Hi, everyone. I'm Andrea Canning, and we are talking Dateline today. I'm here with Josh Mankiewicz. Hey, Josh, how you doing? Good. All right, so this episode is called Open Desert. If you haven't seen it, it's the episode right below this one on your list of podcasts. So go there and listen to it or stream it on Peacock and then come back here. Today, Josh has an extra clip that he's going to play for us from his interview with the victim's father. Plus, we're going to be joined later by this episode's producer and a good friend of mine, Ann Priceman, to answer some questions from social media. To recap this story, back in March of 20, 2016, year old Brittany Lackey was reported missing from her hometown of Spring Creek, Nevada. She was last seen with her friend Bryce, who said he had dropped Britney off to meet a mysterious cowboy named JT. Detectives and Britney's family searched far and wide for her body and her killer. Eventually, they found her remains in a nearby desert, and DNA evidence at the scene showed them that her killer wasn't that cowboy, but her trusted friend Bryce. Okay, let's talk Dateline.

Josh, what really hit me from the very first line of this episode was the child not answering the phone. Yeah, right? That happens to all of us as parents. You know, at first, it's like, no big deal. Your kid didn't answer their phone. You don't really think much of it. And then if they don't answer the second time or the third time or they're not answering texts, your mind immediately goes to the worst place. At the same time, you're like, no, no, no, everything's fine. And usually it is, but then, unfortunately, as we've learned on this show, sometimes it's not okay.

Yeah. And that's what Jim Jalacky was going through. He also. There's one more component to that, which is, in this case, he knew how long it took to get from where he last seen his daughter to where his daughter said she was going. So, like, she should have been home. She should have been reachable. You know, that's an age where kids want to start having some portion of their life for themselves, and they don't want to tell you, the parent, everything. But in this case, in this family, Jim Mulackey, he knew. This is not my daughter misleading me so she can run off and have a beer behind the gym with somebody she's not supposed to be hanging out with. See, he knew something was wrong.

