collar Pueblo has a reputation as the most dangerous town in Colorado because of its high crime rate. At Central High School, Dante stands out as a 6'7 basketball star. Dante! Dante! He just had a mad passion just for basketball. He loved everything about the game. Good job!

and hoping that he can go on to a Division I basketball school and then maybe make it to the NBA. But the big college recruiters never come calling. Instead, Dante ends up playing ball at tiny Northeastern Junior College, literally the big man on campus, and in a whirlwind romance with Kelsey Schelling. To Kelsey's friends, the relationship turns toxic from the start. They were very one-on-one. They never...

were with anyone else, you know, when they were together, it was just them two and nobody else existed. And then gradually, eventually, it became they would fight. He would be putting her down, calling her names, saying that she was fat and ugly and nobody else wanted her. And she was lucky enough to have him in her life because she wasn't going to get anything else. After a couple of tumultuous semesters, the two split up.

By 2012, Kelsey has quit school and is living in Denver, working at that home goods store. Dante, his hoop dream slipping away, is back in Pueblo. To the alarm of Kelsey's friends, the two reconnect. She loved him. You think he loved her? No. You don't treat someone that you love like that. You don't treat them with disrespect the way that he did for her. He would throw things. She would throw things. It was awful.

December rolls in like the snow drifts in Denver. Kelsey and Dante spend the Christmas holidays together. And shortly thereafter, mom is asking, what child is this? She called me when she found out she was pregnant. She was stressed. You know, just told her, you know, I will support you. You know, whatever you need, your family's behind you. Did she tell you anything about Dante's reaction? She said he was mad. She said

She said he was very angry. On Sunday, February 3rd, Kelsey writes to Dante, "I know now how you truly do feel. You have no obligation to me and you don't want to have anything with me."

The next morning, Kelsey has a prenatal checkup and the doctor delivers the news. She's eight weeks pregnant and her unborn child is in perfect health. She excitedly texts the sonogram to Dante and her family. She sent you a picture of the baby? Mm-hmm. What did you think when you saw the baby? I was happy. I knew that she was happy. After that checkup, Dante presses Kelsey to drive down to Pueblo, saying he has a surprise for her.

Just wait and see for yourself. You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you. Kelsey responds, Tell me what it is and I'll come. Dante, come see for yourself. I know it'll put you in a better mood.

Kelsey relents and at about 10:00 PM, the young mom to be finishes her shift and pulls away in her black Chevy Cruze, making the lonely two hour nighttime drive to Pueblo. From what I understand in talking to Kelsey's friends is that basically she and Dante were done.

I think she had accepted it and I think she was getting ready to move on. But I think he gave her hope that they could make it work and for the baby's sake she would be willing to do that. And I think that's how he got her to go to Pueblo was with that hope. Did you have any idea she was going there? No. If I would have knew she was, I would have made her take a friend or I would have, I would have

made sure and went with her. During the drive, Dante texts her to go to Walmart in Pueblo to meet him. At 11:20 p.m., Kelsey pulls into the Walmart parking lot. She waits almost an hour for Dante to show up, finally messaging him that she's tired of waiting and will come to him.

At 12.15 in the morning, Dante texts her to meet him on this street. They've met here before. It's near his grandmother's house, Dante's current crash pad. Again, she's left waiting in the car. Where are you, she messages him. I've been here over an hour just waiting. Kelsey is never seen again. By the end of the week, her phone shuts off and her mother is melting down. Does she panic?

and disbelief. I mean, I can't even really remember how scared I felt. Coming up, Dante tells his story to the cops. And you didn't hurt this girl, right? We are now leaning towards foul play. Is the basketball star a piece of a larger puzzle? And could Kelsey's case be connected somehow to another woman who's gone missing over a thousand miles away? Could there be a nationwide conspiracy kidnapping young women?

Stay with us.

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Now to the mysterious disappearance of a Denver woman. She seemingly disappeared. The disappearance, a disappearance of Kelsey Schelling. This much we know. On the night of Monday, February 4th, 2013, Kelsey Schelling, very troubled, very pregnant, and maybe still very much in love, makes that late night drive from Denver to Pueblo, Colorado...

to visit her boyfriend, Dante Lucas. Pregnant woman who vanished. Kelsey was eight weeks pregnant. She was last seen in Pueblo. When Kelsey's family reaches out to Dante, they say he seems oddly unconcerned. And I just said, if you hear from her, you need to tell her that we're taking this very serious and that we're calling the police.

