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 her, vanished.

I don't think I can survive if I don't find her.

And the mother who won't give up.

Visterious disappearance.

The disappearance of Kelsey Schilling. Long after she fears the worst possible outcome.

We do not have a record of Kelsey Schilling ever being here.

An on-again, off-again boyfriend, a high school hoopstone, as a person of interest.

You're on video in her car with her critic.

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 can. A money drop in a McDonald's parking lot in exchange for missing girls.

Coming to a parking lot to collect $75,000. A lot of people would say that sounds like a criminal enterprise. I'm in shock that 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 Quineones, 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 Schilling 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 Shelling? 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 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 Schilling 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 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 Cors commercial This is where Kelsey was born and raised. Where's the papa?

She like to be silly, like to laugh. You look at 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. 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. He just had a mad passion just for basketball. He loved everything about the game and hoping that he can go on to a Division One 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 Schilling. To Kelsey's friends, the relationship turns toxic from the start.

They were very one-on-one. They never were with anyone else. When they were together, it was just them two and nobody else existed. And then gradually, eventually, they would fight. He would be putting her down, calling her name, saying that she was fat and ugly and nobody else wanted her. 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 good 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. Just awful.

December rolls in like the snowdrifts 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. Just told her, I will support you. Whatever you need, your family's behind you.

Did she tell you anything about Dante's reaction?

She said he was mad. She said he was very angry.

On Sunday, February third, 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. 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 Cruise, making the lonely two-hour night time 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 who she was, I would have made her take a friend, or I would have made sure and went with her. During the drive, Dante texts her to go to Walmart in Pueblo to meet At 11:20 PM, 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.

This sheer panic and disbelief. I mean, I can't even really remember how scared I felt.

Coming up, Dante tells his story to the cops.

You didn't hurt this girl, right? We are now leaning towards foul play.

Is the Is a basketball star a piece of a larger puzzle? 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. This episode is sponsored by Better Help. Do you have something you really need to get off your chest? We all carry around different stressors, some big and some small, and when we keep them bottled up, it can affect us in negative ways. Therapy is a safe space to get things off your chest and to figure out how to work through whatever is weighing you down. Therapy can help you learn positive coping skills and how to set boundaries. It empowers you to be the best version of yourself, and it isn't just for those who have experienced major trauma. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give better help a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists at any time for no additional charge. Get it off your chest with Betterhelp. Visit betterhelp. Com/2020 today to get 10% off your first month.

That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P. Com/2020. Now to the mysterious disappearance of a Denver woman. She seemingly disappeared. The disappearance, a disappearance of Kelsey Schilling. This As much we know, on the night of Monday, February fourth, 2013, Kelsey Schilling, 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. It's a 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 broadly 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 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. 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.

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 are you doing?

I'm good.

He gives a detail to account of what happened. Corroborating Kelsey's text, 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 grandma's mother's house where he'd been staying.

She came down to Pablo 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 going to go back home, but she ended up staying until 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 what's the part of you? And she went in and stayed for about almost 2 hours, 1 hour and a quart of 2. She came out and she told me that she wasn't pregnant.

Now that's an eyebrow razor 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 9:00 AM, the two drove from the hospital and ended up at that Walmart where they parted ways, as it turns out, forever.

She wanted to go get some snacks, like something to eat because she was hungry. And then came back out, we ended up talking, and she ended up telling me, Get out of the car at Walmart. She didn't want to take me home. So I just left from Walmart, started walking home. And you didn't hurt this girl, right? No, I was never hurt her.

Could Kelsey have harmed herself, distraught over a supposed miscarriage? In his interview, Dante described her as a troubled erratic young woman.

She had bad anxiety. She had anxiety in her head, so she had pills for that. Can you tell me about that? She's totally bored. She ended up in the hospital a few times. Overdosing That's what I did.

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. Why do you think he did?

