The Quest (Christie Wilson)
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It's painful enough to lose your loved one, let alone your child, to murder.

But then to murder them and hide their remains, that's a whole nother level of torment. And as much as you want to move forward, you just can't. I'm Scott Weinberger, investigative journalist and former deputy sheriff. I'm Anastasia Nikolazzi, former New York City homicide prosecutor and host of Investigation Discovery's True Conviction. And this is Anatomy of Murder.

On the evening of October 6, 2005, Debbie Boyd got a phone call that every parent dreads. Her 27-year-old daughter, Christy Wilson, was missing. That night, Debbie dreamed of her late mother. She had a message. I get this vision of my mom with her gorgeous blue eyes, and all I hear is, Christy is safe, she is with me.

The next morning, Debbie set off to find her daughter. It's a journey that would last for many, many years. While today's case is about the loss of a loved one to homicide, it is also a story of hope, perseverance, and never giving up, even when all the signs tell you to stop. My name is Debbie Boyd, and I am the mother of Christy Wilson.

Debbie raised her daughters Christy and Stacy near Silicon Valley in Northern California. When Christy was five years old, Debbie met Pat, who had a daughter of his own. They soon married, and the two households became one. In our family, we didn't like referring to each other as steps. I think we had been pretty successful at blending a family, and the girls really felt like they're sisters.

Christy was very close with her older sister, Stacey. And while their love for each other was strong, they couldn't have been more different.

Stacy is very, very, very outgoing. I'd go into Stacy's room and it looked like somebody came in and stirred the room up with a broom or something. Everything was everywhere. Christy, on the other hand, was a bit more introverted and very, very studious and loved everything to be in order. The two wrangled like siblings often do, but united they always remained.

They loved each other a lot. And, you know, not only did they argue passionately, they really loved each other as siblings do, you know, very passionately and spoke to each other all the time. As she got older, Christy decided to study operations management in college. With great grades and SAT scores, she had high hopes of getting into her top choice of schools.

When that didn't happen, she didn't sit still with her disappointment. She took action, and it tells us a lot about her strong will. She actually sat down and wrote a letter to the director of admissions and asked very politely if they could explain to her the reasons for her not being accepted because she felt she checked all the boxes. I couldn't believe it when I saw that she had actually written to the director of admissions at the college saying,

The letter was characteristic of Christy. Determined, focused, and not afraid to go after her dreams. Christy ended up at another school and was soon accepted for a prestigious internship at a tech company during her junior year. By the end of it, the company had offered her a job. She finished her studies and headed to the company's headquarters in San Jose, California.

She was doing really, really well. She didn't want to move back home. She wanted to get her own apartment. She bought herself a little BMW after a couple months. You know, she was really feeling good. Around 2003, there was a downturn in the tech industry. Christy's company had several rounds of layoffs, each of which she survived. But on the fourth round, Christy was let go and didn't take it well.

She almost felt like it was an injustice because she had put so many hours in her heart and soul into this job. And this is real life, Christy. I've been in the tech world for a long time. These things do happen. Please don't take it personally. But for some reason, I mean, she kept being way too hard on herself. About the same time, her college boyfriend moved to the East Coast for school.

All of the setbacks took their toll on Christy, and she began comparing her life choices with friends that had taken a different, more lighthearted route.

All of a sudden, she said, "You know, Mom, here I have always been so studious. I've done everything the right way," she kept saying. And look at their life. Look at how happy they are. Going out all the time. They're having a great time. They don't feel strapped. This just isn't fair. And, you know, all of a sudden, I saw Christy changing.

It started with work. Christy got several new jobs, including one with a top consulting firm. But none of the positions were the right fit. When the jobs didn't work out, Christy became depressed. There was something going on. I think that she just wasn't happy with herself. She wasn't happy with the way things turned out. It was sort of Christy's journey. She needed to go figure those things out. And as a parent, you can only do so much.

but it was hard for me to see. As part of this new phase, Christy took up gambling. She would like to go to the casino. Christy was very analytical and she liked blackjack. She also started dating again. And it's thing, you know, she's dating and, you know, the relationship she was getting into were nothing like the relationship she'd had with other people.

Around 2004, on one of her casino visits, Christy met a man named Danny. He quickly became her boyfriend. She was head over heels. She was saying, Mom, oh my gosh, his family is such a wonderful family. His dad, I believe, is a doctor. His sisters, I've met sisters. A lovely, lovely, lovely family.