And so he's like, okay, I will. What did he sound like on the phone? Because the call that you're making to him is, Kelsey, the woman that you are with, the mother of your child is missing. We are desperate to find her. Nothing, no. Not worked up, not, you know, just...

He's not scared? What can I do? How can I help? No, he just says if I hear from her, I'll let you know. Dante later comes back with news, but it's not what Laura was expecting. He said, I heard from Kelsey. She called from a private number. She said she doesn't have her phone.

And she said, "She'll be getting a hold of you." And I said, "Well, can you track that number?" I said, "We need that number that called you." And he's like, "Yeah, I'll get on that. I'll try and figure out what the number was." And then, of course, he never did. - Does that make any sense to you? - No. No. - The Pueblo PD take over the case. As the last person known to have seen Kelsey alive, Dante falls under immediate scrutiny and is called in for questioning.

How you doing? I'm good. He gives a detailed account of what happened, corroborating Kelsey's texts. He says Kelsey arrived at the Walmart meeting point after 11:00 PM. After waiting there in vain for 45 minutes, she and Dante finally rendezvous on Manor Ridge Drive near his grandmother's house where he'd been staying. And I actually came down to Pueblo, and we're talking or whatever.

She ended up getting mad at me or whatever. So I went back home that night. I thought she was just gonna go back home, but she ended up staying 'til the next morning.

Dante claims Kelsey never went home. Instead, he says she slept in her car. And at about 7:00 that morning, she asked him to take her to a local hospital because she wasn't feeling well. So once part of you, and she went in and stayed for about almost two hours, hour 45, two. She came out and she told me that she wasn't pregnant.

Now that's an eyebrow-raiser right there. Since just the previous morning, a doctor in Denver had confirmed the pregnancy and a healthy baby with that ultrasound. Still, Dante proceeds with his story, claiming at about 9 a.m., the two drove from the hospital and ended up at that Walmart where they parted ways, as it turns out, forever. So I went to go get some snacks, like something to eat because he was hungry, and then...

Could Kelsey have harmed herself? Distraught over a supposed miscarriage? In his interview, Dante described her as a troubled, erratic young woman. What can you tell me about that?

Dante cast her to police as someone who had troubles with drugs. I don't believe that, no. So do you think that Dante made all these statements up? Yes. And why do you think he did?

try and throw the attention some other direction. I mean, even if Kelsey did commit suicide, which I don't believe she did because she was happy. She wanted that baby. She wanted to be a mom. But if she committed suicide, you would find her body.

Dante is allowed to leave. And then, eight days after the disappearance, a breakthrough. The car of a missing Denver woman has been found in Pueblo. Kelsey's car is discovered in a different Pueblo hospital. The car was abandoned in the parking lot.

But Andrew McLaughlin, deputy police chief at the time, says police are unable to determine who left it there. We did not have any good security footage that could tell us who dropped off the car, how the car got there. But you find the car and no Kelsey. And no Kelsey. Normally if someone was going to go away for a few days, they'd take their car with them. So we are now leaning towards foul play. So we accelerate the case.

Attention now returns with some urgency to Dante's version of events. And already, some things aren't adding up. Remember how Dante said he dropped Kelsey off at this hospital at around 7 a.m. on February 5th? He said he waited outside for her. She went in and saved her daughter.

But there's just one problem with his story. We have no record of Kelsey Schilling ever being here at Parkview Medical Center. Now, what do you check to find out if she was here or not? We have a medical records system that keeps track of every patient that's ever walked through our doors. So for you, there was no way she's ever here. That's correct. We went to Parkview Hospital and they said, we have no record of Kelsey ever being here. Would that be a suspicious set of circumstances in the way you look at Dante? Yes, it is. In fact, much of the time,

Much of Dante's story is going to start to crumble quite shortly. Well, this is another glaring hole in his statement. Because there were security cameras almost everywhere along the way. And police say they showed no signs of Kelsey, only Dante. You're on video, dude. It's not the car. It's on the video. Stay with us.

Hi all, Kate Gibson here of The Bookcase with Kate and Charlie Gibson. This week we talked to Whoopi Goldberg about lots of things. But one of the things we talked to her about is how as a science fiction and graphic novel fan, she never saw herself on those screens or on those pages growing up. I mean, I didn't realize that part of me until I watched Star Trek. And I saw it because I love sci-fi.

And for some reason, it never occurred to me that I was missing until I was present. You're not going to want to miss this episode of The Bookcase from ABC News.