To 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 McGlachlin, 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 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 events. And already, some things aren't adding up. Remember how Dante said he dropped Kelsey off at this hospital at around 07:00 AM on February fifth? He said he waited outside for her.

She waited for the safe to say for a moment, almost 2 hours.

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 record 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 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.

Kelsey Schilling 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 Schilling's black Chevy Cruise entering a parking spot. Remember, Dante told police he and Kelsey then went inside the store to grab something to eat.

I 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 Basically, 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.

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?

There are similarities to Dante, but it's nothing that we can want to say that is the person who drove it away.

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 AM before he arrived at the Walmart. Dante is seen pulling up to a drive through ATM in Kelsey's Chevy Cruise, 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 This 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 that he's letting on. Time for Cops versus Dante, 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 did you get the money? The money? Mm-mm. The money was 11:39 at the bank. You're on video, dude. In her car with her credit card. You're on tape- So, the 400? What are you talking about? Mm-mm. This is for my phone bill. Why didn't she go with you to the 18? It's not the car. It's on the video. It may have been while she was in the hospital. I'm not sure. I'm not sure about it. Like I said, my time frame has been messed up.

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. There's no record of her ever being in front of you.

That's all I have to say. It's He's in my shoes. You see the question that-I understand where you're coming from. I completely do. I did it, but I just don't even know what to say right now.

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.

When you dropped her off, when she dropped you off at Walmart, where were you parked at? Apparently, you guys know, so I don't understand why. I told her one time, I don't... That's all I can say about it. When she dropped you off, wait, what was that again? Can I speak to a lawyer, please? She does keep asking the same questions over and over. I was like, speak to a lawyer.

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 were trying to talk to him.

How did you read that?

We read it as the It's a 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 refuse 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 Lucas accessed her bank account.

The family's plight strikes a cord 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 a 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 in a most disturbing way.

Her name's sickle, right?

As Laura Saxton tends pigs in her Yuma, Colorado home, she's convinced another 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 Smith, 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 Schilling, 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 I got to just 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 were a lot of similarities between these two cases, which one could conclude that the same individual or a 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 of Pablo are not giving up on finding clues that could help find Kelsey's shelling. Why do you think people feel so strongly about Kelsey's case?

They can't believe it. 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 every day.

But in October 2015, as Dante Lucas is working and playing basketball in Kueblo, and Laura is 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 McClane, 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 of Kelsey. The baby had been aborted. There was a video of it being done, of 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, 1,200 miles away in Ohio, a nearly identical development. One Jenna McClane reaches out to Megan Lancaster's family through Facebook, 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, $25,000 upfront 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 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, criticism, 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 2020. 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 Schilling's disappearance has brought us all the way here, Vancouver, Washington, and an 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 is 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 Benjamin's 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 then that's just 100% clarification that some dirt bags 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 are 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? No. 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 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 or no kidnaping 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 I guess even starved in.

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 Lara.

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 Schilling. 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 Schilling's disappearance, hundreds turn out in Pueblo to honor her memory.Pueblo police.Do your job. And to protest how police have handled the case. What do we want? Job. Justice. When do we want it? Now. 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 is going through a lot of difficult times. They're frustrated. But 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 said, Taking a case to trial without 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 going to 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 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 a disappearance. Is that true? Yes.

What do you have to say to Kelsey's family about the disappearance? I'm sorry. Nothing? Anything to say? Meanwhile, Laura continues the search for her long-lost daughter and unworn 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 Schilling'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 9:00 on ABC.

In the 1980s, everyone wanted to be in the Brat Pack, except them. Now, director Andrew McCarthy reunites with fellow Brats.

Demi Moore.

Why did we take it as an offense? Could you call them the Brat? Because we were young. We were afraid we were brats.

Amelia Westevez, Ali Sheedy, Rob Lowe. I'm not going to say we were the Beatles or anything. We didn't feel Shay Stadium.

1985? I think we could have.

The original documentary, Brats, streaming June 13, only on Hulu.