Danny lived in Sacramento, and it wasn't long before Christy moved in with him. But Debbie had concerns about the relationship.

Danny was going through some of his own personal struggles. There were some things that were going on that Christy was really frustrated about. And before you know it, I mean, the two of them end up moving in together. Christy said, oh, mom, I love him. I love him. But I thought, you know, I could hear them on the phone, the conversations they have. And it's like, that is not love. Come on.

Christy and Danny's arguments were frequent and intense. They eventually became physical. During one altercation, the police were called. Both Christy and Danny were taken into custody. Christy called her mom from jail. She was mortified. I was mortified. Like, oh my gosh. And it turned out that there were no charges pressed against either one of them. They dropped the case. They let them both go.

Instead of going back to the apartment she shared with Danny, Christy moved back to her parents' home. She spent the next few months working on herself and applying to jobs. It paid off. She ended up having an offer from a really great company in the San Francisco area, and she was very, very excited about it. And all of us in the family were like, oh my gosh, her prayers are being answered. We're seeing her turn things around.

Christy accepted the job and soon made plans to visit the company's San Francisco headquarters. But first, she needed to pick up a few things at her old apartment with Danny. It was early October 2005 when she headed up to Sacramento. Debbie worried about Christy seeing this boyfriend again.

I was concerned. I was actually concerned. I remember being on a call with her on October 4th of 2005. It was about a 40-minute conversation. And I said, why are you still in Sacramento? She said, Mom, come on, trust me. I'm not going back into this relationship. It's over. And Mom, you need to stop. When Debbie called her daughter again the next day, she didn't answer the phone.

I figured, I bet she stayed overnight at Danny's and she's not returning the call because she doesn't want to hear it from mom. But, you know, she'll call me back. On October 6th, Debbie got a phone call, not from Christy, but from Danny. Christy was missing. He said that she had gone to a casino a few nights before and never came back to his place.

At first, Debbie was annoyed and assumed the pair had been fighting again. But her mindset quickly changed.

You know, a mother's intuition is real because I had this awful feeling in my gut. And I just said to my husband, my husband's career had been law enforcement. He was retired. And I said, you know, do you know anybody in the Sacramento area that can go over to Danny's apartment and check to be sure everything's OK? This just isn't sitting right with me.

My question would be, did Danny reach out to police before even checking with her family or her friends if maybe she was with them? And so while we don't know this at the moment, it's just something to raise an eyebrow. Pat made some calls and soon police went over to Danny's apartment. Nothing looked out of the ordinary and Danny had already gone so far as to file a missing persons report. Police told Debbie they'd keep an eye on things and update her in the morning. The next news wasn't good.

The next morning, we received a call, true to their word. The cops called us back and said, Mrs. Boyd, we have located Christy's car. And it's in the parking lot of Thunder Valley Casino, and it's obvious it has not been touched for multiple days. And I panicked. I absolutely panicked.

Although Christy had struggled for the past year, it was out of character for her to disappear without telling anyone. Debbie knew something bad had happened and that an investigation was needed. But would the police see it the same way? I'm thinking, you know, 27 years old, this last couple of years has been horrible.

You know, if somebody is looking at, you know, what's transpired in her life over the last year and a half to two years is horrible. This tumultuous relationship with the boyfriend. Are they going to really work this case? They have so many cases to work. It's not like she's a child and they're going to send off an umbrella. But I knew my daughter and I knew that she wouldn't just disappear like this.

And I think that's a fair concern for Debbie Scott. You know, on paper, here's this woman who's or a young woman, I should say, whose life has been a bit unsteady in recent years. And it's versus a mother's insight who says, don't just look at the paper. I'm telling you, this isn't my daughter. But I think it's a fair question. Would police see it the same way as the mom? That's exactly it. I mean, let's look at it from both perspectives.

Parents know their child, what's the typical behavior and what is really out of the ordinary for them. And that's the kind of information that law enforcement really needs to make decisions on their level of response. As more information becomes to light, like credit card activity, lack of or her cell phone, lack of activity or who she may be connected with, that would paint a much clearer picture. So is this someone who needs a little bit more space or

or someone who was in trouble? The answer started, unfortunately, to become somewhat clear. Because in addition to her car being found, Christy's credit cards and phone had not been in use since the night of October 4th. Investigators launched into action. So did Debbie and Pat. Pat drove up to Sacramento and started looking for Christy. Police told him and Debbie to sit tight.