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Kelsey Schelling is missing. The last person believed to have seen her, her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Dante Lucas. Dante has told police he and Kelsey went to a local hospital that day, but hospital records show no such visit. As it turns out, that's not the only part of his account about to come under scrutiny. Once again, here's Ryan Smith.

You're looking at surveillance video of that Walmart parking lot from Tuesday at noon. This is Kelsey Schelling's black Chevy Cruze entering a parking spot. Remember, Dante told police he and Kelsey then went inside the store to grab something to eat. I just wanted to go get some snacks, like something to eat, because I'm hungry.

But watch closely. Only one person is seen emerging from that Chevy, and it's Dante. He gets out of the driver's side and walks toward the front of the store. ABC consultant and former FBI Special Agent Brad Garrett reviewed the video for us. This is another glaring hole in his statement where he contends that the two of them are together. And clearly, based on the surveillance, it's one person.

Dante is later seen walking through a parking lot in the rear of the store, where his mother arrives to pick him up. But what happens next to that parked Chevy? Could Kelsey still be in the car? Well, watch. As it sits and sits and sits. Through the day, through the night. And over an 18-hour period, nobody is seen getting in or out of the car.

But then, at 7:17 the following morning, a Walmart camera captures this man in a gray hoodie walking across a parking lot. Now, watch the camera trained on Kelsey's Chevy. The man with the hoodie approaches the car without hesitation. He opens the driver's door, gets in, and moments later,

drives the car away. It's a car that that person is familiar with. And we know earlier that Dante had the key. So who is this? I don't know. It's hard to imagine it's not anyone other than Dante. Who do you think that someone was that came back and drove that car away? You know,

There are similarities to Dante, but it's nothing that we can one-on-one say that is the person who drove it away. And other security cameras capture something Dante omitted from his account to police. Remember, he said after leaving the hospital that morning, he and Kelsey drove to the Walmart. But it turns out he did make a stop at this Pueblo bank. This video was shot at about 11:40 a.m. before he arrived at the Walmart.

Dante is seen pulling up to a drive-through ATM in Kelsey's Chevy Cruze, and he's using Kelsey's bank card to withdraw $400 from her account. Kelsey is nowhere to be seen. Is it suspicious for you that he uses that card? It is part of the suspicious activity, yes, and that is one more addition that we have in the case. Cops now believe that Dante knows much more about Kelsey's disappearance than he's letting on.

Time for Cops vs. The Rematch. This is the second time I'll talk to you. You're afforded certain rights by the Constitution. These detectives had a wealth of information to go at him that I and other people would have died to have in an interview. Playing a game of two-on-one, the Pueblo detectives confront Dante about his visit to the ATM using Kelsey's bank card. I have no nice way to put this, but why'd you get the money?

- The money? - Mm-hmm. - The what money I'm talking about? - 1139 at the bank. You're on video, dude. In her car with her credit card. You're on tape. - Yo, this is the 400 they're talking about? - Mm-hmm. - This is for my phone bill. - Why didn't she go with you to the ATM? It's not in the car. It's on the video. - I don't know.

The detective moves on to another topic, pressing the power forward about why there's no record of Kelsey ever showing up at that hospital. That's... That's like all I have to say, like...

It's clearly an opening. The light's almost coming on like I'm boxed here and I feel like I'm in trouble. But Garrett believes right at that moment, the cops make a blunder. Instead of cornering Dante on these contradictions, they hopscotch over to an unrelated topic.

And with that,

Game over. The detectives walk out of the room and the interrogation is concluded with key questions about that Walmart video, for instance, left unasked.

Unfortunately, this is a very poorly executed interview. I think it's a tremendous missed opportunity because you have a case that you don't have physical evidence. Pueblo police wouldn't discuss details of the interrogation, but they acknowledge that it was their last shot at talking to Dante about the case. Once he shut down, our avenues of trying to talk to him ended.

How did you read that? We read it as, you know, the possibility that he knows something. Now the police still have Dante dead to rights using Kelsey's bank card. So they arrest him and charge him with identity theft. But just a month later, to Kelsey's family's horror, the charge is dropped. How do you prove she did not or did give him permission at that time?

You don't know that. And since you had him permission to do it before, it makes it a very difficult case to prosecute. He's out there walking around free as a bird. Why would that be the case if he's in that interrogation room lying to your officers? Lying to someone is not evidence of the crime. I just have to ask you, how does all of this make you feel? Sick. Angry.

