Transcript of True Crime Vault: Finding Kelsie

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What could make me crumble, you know, she would be strong enough to, you know, to stand up to. Kelsey Schelling's face is on billboards in Pueblo, and volunteers have combed through the area she was last seen. And now since she's gone, you know, I've had to turn into a fighter. She's the strongest mom I know, I mean, who fights for their kid like this.

It was like, maybe she'll call. Maybe she's out there, you know?

A pregnant woman who vanished. Kelsey was 8 weeks pregnant. Last seen in Pueblo visiting her boyfriend. Friends and family would get text replies back, but they said that it just didn't quite sound like Kelsey.

I did have a sinking feeling in my stomach.

This unknown man is seen walking to Kelsey Schelling's car and is seen driving away with the car. I mean, we're trying everything. Breaks my heart.

Almost 2 years after Kelsey's disappearance, a mysterious message giving everyone hope comes through that Help Find Kelsey Facebook page.

It was saying, if I have information about Kelsey, can I remain anonymous?

When Laura responds, a man emails her saying, ma'am, please, your daughter is not dead.

It was just the fear of what if. she is still out there somewhere. What if? I mean, it was just, what if? What if?

Kelsey Schelling grew up in the tiny farm town of Holyoke, Colorado.

Holyoke is around 2.5 to 3 hours away from Denver.

It's quiet. Just kind of have your own way. Perfect place to raise a family. Yeah, real good place. Yeah, safe. You're hoping anyway, you know.

Holyoke is definitely agricultural. There's only one stoplight, and if you want to go to a Walmart, you've got to head west to Sterling. That's 50 miles away.

In the early '90s, Kelsey's parents, Doug and Laura, owned the local grocery store in Holyoke. Kelsey and her brother Colby seem to be living out the American dream. I first met Laura Saxton back in 2016 when 20/20 was first looking into Kelsey's story.

You know, she, she's just always been a little firecracker.

Hi, Kel.

Hi, cocoa bean.

Kelsey.

She wasn't a kid that wanted to stay up till midnight, you know, where you usually have to fight your kids to go to bed. Like at 8:30, that's when she wanted to go to bed. She'd go into her room and pull back her covers, and each animal had to be in a certain place, and everything had to be just perfect.

When she got to be 2, 3, 4 years old, she was feisty. You'd try to give her a kiss, and she'd slap me pretty good. So I kind of learned my lesson, you know.

My first impression of Kelsey, she was just an active, outdoors, fun-loving girl, liked to do a lot of sports. When my daughter and Kelsey first met up, their true love was playing basketball together.

I was her— I was her coach.

Yeah.

Here she is right here. Wow. Is she the point guard? Mm-hmm.

When we were still in elementary school, her dad took us out and let us drive on the dirt roads, which is pretty common around here. Kelsey could just laugh about things like that, and her laugh made us laugh. She'd start to giggle, then you would start to giggle. And so that's, that's what made being around Kelsey so special. Kelsey was a tiny little thing, you know, shorter than me.

The Kelsey that I knew didn't take a lot of crap off her classmates. You know, she wasn't afraid to stand her ground. But as Kelsey enters her teens, the Schelling family is rocked when Doug and Laura decide to divorce.

Going through a divorce is really hard, um, as a kid.

Yeah, the split of our parents certainly had an impact on both of us. Colby. Colby lived with me and Kelsey lived with her mom. It was a real dark time for the whole family.

It was a rough age. You know, after her dad and I got divorced, it was just she and I together alone for a lot of years.

She was in a bad emotional place, and I don't think that was, was due to her character and nature. I think that was circumstantial. When Laura and I was going through a divorce, she was on antidepressant pills, and she ended up taking like 3 of them or something.

She ended up in the hospital. For several days, and it was pretty scary. I mean, I thought we were gonna lose her at that point.

She was in a coma?

She was. I felt like it was a turning point. I mean, when any young school-age kid has parents who are splitting up, that's a lot to take on. She actually stopped doing all of the sports and activities Seemed like she was more removed. I think Kelsey was just looking— she was looking for a change. She wanted to figure out what, you know, what was her niche. Kelsey was always, I think, working through, how do I be better? How do I grow? How do I move past this?

Our senior year, she was— she was the prom queen. You don't get that without showing people kindness and respect and truly being embraced by, by your peers, you know?

Kelsey taught me, um, she taught me perseverance.

Eventually she moves on. She goes to Northeastern Junior College. What did she want to do with her life?