And even though Pat was a retired member of law enforcement at a SEGA, decisions and actions taken based on emotions that could potentially compromise an investigation, that is an important factor. So as an investigator, it's really important to draw that line, even realizing yourself what that person is going through. Investigators in this case really needed to take that into consideration. And we've talked about this before.

Because obviously they needed to first and foremost make sure that no potential evidence would be compromised. And they promised then another update after the weekend. And so that Sunday, Pat and Debbie are sitting at their kitchen table with the lead investigator on speakerphone. We're listening to him give us an update, and all of a sudden he gets a call from someone. And he said, I'm sorry, I have to take this call. I'll put you on hold. Well, bless his heart, he thought he put us on hold, and he didn't.

The couple soon got more news than they bargained for. They heard a heated conversation not meant for their ears. The investigator had taken a phone call with someone who was expecting him at home. He finally was getting upset in this conversation and said, how many times do I have to tell you that when you're working a homicide, time is of the essence?

A homicide? Debbie and Pat knew that Christy was missing, but hearing the investigation called a homicide caused a tailspin. I cried to myself on being a pretty together person. But when you hear something like that, my body, my mind, I went into shock. And I ran to the front of our house. And it's amazing. It was uncontrollable. I started yelling.

I told you, I told you, I told you he probably killed him. And who do you think I was talking about? The answer was Christy's ex-boyfriend, Danny. Given their volatile history and the circumstances of her disappearance, it seemed to make the most sense. But things are not always as they appear. I, to this day, say I couldn't have been so wrong. What unfolded thereafter was just shocking.

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When Debbie Boyd learned that her daughter Christy's disappearance was being treated as a homicide, she demanded answers. I was fit to be tied. I thought, how on earth did this go from a missing persons case to homicide? Could somebody please fill in the blanks? And then I told my husband, in all due respect, I don't care that they've said that they want us to stay back. I'm getting in the car and I'm headed there and somebody better start talking to me.

Debbie and her husband drove up to Placer County, where investigators were busy working the case. They were reviewing surveillance footage from the casino where Christy's car was found, trying to spot Christy.

It was no small feat. Just think of how many cameras there are inside a casino. For example, larger casinos have as many as 20,000 cameras running at all times. There were hundreds of hours of footage to go through. Debbie couldn't sit back and wait while her daughter was still missing. She contacted local news stations, hoping the media exposure might get them a lead about Christy.

And I called them and I said, my daughter's missing. This is what's happening. I could start sending out flyers, but you guys will be able to reach a whole lot more people than I would. Is there any way that you could meet with me?

They said yes. A crew came to her home and interviewed her about the search for Christy. When it aired, it set off a media frenzy. More stations asked to speak with Debbie and her family. On the way out of one recording, Debbie noticed a screen with footage up from Christy's story. It included something they had never seen before. Surveillance footage from the casino. And in that footage, they saw Christy.

There we are as a family seeing that the tape of Christy exiting the front doors of Thunder Valley Casino was released to the public and the media was showing it and they hadn't even told us this yet. Debbie was horrified and livid that the footage was released before she had known of its existence. I went ballistic. I'm like, here we are. Okay, strike two. My daughter, Stacey, was in tears. I was in tears. I was in shock.

You know, Anasika, to me, this is a clear breakdown between law enforcement and a family of a potential homicide victim. I mean, how could this have happened? How could they have not have gone to them first and offered them an opportunity to see this video and let them know that it was going to be released? Let them know that they may be turning their television set on and seeing their own child in a surveillance video. I mean, it's inexcusable for me. Agreed. But to me,

And Debbie did not shy away from telling the police department exactly how she felt. You could hear it in her voice right here.

This newfound strength was a far cry from a much less vocal person she had been in the past. I was the girl in high school that would cut classes. She had to give a speech. I'd rather cut class and get the F than have to stand up in front of all these people, right? And, you know, Debbie Boyd found her voice. I just took the bull by the horns. I went back up to Placer County.

and said enough is enough. This will not happen. Taking that stand shifted the tone of their relationship with the police. The family was assigned an investigator who would share information with them and strategize on media appearances. And I think repairing that relationship would be as important as a first step could ever take. It was a major reset between us and the sheriff's office.

And from that day forward, we never had a reoccurrence of anything like that and became a very, very strong. I say we became a strong team and built tremendous rapport with them. And things going forward really went well.