We just want an effective investigation done into Kelsey's disappearance. Bad blood develops between Kelsey's family and the Pueblo Police Department. Angry that the police refused to even classify Kelsey's disappearance as a criminal case, her family takes matters into their own hands. Her family is pleading for your help. They go public, holding a press conference to bring attention to the case. And law enforcement has informed us that Dante Luque

Lucas access her bank account. The family's plight strikes a chord in Pueblo. What do we want? Justice! Hundreds of residents join in the search for Kelsey. Kelsey's family offers a $50,000 reward and creates this Help Find Kelsey Facebook page with detailed information about the case and a call out for any tips. But despite these efforts, nothing turns up.

The ride home is always really tough, going home empty-handed. Two years pass. Hope fades. But coming up, a startling message is about to come through that Facebook page, giving Laura hope that maybe she can get her daughter back without the Pueblo police.

A mystery emailer is about to deliver shocking news. He claims he knows all about what Dante was up to and that Kelsey is alive, being held along with other kidnapped women. And there's video to prove it. That there was video of Kelsey screaming for help. Maybe she is out there. Maybe she is alive. I mean, it was just what if, what if. Stay with us. ♪

Two and a half years after the disappearance of Kelsey Schelling, her mother seems no closer to finding out what really happened. But as Ryan Smith reports, a stranger is about to offer hope Kelsey can be found and connect her with another grieving mother in a most disturbing way.

Your name's Tickle, right? As Laura Saxton tends pigs in her Yuma, Colorado home, she's convinced another kind of swine has taken her daughter. But was Kelsey murdered or could she somehow be alive? What if she is still out there somewhere? Our story is about to take a dramatic turn to the east. This is Portsmouth, Ohio, a stone's throw from the Kentucky border.

This former meatpacking hub, now plagued by prescription drug abuse, would seem to have nothing to do with the disappearance of Kelsey Schelling 1,200 miles away in Colorado. But listen to this mother's story. I want her to come running down that street.

Come walking around the corner. Marcella Lancaster has never met Kelsey's mom, Laura Saxton, but she knows all about her pain. You got to just, like, try not to cry every day in front of my grandson. Just two months after Kelsey's shelling disappeared, leaving behind no trace but her abandoned car, a strikingly similar fate befell Marcella's 25-year-old daughter, Megan.

She vanished from Portsmouth, also leaving behind no trace but her abandoned car. At first glance, there are a lot of similarities between these two cases, which one could conclude that the same individual or group are involved in both of them. The Portsmouth police are drawing a blank.

But Marcella and her family had been relentless in their search. An eerie feeling like there's something, like we're going to find something. Megan's sister-in-law Katie runs point for the family. And so, for more than three years, parallel family tragedies playing out in separate time zones.

Both families organizing searches, setting up Facebook pages to field leads, and doing whatever they can to keep public attention on their respective cases. Many in Pueblo are not giving up on finding clues that could help find Kelsey Schelling. Why do you think people feel so strongly about Kelsey's case? You know, they can't believe it. You know, they try and imagine what if it was their child.

And in both cases, both families realizing it may all be for naught. I was finally coming to terms with backing off a little bit. You've had so many dead ends in this situation. Is it hard to keep hope? As far as the hope of actually finding her, that dwindles.

you know, every day. But in October 2015, as Dante Lucas is working and playing basketball in Pueblo and Laura's reconciling herself to her worst case scenario, a startling development. A mysterious message of hope comes through that Help Find Kelsey Facebook page. It was from a woman who I'm not familiar with saying,

If I have information about Kelsey, can I remain anonymous? The woman says her name is Jenna McClain and that it's risky for her to come forward. Her life is in danger. She passes the conversation on to a male associate who writes, "Ma'am, please, your daughter is not dead. She will be back home alive."

The man knows all sorts of details of the case and offers a troubling account of what really befell Kelsey, claiming her baby daddy Dante had hired a friend to kill her.

- Dante has no idea she is alive. He thinks she is dead. Cliff, who was ordered to kill her, opted to keep her and sell her. - And that the friend did not kill her. He sold her into sex trafficking. He had a fake grave dug and showed that to Dante as proof that he had killed Kelsey. The baby had been aborted. There was video of it being done.

Kelsey screaming. How did that affect you? It's really hard to find words to use for it because it's so awful. It made me sick. I mean, I could barely function. That same month, 1200 miles away in Ohio, a nearly identical development. One Jenna McClain reaches out to Megan Lancaster's family through Facebook, saying...

says she has information, then passes the conversation on to a male associate who knows all about Megan's case. Out of nowhere, he pops up. He says, "I know where Megan is, and I can get her back." He tells me how she was tortured and that she was in sex trafficking, and he told me that they kept her on chains.