She wanted to get a degree in psychology. I think in her heart she wanted to work with children. We officially became roommates January 2011. If we all of us were bored at 3 o'clock in the morning, she'd be the one to say, let's go cause problems, I guess. Not bad problems. She was just, you know, out for a good time. She loved to have fun. That was her thing to do.

And for a while, carefree Kelsey is back. And then she meets Dante Lucas. He's about to change her life forever.

It was a big deal that she was dating Dante. He was part of the basketball team. They were kind of the popular kids and everything. By the time Kelsey got to know him, she felt proud that she knew who he was because he was somebody to know. He had dreams of making it big in the NBA.

Kelsey thought she met the man of her dreams.

Marker.

Please say your full name and give us your title. Lisa Wayne, attorney at law. Well, I had the privilege of being down in Pueblo in the '80s, and I was a public defender. Pueblo's a small town in southern Colorado. Used to be a steel mill town. The steel mill shut down in the '80s. Pueblo was founded and built by people that came from all over the world.

We're the home of the Pueblo chili. Everyone that lives there is so proud of this town.

Kelsey's love interest, Dante Lucas, lives in Pueblo. Sarah Lucas, Dante's mother, is raising all 4 kids on her own in this Colorado town set on what's called the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. In the town of Pueblo, a 6-foot-7 star athlete stands out. I coached Dante Lucas in youth football. He was a coach's dream. He's a real polite kid, wanted to learn the game of football, and just really quiet. Dante Lucas was super close with his mother. Sarah. On the football field, she was one of the most supportive parents. For Dante, football wasn't his sport. I'd say he's a better basketball player, which happened later in his career through high school here in Pueblo.

Dante Lucas was a very well-known basketball player. He was going to be the one who made it out of Pueblo.

I refuse to break, pushing forward to win, no matter what it takes.

He had dreams of making it big in the NBA.

It was obvious that he wanted to pursue it, but the family spoke more about it than he did. We were told by Dontay's mom, Sarah, that he was getting contacted from North Carolina and Kentucky. Their dream was that he was going to make the NBA and make a good life for himself. When I first met Dontay, he was a freshman here at Central High School. He was 6'7. If you have that kind of size, you know, you can make a lot of things happen. What amazed me is a guy in class that was so quiet was just as popular as he was.

He was a really good role model for the young kids in the neighborhood.

His attitude was always good. He was good with his teammates. He just matured into a very good basketball player. Just his overall drive as a student from day one, it wasn't adept enough. As a teacher, I'd try to get him involved with the rest of the class. I talked to him about that several times. Whether it was his grades or his skill, Dante didn't get into an NCAA school, but he wanted to continue to play basketball. Dante gets recruited to Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. He's playing basketball when he meets Kelsey Schelling, and they begin dating.

Kelsey and another one of our roommates actually went to a basketball game and were scouting out the cute boys on the team, saw Dante, and decided to go up and talk. And that's how she and Dante met. By the time Kelsey got to know him and really got kind of involved, she felt proud that she knew who he was because he was somebody to know. They spent a lot of their extra free time together.

When did you first meet him?

Um, I never met him. I saw him play basketball a couple times. Kelsey never really said anything about bringing him home to meet the parents. He was not committed to her by any means.

Kelsey could have had anybody, but she kind of always took attraction to people that needed help, that she thought she could turn around.

I believe that if Dante was, you know, failing or had bad grades, that his basketball career at the school would be definitely on pause. I don't honestly think that Dante really cared to learn. Kelsey would try to help him. He would just seem very disinterested and not really care. I think she just hoped if she was good enough to him that, you know, he would realize that, you know, she's the one. I think Kelsey stayed with Dante because she found someone that gave her attention, even if it wasn't the right kind of attention. And I think Dante was with Kelsey because he got money from Kelsey, borrowed Kelsey's car, basically lived a life that everyone works for but didn't have to do anything for it. Just had to be there. There were good days in the relationship with Dante, and then it just went south. He would play with her heart. I could definitely see some bubbliness fading out as he broke her spirit.

Kelsey texts Dante, I'm really hurt. The way you talk about me to other people is your true feelings. I guess I'm just a fool. I'm so heartbroken. Days later, Dante would respond, my phone's been dead the past few days.

And then afterwards, she'd be like, oh, well, you know, like, he's better. He's going to be better. And then she'd be happy. Dante left Northeastern Junior College because he was kind of done with his studies.

After Kelsey leaves Northeastern Junior College, she lands in California, but she doesn't stay there long. Why did she decide to leave?

Mostly it was financial reasons.