The contents of the surveillance tapes was where they all focused. Inside the casino, the footage showed Christy sitting at a blackjack table, and she wasn't alone. And there was this guy that was sitting next to her. That's when they learned that she'd exited the casino and won something in the morning, and he was with her. Maybe this man knew what happened to Christy.

But a picture on the surveillance tape was a far cry from an ID, a name. Figuring out the identity from just a photo or video is not easy. On the other hand, these were videos from a casino. And casinos are especially good at keeping track on who is gambling. And the casino where Christy was last spotted used a system of personalized players cards in place of chips. And bingo, just like that, they had a name.

Police identified the man seen with Christy as 54-year-old Mario Garcia, and it wasn't a name or face familiar to Debbie or anyone else in Christy's life. But Garcia did live nearby, was married with two teenage sons, and had a successful career as a project manager. He was also the last known person now who'd been seen with Christy. So police went to speak with him, and this is what he had to say.

He had said that he had played blackjack with her and they had exited and she, you know, was going to go to her car. He was going to go to his, but she had mentioned that she had dropped her cell phone. And so he said she went back into the casino to retrieve her cell phone and then he left.

But the surveillance footage didn't exactly match Garcia's version of events. He said he had turned left out of the casino to head home, and the footage showed him turning right. Soon, police put together enough information to get a warrant to search Garcia's home. There was no sign of Christy there, but they did find something interesting. A firearm.

And that was a crime, because although you can legally own a gun if registered, Garcia could not, because authorities learned that he was a convicted felon. For me, it's raising two big red flags. One, this is somebody with a criminal past, a felony criminal past. And the second thing is, we don't know where Christy is or even if she's alive at this point. So if any harm has come to her, could a handgun play a role in that potentially? And I say absolutely. Absolutely.

What they learned about the crime Garcia was convicted for raised even more concern for Christy. Back in 1979, Garcia had been in a relationship with a woman named Wendy. She's identified herself in previous interviews, but because she is a sexual assault survivor, we're choosing to only use her first name. And we do want to warn you that the next section is about a sexual assault. If that may be triggering for you, please skip ahead.

Wendy had ended their relationship, but Garcia wasn't done. After they were broke up, he wasn't taking that lightly. And at one point, she had been, I guess, in a parking lot somewhere. And here he comes in his van and somehow got her into the back of the van and then raped her. He drove her to his apartment and assaulted her again.

And at that point, he took out a gun and put it up to her mouth, pretended to pull the trigger, and the gun wasn't loaded, but said, this time it's not loaded, but I can kill you. And then he told her to go take a bath, and then went and made himself a sandwich. Once Wendy escaped, she went straight to the police. They were dismissing her.

Because she's the girlfriend, you know, the former girlfriend, and they just weren't taking things serious enough. But she didn't give up and pushed to hold Garcia accountable. That was a time when there were a lot of murders going on in that county. Investigators, prosecutors were just buried. And Wendy at the time, she was, I think, in her late 20s, and they had convinced her to agree to their plea bargain.

And she took their counsel thinking it was wise counsel and that that's the best they could do, that's the best they could do. And he ended up with probation. And that was it. The crime raised red flags for the investigators now searching for Christy. But suspicion and having enough for arrest are not the same thing at all. While police look for evidence to see if Garcia was linked to Christy's disappearance,

they did have enough to hold him. And that's where the gun found in his home comes back in. As a convicted felon, it was illegal for him to own a firearm, so Garcia was arrested on weapons charges. During booking, police noticed scratches and bruises on his face and chest, something he didn't have in the surveillance footage, and that stood out for investigators. Garcia said he fell out of a tree, but the timing seemed suspicious.

He then becomes the primary person of interest. Danny, at this point, they still are looking at him, but they're more focused on this guy. When Debbie learned about Garcia's identity and his arrest, she took a deep dive into his past. I went into full research mode, trying to figure out everything I could about him. And the more I read, I couldn't believe that he had actually died.

beat the kidnapped and raped to the extent that they never served any time. It was just probation. There was more about Garcia's history that was troubling. Months after his conviction in 1979 for the assault of Wendy, he was involved in an incident that left two people dead. One of them was his new girlfriend.

On Christmas Eve of that year, Garcia had gone out to dinner with his girlfriend and her mother. On the drive home, their car somehow ended up in a part of Oakland Bay. Garcia was swimming towards shore when police arrived. When the cops got there from Oakland and Alameda County and they were asking, is anybody with you? Is anybody with you? He never responded.