Both families get a nearly identical, highly bizarre proposition. The emailer says he can help each missing woman escape, but he needs money. He tells Katie to bring $50,000 in cash, 25 grand up front, to Vancouver, Washington, specifically to this McDonald's, and deliver it to a man named Marcus, who will be wearing a red hat. The exchange was that if I would come to Washington, that I could have Megan.

Laura gets the same offer. Once the money was exchanged, then this courier person would go and get Kelsey and bring her back to the

the McDonald's. Needless to say, the whole thing sounds fishy. In fact, it could be one of the most diabolical scams ever conceived. And yet, how can a desperate mother say no? I just thought, what if she's been out there and I could have found her and we haven't? Despite her skepticism, Laura decides to play ball, writing back she's ready to make a deal.

I'll have to sell some stocks, which will take about a week. But I can push to expedite that process. Katie also agrees. But there's a twist. Both families are working with 20/20. When it's time for the drop, the delivery man will be one of our producers. Enough games. Before we give this guy anything, it's time for some answers. Right when they're at the trunk, get ready. We're about 10 seconds away. Stay with us.

The mystery of Kelsey Schelling's disappearance has brought us all the way here, Vancouver, Washington, and in ordinary McDonald's, where somebody is about to conduct some extraordinary business. A picture was sent, a name was given, very specific instructions. Laura Saxton has arranged this meeting with a mysterious emailer. He's promised to return Kelsey from the clutches of a sex trafficking ring. If she will hand deliver $50,000,

here to a man named Marcus wearing a red hat. Concerned about possible criminal involvement, Kelsey's family has asked Vancouver police to meet the courier undercover. We didn't know if this actually was a sex trafficking issue or if it was extortion. It felt like law enforcement should have been involved in the situation.

But just before the appointed time, the Vancouver police back out, believing it to be a scam and not an actual human trafficking plot. But 2020 has that golden arches under surveillance, and our cameras are rolling as a man with a red hat enters. He sits quietly, doesn't even order a McShake, waiting for his takeout order of cold hard cash. But after no one shows up, he takes his leave.

We show the video to Laura. I'm really surprised that somebody actually showed up. It is weird, eerie to see that they actually were going through with this. Laura's more determined than ever to uncover the truth. Is this for real or is it a scam? It was just all a matter of trying to get down to the truth of this.

Now, 2020 has uncovered the key to cracking this mystery. It's that other tormented family in Ohio, the family of Megan Lancaster.

What if he really does have her and I can bring her home? They've also been promised to get their missing loved one back if they bring a supersized bag of Benjamins to that same Golden Arches and deliver it to a man named Marcus wearing, you guessed it, a red hat. It's almost a relief to know that they were doing this to somebody else in a way because the

then that's just 100% clarification that some dirtbags out there are trying to get money off of these poor families. Both families now convinced they're being conned and ready to fight back. I was like hell-bent on this person being found. I wanted to know why. Why did you randomly pick us? Why did you randomly pick

the other family. Why? Katie, you said this morning that they sent you a text message. To answer that question, Katie has agreed to work with us to set up a sting operation. They will be sending Marcus... Just two weeks after Marcus came to scoop up Laura's cash, Katie arranges a similar meeting of her own. But there's a twist. She will be bringing ABC News producer Jerry Wagshull and a hidden camera.

Katie and Jerry walk into that Vancouver McDonald's at the appointed meet time. They spot Marcus, the man with the red hat, and walk over to him. Katie's been instructed not to ask any questions, so they tell Marcus they've brought the money, but the cash is in the trunk of a car parked outside. Okay, let's get ready. They all head out to the parking lot, but before the trunk is open, it's time for a little heart-to-heart with Marcus. Marcus Ryan Smith, ABC News. How you doing? Pretty good.

Good. Why'd you come here to take $25,000 from Katie? I don't know. You don't know why you're here to take $25,000 from Katie? Nope. What are you here for? Oh, because to collect some money. Marcus claims he was suckered too, lured online into a supposed jewelry venture. He says he was supposed to pick up the money and wire it to someone he's never met. So a random guy tells you to go to a McDonald's twice in less than two weeks to meet people to pick up money, and you don't think anything of it?