Sounds like such a great dad. Such a that's the best case scenario, you have gone to a very bad, very dark place. And that's where Britney's mom was at that point, which is okay. Well, at least in that scenario, she's still alive. And the hardest thing that law enforcement had to do was say to her, hey, this is nothing.Ok. After the break, we'll be back with an extra clip from Josh's interview with Britney's dad, Jim Ulaki.They are the families of the missing in America, and they're desperately searching for answers. Somebody knows something. I'm Josh Mankins. Join me for season three of missing in America. Listen carefully because just one small detail might allow you to solve a mystery.We have seen miracles happen.Dateline missing in America. Listen now. Wherever you get podcasts, the podium is.Back with fresh angles and deep dives into olympic and paralympic stories. You know, and those you'll be hard pressed to forget.I did something in 88 that hasn't been beaten.Oh, gosh. The US Olympic trials is the hardest and most competitive meet in the world. We are athletes. We're going out there smashing into each other full force.Listen to the podium on the I Heart app or your favorite podcast platform weekly, and every day during the games to hear the Olympics like you've never quite heard them before.One of the things that I've had to learn in this job is that the traditional rules or the rules that I grew up with of dating or going steady or who's with who, you know, the idea that, like, I'm gonna come to your house and I'm gonna pick you up and I'm gonna have some flowers for you, and your dad's gonna grill me in the entryway, and then I'm gonna make sure that I have you back by, you know, 10:59 p.m. or whatever the curfew is, which I'm okay with.I am okay with that.I know that you. A racetrack in trouble or a blast from the past?This is a crazy twist to the story. I couldn't believe it.Dateline Friday at nine, eight central, only on NBC.What we're gonna do now is we're going to bring in Ann Priceman, who, as I said, is a good friend of mine and I've done many datelines with her. And she was your producer on this episode. She was, and she is going to tell us a little bit about her experience with the story and answer some questions from social media. So let's bring in the incredible Anne Priceman.Hello.Great to be with you, Anne. So you made a vlog while you were out filming this episode. Let's just play it for our listeners really quickly.Hi, I'm Anne.And I'm Rachel.And today we're taking you along on a shoot for an all new episode of Dateline.We're in Elko County, Nevada, which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been while traveling for DatelIne.In fact, this area is known as the Swiss Alps of Nevada.After a couple of hours of filming, we headed back to town, although we.Ran into a problem, a lot of big problems, actually.So we're driving back from our b roll shoot and we're having some trouble getting home.Eventually they move, moved out of the way and we made it back to town.So what the listener can't see is that you're driving through this gorgeous valley and then your suv is suddenly surrounded by a herd of huge dairy cows.Eventually they turned around and they're like, oh, there's a car.It's the same philosophy that Ann uses when dealing with me, which is you just wait and eventually, like, it works out. You're patient enough.Yeah. Josh, you made a vlog as well in Canada.I did, because I had that trip, which, by the way, was the other kind of story that we were just talking about, which is it was not a friend of the victim. It was somebody completely random. And that was kind of a swerve for us in that there was no relationship at all between killer and victim. And where we were going in Canada was so far away and it was so hard to get there. It took so long. It was a real planes, trains and automobiles experience. So I made a little video travelog.I couldn't have documented. I don't know that I would have believed it that you were in Mooseni, Canada.I know. And it took two days to get there and two days to get back. I was only there a little while. Yeah.I was so proud of you for braving the cold. Josh, you California guy.I know that you and Keith grew up with that, but I did not. Yeah.All right, so we are going to dig into some social media questions. The first one is from Dalaran seven. Daniel R. Hawker. One talks about how this is, you know, a very tragic story and sad story that all parents should watch with their kids and tell them, this is why we ask questions. This is why we keep tabs on you 24/7 this can be, this episode, a teachable moment for sure, if you feel comfortable either having your kids watch it or just telling them what happened.Yeah, I mean, I think that's right. I think Jimmy Lackey did everything right. I mean, he paid a lot of attention to where his daughter was, who she was hanging out with, what was going on in her life. He was not some absentee father. He was very, very involved. And yet this still happens. So, I mean, if there is any kind of teachable moment here, it's that you say to your kids, you know, even people that you feel comfortable with. It doesn't mean that nothing can ever happen. You just have to be aware all the time.Yeah. And it's kind of an instinctive thing. Right. There's no manual you kind of just have to figure it out and hope for the best and do everything you can, which is what Jim was clearly doing. Which leads me to our next viewer, Josie at Jocelyn D 20, who said, and I think she speaks for all of us, this dad has me in tears, you know?And when we were originally talking with him, we sat down. He's very sort of taciturn. He doesn't talk a lot. But, man, once we started him talking about this story, he was great all the way through. And he was one of the main storytellers of this story, which, you know, sometimes on Dateline, the people that know the victim the best aren't their parents. But not Jimmy Lackey. He was a player in her life all the way through, and he told this story better than anybody.And Katie Bumble said, britney's father left a deep impression on me. May all daughters have a dad who loves them this much.His pain was so palpable. I mean, we're around for what we do a lot of victims, but this was so different. Like, you felt it. You almost took it on yourself.So onto Bryce the killer, Nancy Carol Harvey on Facebook said, I knew right away Bryce did it. Talking about the cowboy hat and the truck. There are so many of the same color truck in that town and cowboys.That definitely to the bottom of what you need to know.The question is, did you really think.That you were going to get away with it?Dateline, true crime weekly. Listen now and catch new episodes every Thursday.

that's the best case scenario, you have gone to a very bad, very dark place. And that's where Britney's mom was at that point, which is okay. Well, at least in that scenario, she's still alive. And the hardest thing that law enforcement had to do was say to her, hey, this is nothing.

Ok. After the break, we'll be back with an extra clip from Josh's interview with Britney's dad, Jim Ulaki.

They are the families of the missing in America, and they're desperately searching for answers. Somebody knows something. I'm Josh Mankins. Join me for season three of missing in America. Listen carefully because just one small detail might allow you to solve a mystery.

We have seen miracles happen.

Dateline missing in America. Listen now. Wherever you get podcasts, the podium is.

Back with fresh angles and deep dives into olympic and paralympic stories. You know, and those you'll be hard pressed to forget.

I did something in 88 that hasn't been beaten.

Oh, gosh. The US Olympic trials is the hardest and most competitive meet in the world. We are athletes. We're going out there smashing into each other full force.

Listen to the podium on the I Heart app or your favorite podcast platform weekly, and every day during the games to hear the Olympics like you've never quite heard them before.