And then it wasn't until he got to shore, he goes, "Oh my God, my girlfriend and her mother, my girlfriend and my mother." But he, you know, they kept screaming, "Is anybody with you?" And he never answered. Only Garcia survived. Both the girlfriend and her mother drowned. Their bodies were later recovered, but police couldn't prove that Garcia had been the one driving the car. He was never charged. These revelations made the clock to find Christy tick even faster.

With only surveillance footage tying Garcia to Christie, it looked like police had hit a wall. That was until they searched his car.

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Mario Garcia claimed that he and Christy had gone their separate ways after leaving the casino that night. She went back inside to get her phone, and he drove home. But his car said otherwise.

They ended up finding one of Christie's pulled hairs that was lodged in the door handle of his vehicle. They also found just a little tiny minutiae bit. Thank God they were able to work with that little that they had, but they were able to find that Christie's DNA was in the backseat of his car and then also in the trunk of his car.

It was the missing evidence that police had been waiting for. Three weeks after Christy Wilson disappeared, Garcia was charged with her murder. Without Christy's body, the prosecution's case against Garcia would be harder to prove. On top of that, this would be a first for Placer County. Placer County had never had a no-body homicide prosecution. They'd never had to do that. And I was so worried.

Despite her concerns, Debbie knew one thing for certain. Police had arrested the right guy. Once I found out about Wendy and then the death of his previous girlfriend before Wendy, I had no doubt in my mind it was him. But would a jury agree? When I was learning all this, I said, no, he's not going to beat this. I don't care what happens. He is not going to beat this case. I want to know where Christy is.

And I just kept saying that to the investigators. We've got to be sure that this guy and all this arrogance does not escape what he's done to my daughter. I need to find her.

On September 11th, 2006, less than a year after Christy went missing, Garcia's murder trial began. It seemed like his defense might go one of two ways, either point the finger at Christy's boyfriend, Danny, or claim that without Christy's body, murder couldn't be proven.

The prosecution was ready. Piece by piece, they laid out the case against Garcia, including the images of him still scratched and bruised a week after Christy went missing. And there was more. During a search of his home, police had confiscated Garcia's laptop. They found shortly the days after Christy went missing, he had navigated to a site called Central Valley Toxicology.

Debbie was incredulous.

And I thought, what 54-year-old man, who's been married 20-plus years, that's a soccer dad, is logging on to Central Valley Toxicology and interested in the date rape drug, two days after my daughter goes missing? Are you kidding me? After viewing the surveillance footage from the casino, Debbie noticed that her daughter looked off. I personally became convinced that he slipped something in her beverage.

because the behavior that she exhibited while at that blackjack table over the course of time, it was not her. Without Christy's body, the theory would be impossible to prove, but the evidence was admitted for the jury to consider. Luckily, the surveillance footage coupled with the other pieces of evidence that law enforcement had obtained made for a strong case against Garcia. In the footage, when they show him walking out of the casino,

I see him go to put his arm around her, and then she takes her left shoulder and she shrugs it off. You know, I thought, no, she's not comfortable with this. By the end of the trial, the defense seemed to be getting desperate. They insinuated that Debbie's husband, a former member of law enforcement, had planted Christy's DNA in Garcia's car. And I couldn't have been more furious. I thought, to insinuate something like that,

I mean, who on earth has vials of their 27-year-olds in their refrigerator in case someday they need to plant evidence somewhere? Give me strength. I was furious. But then at the same time, I knew that they were grasping for straws to have to go there. The jury deliberated for about 12 hours. Then they returned their verdict. Garcia was found guilty of murdering Christy Wilson.

Debbie was overcome with relief. I spent so many months having to listen to people that also were supporting Mario Garcia. And I just felt like we got him. We got him as hard as this was for me. Thank God he can't hurt anybody else. And Debbie wasn't the only one feeling that way. Waiting outside the courtroom was Wendy, the woman who had been assaulted by Garcia so many years before.

She wasn't allowed to be in the courtroom in case she would be called to testify about Garcia's assault. But she had still waited there. She was standing outside the courtroom with her husband right after verdict. And we got the opportunity to hug and cry. And I just felt like, Wendy, I am so, so sorry that nobody listened to you. I am so, so sorry. Christy's presence was somehow there as well.

Following the trial, Debbie felt relief and then fury. It was a rage of a mother who, although in some ways validated by Garcia's conviction, was still missing the one thing she wanted most in the world, her daughter.