I didn't think none of it. We were told that you were going to deliver Megan to Katie today. Is that true? I have no idea about no Megan or no kidnapping or anything like that. See how this doesn't make sense? Yeah. Do you see how it sounds like you're involved? This would be a scheme to extort money from families who have family members that are missing. I didn't know nothing of this. How could you even...

I guess even starved him. We're talking human trafficking here. I had no clue anybody was supposed to be exchanging nothing for a human being. If I did know, I would not have been involved in this situation.

we showed our confrontation with Marcus to Laura. I just feel shaky inside. Definitely a big scam. It's important that you be real honest with me. Yeah, I'm real honest. You have never heard of Kelsey Shelley? Never. You have never heard of Megan Lancaster? Never. I guess Marcus is the fall boy, and I want to know who's behind it.

So who was sending those emails? Well, it turns out they may be a little tougher to get to. An FBI analysis of the emailer's Facebook page revealed that it utilized an IP address which is traced back to, of all places, Russia. That's the frustrating part about Internet scams is they're

difficult to identify and even more difficult to hold the people accountable. But since we confronted Marcus, both Laura and Katie have stopped receiving those tormenting messages. I'm really grateful to know that we know the answer and this needs

to just be a warning to other families who have missing family members that these people are out there. They're looking for you. They're studying you. They don't have a problem with hurting you and taking your money. - Missing pregnant woman and her unborn baby remembered in Pueblo today. - February 2016.

On the third anniversary of Kelsey Schelling's disappearance, hundreds turn out in Pueblo to honor her memory. And to protest how police have handled the case. Pueblo police strongly defend their investigation. It's never been closed. That is the most manpower hours intensive case we've ever worked. Can you understand why the family might look at this like,

I feel like I'm dealing with the Keystone cops here. I feel like I'm not getting a straight answer from the cops. Well, yeah, I understand the family's going through a lot of difficult times. They're frustrated. But, you know, there are many things that they feel we have the power to do we don't have the power to do. And without finding Kelsey's body, police say moving the case forward will be difficult. I sat down with Laura Saxton and I told her, I says, taking a case to trial without evidence

A body without good evidence has risks. There are two things that are goals in this case. One is resolution to the family and the other is justice for Kelsey. The last thing I want is to roll the dice, go to trial, and the jury finds them not guilty, and then Kelsey never gets justice. But Laura isn't so sure the police will go forward. I don't think they will do their job. What do you want them to do right now?

I want them to give the case to somebody else who's gonna work it. I want things that need to be done to be done. - Kelsey's parents also haven't forgotten about Dante Lucas, the only person of interest named in the case. They've sued Dante and several members of his family, claiming he murdered Kelsey and her unborn baby, and the family either conspired with him or covered it up. Dante, his mother, and the rest of the family have denied the allegations.

Dante can still be found playing ball on occasion on a Pueblo court. And that's where 2020 caught up with him. The family of Kelsey says you're responsible for her disappearance. Is that true? What do you have to say to Kelsey's family about the disappearance? Nothing? Anything to say?

Meanwhile, Laura continues the search for her long-lost daughter and unborn grandchild. She was back in Pueblo organizing yet another search party. Can you swing back that way? Combing the landscape for any clues. It's just like looking for a needle in a haystack. All I can say is my love for my daughter and the fact that I don't think I can survive if I don't find her.

Just like the family of Megan Lancaster back in Ohio, Laura vows she will never give up until she is finally reunited with the person she loves most in this world. I want to bring her home. I want to lay her to rest. She deserves to be honored. We deserve a place to go visit her.

This is Deborah Roberts. Shortly after this piece first aired in 2016, the Pueblo Police Department turned the investigation into Kelsey Schelling's disappearance over to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. And in December of 2017, Dante Lucas was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. He was later found guilty and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

He's appealing his conviction. Laura Saxton's civil lawsuit against Dante Lucas and his family was later dismissed by the court. Kelsey's body still has not been found. And as for Megan Lancaster, her case remains open. You've been listening to the 2020 True Crime Vault. You can watch all new broadcast episodes of 2020 Friday nights at 9 on ABC.

Hi all, Kate Gibson here of The Bookcase with Kate and Charlie Gibson. This week we talked to Whoopi Goldberg about lots of things. But one of the things we talked to her about is how as a science fiction and graphic novel fan, she never saw herself on those screens or on those pages growing up. I mean, I didn't realize that part of me until I watched Star Trek. And I saw it because I love sci-fi.

And for some reason, it never occurred to me that I was missing until I was present. You're not going to want to miss this episode of The Bookcase from ABC News.