One of the things that I've had to learn in this job is that the traditional rules or the rules that I grew up with of dating or going steady or who's with who, you know, the idea that, like, I'm gonna come to your house and I'm gonna pick you up and I'm gonna have some flowers for you, and your dad's gonna grill me in the entryway, and then I'm gonna make sure that I have you back by, you know, 10:59 p.m. or whatever the curfew is, which I'm okay with.

I am okay with that.

I know that you. A racetrack in trouble or a blast from the past?This is a crazy twist to the story. I couldn't believe it.Dateline Friday at nine, eight central, only on NBC.What we're gonna do now is we're going to bring in Ann Priceman, who, as I said, is a good friend of mine and I've done many datelines with her. And she was your producer on this episode. She was, and she is going to tell us a little bit about her experience with the story and answer some questions from social media. So let's bring in the incredible Anne Priceman.Hello.Great to be with you, Anne. So you made a vlog while you were out filming this episode. Let's just play it for our listeners really quickly.Hi, I'm Anne.And I'm Rachel.And today we're taking you along on a shoot for an all new episode of Dateline.We're in Elko County, Nevada, which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been while traveling for DatelIne.In fact, this area is known as the Swiss Alps of Nevada.After a couple of hours of filming, we headed back to town, although we.Ran into a problem, a lot of big problems, actually.So we're driving back from our b roll shoot and we're having some trouble getting home.Eventually they move, moved out of the way and we made it back to town.So what the listener can't see is that you're driving through this gorgeous valley and then your suv is suddenly surrounded by a herd of huge dairy cows.Eventually they turned around and they're like, oh, there's a car.It's the same philosophy that Ann uses when dealing with me, which is you just wait and eventually, like, it works out. You're patient enough.Yeah. Josh, you made a vlog as well in Canada.I did, because I had that trip, which, by the way, was the other kind of story that we were just talking about, which is it was not a friend of the victim. It was somebody completely random. And that was kind of a swerve for us in that there was no relationship at all between killer and victim. And where we were going in Canada was so far away and it was so hard to get there. It took so long. It was a real planes, trains and automobiles experience. So I made a little video travelog.I couldn't have documented. I don't know that I would have believed it that you were in Mooseni, Canada.I know. And it took two days to get there and two days to get back. I was only there a little while. Yeah.I was so proud of you for braving the cold. Josh, you California guy.I know that you and Keith grew up with that, but I did not. Yeah.All right, so we are going to dig into some social media questions. The first one is from Dalaran seven. Daniel R. Hawker. One talks about how this is, you know, a very tragic story and sad story that all parents should watch with their kids and tell them, this is why we ask questions. This is why we keep tabs on you 24/7 this can be, this episode, a teachable moment for sure, if you feel comfortable either having your kids watch it or just telling them what happened.Yeah, I mean, I think that's right. I think Jimmy Lackey did everything right. I mean, he paid a lot of attention to where his daughter was, who she was hanging out with, what was going on in her life. He was not some absentee father. He was very, very involved. And yet this still happens. So, I mean, if there is any kind of teachable moment here, it's that you say to your kids, you know, even people that you feel comfortable with. It doesn't mean that nothing can ever happen. You just have to be aware all the time.Yeah. And it's kind of an instinctive thing. Right. There's no manual you kind of just have to figure it out and hope for the best and do everything you can, which is what Jim was clearly doing. Which leads me to our next viewer, Josie at Jocelyn D 20, who said, and I think she speaks for all of us, this dad has me in tears, you know?And when we were originally talking with him, we sat down. He's very sort of taciturn. He doesn't talk a lot. But, man, once we started him talking about this story, he was great all the way through. And he was one of the main storytellers of this story, which, you know, sometimes on Dateline, the people that know the victim the best aren't their parents. But not Jimmy Lackey. He was a player in her life all the way through, and he told this story better than anybody.And Katie Bumble said, britney's father left a deep impression on me. May all daughters have a dad who loves them this much.His pain was so palpable. I mean, we're around for what we do a lot of victims, but this was so different. Like, you felt it. You almost took it on yourself.So onto Bryce the killer, Nancy Carol Harvey on Facebook said, I knew right away Bryce did it. Talking about the cowboy hat and the truck. There are so many of the same color truck in that town and cowboys.That definitely to the bottom of what you need to know.The question is, did you really think.That you were going to get away with it?Dateline, true crime weekly. Listen now and catch new episodes every Thursday.