It went from relief to anger again. So much anger, I felt like I could just go kill the guy. People that know me say, not Debbie, really. But honestly, all of a sudden, I had this rage that came about me that I just said, you know, let's just stop all this. Nobody has to pay any more money to invest in this piece of trash. Give me five minutes with him. I just wanted to kill him.

While there may be a sense of justice served, the feeling is frequently overshadowed by a profound sense of unsatisfaction and unresolved grief, not having a physical place to mourn, and the lingering questions about Christy's final moments. The lack of closure prevents many families in similar no-body conviction cases from fully processing their loss as they are haunted by the unknowns and the what-ifs.

The lead-up to Garcia's sentencing was tense. Would he reveal the location of Christy's body in exchange for a lighter sentence? When the day came, Debbie sat in the courtroom along with the family of the women who had drowned in the Oakland Bay all those years before. Debbie's hopes of finding her daughter were once again dashed. Mario literally spoke at sentencing.

And it made me sick. He said, well, I'm sure you all are expecting me to beg for mercy, asking for forgiveness. I will do no such thing. I did not kill Christy Wilson. And that's what he said. Garcia was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. And the sentence gave Debbie a little relief. I found myself guilty.

With Garcia sitting in prison, one chapter of the search for Christy was now over. Little did Debbie know that a whole new chapter was about to begin.

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Debbie Boyd found little peace following Garcia's murder conviction. One thought haunted her wherever she went. Where's my daughter? It started to affect her ability to work. All of a sudden, I'm in this room and all I'm hearing is wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. I'm seeing these voices moving and I hear this little voice in my head. Debbie, if you'd worked this hard in finding your daughter, maybe you'd find her.

Debbie did exactly that. Her co-workers supported her decision. She tried to rest, but always ended up turning her focus to the search for Christy.

I seemed to know every time they found our names anywhere near Passer County and other places that I thought Mario could have gone to. And I'd be right on the phone. I'd be probably the first one calling, hey, this is Mrs. Boyd, blah, blah, blah. Could those remains be my daughter's? Thankfully, Debbie wasn't alone in her mission.

Nuno Tavares and Don Murchison, affectionately termed by Debbie as a Nuno and Murch, had worked on the investigation from the beginning. And like Debbie, they were also unwilling to give up on Christy. One of the things that the investigators did that really warmed my heart is that periodically they would call me and I could always tell they were driving home from work.

And they'd call and they'd say, we're checking in on you, seeing how you're doing. You know, we don't have any updates or anything. But, you know, we're thinking about you. Just wanted to say hi. The updates from Nuno and Merch kept Debbie's spirits up, even as years dragged on. And what that meant to me was, wow, they haven't forgotten. Because they're at least thinking of us. It was just that extra dose of hope.

that they were giving me, and I would hold on to that. A few years after the trial, the pair approached Debbie with a proposition, and it was not about Christy's case, or at least not directly. They were leading a course on homicide investigation and asked if she would come help teach the section on relations with victims' families. Debbie said yes. After going through all of this, there was so much that I learned.

through the whole experience. And I thought, you know, if there's just even a couple nuggets that they can take away that helps them as they are investigating these cases, then it's all worth it.

The years passed with Debbie teaching and searching for Christy's body. She eventually started working again as well. Around 2017, a news anchor wanted to do a where are they now story about Debbie. She agreed to do it. As he was interviewing me, I said, I agreed to this with no expectations. And that was one time that I know that I was lying.

Because I had every expectation of wanting Mario to hear me. Because I knew at that point that he was on social media in the prison. Because I was watching what was going on. At the end of the interview, the reporter asked if Debbie would ever speak to Mario Garcia. Debbie already had her response. And what I had said at the conclusion of that interview is, if there was any way before my dying day,

Debbie's strategy worked. A few weeks after the interview, Debbie received a letter from Garcia, the man convicted of killing her daughter. And in that letter, he all but admitted that he had killed Christy and was saying how sorry he was.

And he said something along the lines that he should have gone to his son's soccer game. That if he would have gone to the soccer game instead of the casino, that Christy would have been alive today. None of this would have happened. And I was like, oh my God, is that admission of guilt or what? The letter turned somewhat into a battle of wills between Debbie and Garcia. I decided not to respond because I thought, you know what? I got what I wanted. He's reacting, but...

At the same time, this is a guy that has such an appetite for control. I'm going to drive him nuts by not responding. Let's see what he does next. Debbie was again correct. Garcia sent her another letter, this time with a different tact. He said he was extremely ill and wanted a compassionate release from prison.

A compassionate release is basically the process where inmates, they might be eligible for an immediate release based on, I think it's, you know, technically something that's particularly extraordinary or of compelling circumstances. But what it boils down to is really a medical release, something that couldn't have been foreseen at the time that the court originally sentenced the prisoner.

Now it was crystal clear that each of them wanted something. Garcia wanted to be out of prison, and Debbie wanted to know where her daughter's body was buried. And after consulting with Nuno and Murch, Debbie responded to the letter. Basically, at the end, I said, you know, the decision is really yours, Mario, and I don't need this so much for me.

as I need it for my daughter, Stacy. I'm the same age as you, Mario, and I don't want my daughter to have to live the rest of her life being tormented, not knowing where her sister's remains are. She concluded by mentioning Garcia's two sons, who by this point were in their 30s. They're equally as tormented with everything that's happened. And if you can't do it for yourself or for me, do it for our children. Garcia never responded.

Instead, he wrote to the Placer County DA's office and asked them for a conviction review, which is really usually there's at this point, there are sections within each office that review and reevaluate past convictions to make sure that they are just and fair. Usually it's with a claim of actual innocence or wrongful conviction. But clearly he is trying his luck at this point to get out of prison.

And the district attorney went back and forth with Garcia, trying to gauge just how serious he was about disclosing Christie's location. But then a new district attorney was appointed, and he was not happy with the negotiations happening between his office and Garcia. He let Debbie know that, but also said that they would proceed however she wanted. And I swear that that point was so desperate, I just wanted to end the torment.

And then I said, just give me a few minutes. And I thought about it and I thought about it. And I said, all right, I've talked to my family. Here's the answer. Tell Mario he can, you know what? And it was two words. And I don't usually speak that way as a lady. But, you know, I basically said, you tell him no. The decision wasn't easy for Debbie, who wanted nothing more than to find her daughter's body.

And I hung up the phone and I was in tears and I looked up and I said, "Christy, I'm sorry, but I can't play with the devil. Or would you want me to? And what an insult it would be to all of his other victims if out of my own selfishness, to end my own torment, I let him play us like this again. I can't do it. Just know, Christy, that I love you. And if it's meant to be that we get your remains back, and that's so much my desire, it will happen."

Garcia remained in prison and Debbie remained without her daughter. Debbie and her husband eventually moved to Arizona, but she made regular trips back to California to teach for Nuno and Murch's class. In July of 2020, a student in the class had a question for her. And this one investigator says, Mrs. Boyd, if your daughter were to ever be found, how would you want to be notified?

And Murch and Nuno were in the room. And I looked over at them because nobody had ever asked me that question in the 15 years. And I said, please don't call me on the phone. On her flight back to Scottsdale, Debbie thought about her response. I'm thinking, that was a weird response. Why did I respond that way? Don't ever call me on the phone. And I realized it's because they've stayed in touch with me all these years over the phone. That if they really found her, come to me.

And Scott, it really makes perfect sense. I think it goes to it being more personal. I think it's the same reason why death notifications are usually the preferred method is always to give news like that in person. And while here this might be a bright spot, I assume that's the same reasoning behind it. That's exactly right. I mean, delivering that kind of news when at all possible is best delivered face-to-face. And at that very moment, they have your full attention and you have theirs. Right.

And then, just six weeks later, Debbie got a knock on her front door. There on her porch stood Nuno Merge and another investigator. They had flown all the way to Arizona that night to tell me that Christy's remains had been recovered that morning. And they were found in Mario Garcia's backyard, the property where he had lived. That's where she'd been buried all those years. That moment...

The one that Debbie had been hoping for for over 15 years had finally come. And it happened thanks to the tireless work of Nuno and Murch. After reading Garcia's letter to Debbie a few years earlier, they decided to re-interview several people from the case. This included Garcia's now adult sons.

One of them told the investigators about an important soccer match he had a few days after Christy went missing. The son went outside to get his dad and head to the game. But Garcia, who went to all of his son's games, was busy working with a tractor on the property with what his son described as a crazed look in his eye. He yelled at his son to get out of there and missed the soccer match.

So the investigator said, OK, we'll talk more about that to us. And he did. And then he said, well, would you recall where your dad was working on the tractor? He goes, yes. And they said, would you be willing to come with us to the property? Garcia's son agreed, and the new owners of the property allowed them access to dig on the grounds. The son pointed out five different spots where his dad could have been working all those years ago.