A racetrack in trouble or a blast from the past?

This is a crazy twist to the story. I couldn't believe it.

Dateline Friday at nine, eight central, only on NBC.

What we're gonna do now is we're going to bring in Ann Priceman, who, as I said, is a good friend of mine and I've done many datelines with her. And she was your producer on this episode. She was, and she is going to tell us a little bit about her experience with the story and answer some questions from social media. So let's bring in the incredible Anne Priceman.

Hello.

Great to be with you, Anne. So you made a vlog while you were out filming this episode. Let's just play it for our listeners really quickly.

Hi, I'm Anne.

And I'm Rachel.

And today we're taking you along on a shoot for an all new episode of Dateline.

We're in Elko County, Nevada, which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been while traveling for DatelIne.

In fact, this area is known as the Swiss Alps of Nevada.

After a couple of hours of filming, we headed back to town, although we.

Ran into a problem, a lot of big problems, actually.

So we're driving back from our b roll shoot and we're having some trouble getting home.

Eventually they move, moved out of the way and we made it back to town.

So what the listener can't see is that you're driving through this gorgeous valley and then your suv is suddenly surrounded by a herd of huge dairy cows.

Eventually they turned around and they're like, oh, there's a car.

It's the same philosophy that Ann uses when dealing with me, which is you just wait and eventually, like, it works out. You're patient enough.

Yeah. Josh, you made a vlog as well in Canada.

I did, because I had that trip, which, by the way, was the other kind of story that we were just talking about, which is it was not a friend of the victim. It was somebody completely random. And that was kind of a swerve for us in that there was no relationship at all between killer and victim. And where we were going in Canada was so far away and it was so hard to get there. It took so long. It was a real planes, trains and automobiles experience. So I made a little video travelog.

I couldn't have documented. I don't know that I would have believed it that you were in Mooseni, Canada.

I know. And it took two days to get there and two days to get back. I was only there a little while. Yeah.

I was so proud of you for braving the cold. Josh, you California guy.

I know that you and Keith grew up with that, but I did not. Yeah.

All right, so we are going to dig into some social media questions. The first one is from Dalaran seven. Daniel R. Hawker. One talks about how this is, you know, a very tragic story and sad story that all parents should watch with their kids and tell them, this is why we ask questions. This is why we keep tabs on you 24/7 this can be, this episode, a teachable moment for sure, if you feel comfortable either having your kids watch it or just telling them what happened.

Yeah, I mean, I think that's right. I think Jimmy Lackey did everything right. I mean, he paid a lot of attention to where his daughter was, who she was hanging out with, what was going on in her life. He was not some absentee father. He was very, very involved. And yet this still happens. So, I mean, if there is any kind of teachable moment here, it's that you say to your kids, you know, even people that you feel comfortable with. It doesn't mean that nothing can ever happen. You just have to be aware all the time.

Yeah. And it's kind of an instinctive thing. Right. There's no manual you kind of just have to figure it out and hope for the best and do everything you can, which is what Jim was clearly doing. Which leads me to our next viewer, Josie at Jocelyn D 20, who said, and I think she speaks for all of us, this dad has me in tears, you know?

And when we were originally talking with him, we sat down. He's very sort of taciturn. He doesn't talk a lot. But, man, once we started him talking about this story, he was great all the way through. And he was one of the main storytellers of this story, which, you know, sometimes on Dateline, the people that know the victim the best aren't their parents. But not Jimmy Lackey. He was a player in her life all the way through, and he told this story better than anybody.

And Katie Bumble said, britney's father left a deep impression on me. May all daughters have a dad who loves them this much.

His pain was so palpable. I mean, we're around for what we do a lot of victims, but this was so different. Like, you felt it. You almost took it on yourself.

So onto Bryce the killer, Nancy Carol Harvey on Facebook said, I knew right away Bryce did it. Talking about the cowboy hat and the truck. There are so many of the same color truck in that town and cowboys.

That definitely to the bottom of what you need to know.The question is, did you really think.That you were going to get away with it?Dateline, true crime weekly. Listen now and catch new episodes every Thursday.

to the bottom of what you need to know.

The question is, did you really think.

That you were going to get away with it?

Dateline, true crime weekly. Listen now and catch new episodes every Thursday.