Investigators then went so far as to bring in a radar company that did ground penetration. They went to the first hole, they dug, nothing. Second hole, nothing. The third hole, they get in and as they start digging a little deeper, Nuno, the investigator, out of the periphery of his eye, he sees a bone and he screams, "Stop everything."

An anthropologist was called in to determine whether the bone they had found was human. It was confirmed and immediately set for testing. The company eventually dug up more human remains. That's when Nuno and Murch hopped on a plane to Scottsdale, Arizona.

And so while they were traveling to Scottsdale, there was the rapid DNA going on that got approved and they were able to get through things very quickly. And then through the dental records, they were able to disclose that it was 100% Christy. You know, it was just like, wow. With the two investigators in her kitchen, Debbie ran to get a sign she had hidden under her bed. It was from a vigil they had for Christy years ago. It read, Missing but Not Forgotten.

I ran to the bedroom, I brought that out and I put it right on the island in the kitchen. I said, look at guys, you always said this and you were men of your word and you worked and you worked tirelessly. When I think about this case and think about just how often they went back and how they never gave up, to me, it's a testament to, you know, some of the best investigative work and perseverance that a family could ever ask for. They never gave up.

There wasn't a dry eye in the room. The next morning, Debbie took the first flight out to San Jose to share the news with her daughter, Stacy. They were finally able to lay Christy to rest. For Debbie, doing this was nothing short of life-changing. I can tell you that the way that I walked through life prior to 2020 in comparison to how I walk through life today, completely different.

That cloud of torment has been lifted. And, you know, I have a peace now. Of course, just bittersweet. With the journey finally over, her family could focus on what really mattered, the memory of their beloved Christy.

Christy had this ability to kind of sense when somebody was down. She was the one that would send the card of encouragement. She would send, you know, the handwritten thank you notes to people. She cared about people. She cared about animals. She had this maternal side of her, just loving, loving, loving and caring. And that's what I hold.

Today, we live to honor her, to be the best that we can be. That is how Debbie describes her life today, each and every day remembering her daughter, the way her daughter would have wanted, with grace, with dignity, and with love. It's a love that touched her family, a love that Debbie spreads as a legacy for all of the goodness her daughter brought into the world, for the love she also shared so generously.

And then there's the journey, Debbie's journey, a journey marked by an unyielding strength, a steadfast persistence, and an undeniable love for her child that can move mountains. It's a love that brought her daughter home.

Here on AOM, we've witnessed stories of powerful mothers, mothers whose resilience has shown brightly through the darkest times. Debbie's story stands among these, so raw and so real. It's more than her story. It's a message and a touching tribute, a message of hope, a message that in the face of the unimaginable, there is light, there is strength, and there is tomorrow.

We purposely decided to release this episode as we approach a new year. On a weekly basis, AOM focuses on the crime of homicide, the people lost, and the so many lives forever changed.

It's dark, it's painful, but we believe that these families and the people gone should be remembered, and the crimes discussed in the desire for change. Debbie has openly shared with us her pain, but also in that grief that it is still possible to see that the sun does shine, at least sometimes. So to share Christy's story, her family's story, with you all as we approach this new year, it just feels right.

We appreciate how much you all care about those impacted by these crimes. We wish you a new year of peace, health, and love, and that even in the dark hours, hope still remains. But we wanted to end the episode with Debbie. In a situation where it would have been so easy to only focus on the negatives, Debbie is still able to also find rays of light.

I truly feel that I was truly blessed to have been her mom for 27 years. And I'm fortunate enough to, you know, carry her with me every day and committed to being, you know, the best me that I can possibly be. And same with my family, because we know that's what she would want us to do.

Next week, we will be off. You can get caught up on any missed episodes while we are gone and then tune in the following week for another new episode of Anatomy of Murder. Anatomy of Murder is an Audiochuck original produced and created by Weinberger Media and Forseti Media. Ashley Flowers is executive producer. So, what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?

Hi, I'm Ashley Flowers, creator and host of the number one true crime podcast, Crime Junkie. Every Monday, me and my best friend Britt break down a new case, but not in the way you've heard before, and not the cases you've heard before. You'll hear stories on Crime Junkie that haven't been told anywhere else. I'll tell you what you can do to help victims and their families get justice.

Join us for new episodes of Crime Junkie every Monday. Already waiting for you by searching for Crime Junkie wherever you listen to podcasts.