Where did she go from there?

That's when she moved back to Colorado, was living in Denver in her Dad's apartment, and she had started working at Floor and Decor.

When did she start going out with Dante again?

Over the holiday time frame, November, December. He would stay with her, but then he'd go back to Pueblo sometimes.

Were you worried that he would come back and what that would do to her?

Absolutely. I saw what it was like before, and I didn't want that to happen to her again. She didn't want that to happen to her again because she knew the kind of person that she became when she was with him.

How in the world did they get back together?

I don't know. She missed him, I guess. Kelsey has a surprise for her family. She's pregnant. She called me when she found out she was pregnant, and she was stressed, you know, very stressed. I could tell she was scared to tell me. Just told her, I will support you. It's gonna be okay. She was happy.

Did she tell you anything about Dante's reaction?

She said he was mad. She and Dante would be texting and he would stop responding either during arguments that they were having. She would then get upset, wait to hear back from Dante, and left in limbo, and it was very aggravating for her.

Kelsey texts Dante, you were my best friend, the only thing I lived for day after day. What happened to us? It wasn't supposed to be like this.

One time I talked to her and she'd say, you know, he's kind of coming around and Dante will never abandon the baby.

But a child with Kelsey was not in Dante's plans.

Kelsey gets a text from Dante and he says that he has something for her. He alludes to a surprise and he wants her to come to Pueblo.

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Kelsey had come home. When she was here, she slept a lot. I knew it was hard on her working full-time in Denver. Now with the new pregnancy, she was really tired. I said, I will support you whether Dante is in the picture or not in the picture. It's going to be okay. She was happy. She wanted that baby. She wanted to be a mom.

She was in a good place.

Yes. So I'm thankful for those couple of days that we got.

My name is Zach Hillstrom. I am a reporter at the Pueblo Chieftain. I think that people have been trying to fill in the blanks about what happened to Kelsey from the time that it happened, and not just when the mystery seemed like it might be a permanent one. On February 3rd, 2013, Dante Lucas, her boyfriend, was trying to convince Kelsey Schelling to come to his house. to come visit him in Pueblo that day. She responded with a firm no. It seems like they fought a lot that night. Just before 3:00 AM, Kelsey texted Dante, you don't have to be in a relationship with me. You don't have to marry me. You don't have to have a happy little family with me. You don't have an obligation to me. You are good.

Don't worry.

Good night. Lucas's response to that was, oh, I know all of that. Thanks for stating that for me.

So it was February 4th, and Kelsey had taken 3 home pregnancy tests. So she went into the doctor and had the doctor confirm to her that she was actually pregnant. She got the sonogram done. She even had the photo in hand of her sonogram. She was able to share that with her mom.

What did you think when you saw the baby?

I was happy. I knew that she was happy. She showed up to work probably 10 minutes late. She just had her ultrasound. She was really excited. She was in a great mood that day.

That morning, Kelsey told Dante that she had finished her appointment and that her due date was September 13th. Lucas's response to that was, cool. He asked her to skip work and come to Pueblo. She texted him, I'm not going to come get you so we can fight all day. He texted back, I don't want to fight at all. I want to give you this. She writes back, give me what? He says, just wait and see for yourself. You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you anyway, so you can see for yourself.

Kelsey decides to go down to Pueblo after work.

She clocked out of work at a little bit after 8:40 PM and hit the road to see Dante in Pueblo.

So Denver to Pueblo drive, right down I-25, it's about 2 hours long. It's just one straight path. Not a lot of people are out on the roads. It is a lonely, quiet drive. While she's driving down to Pueblo, Dante sends her a text saying, let's meet at the Southside She parks her car there.

She texted him at 10:20 saying she'd arrived, and he replied that he'd be there shortly.

She's waiting, she's waiting, and she's getting impatient like any girlfriend would.

At 11:10 PM, he still hadn't shown up.

That's when Dante says, let's meet at our spot, which is in the neighborhood of his grandmother's home. And that's where Dante was staying at the time. She moved her car there from the Southside Walmart. She was just parked on the side of the road in this residential neighborhood. So then she's left waiting there again, and she's still impatiently texting him.

The last confirmed message from Kelsey was sent at 11:18 PM. She was asking Dante, where are you? I've been here for over an hour just waiting.

The following day, the 5th, she didn't show up for work. So I tried calling her, couldn't get a response. So then I shot her a text message asking her where she was, why she wasn't at work. Got a text message back right away saying that she was in the hospital having some tests done. And she said that she was not having a baby anymore. It was growing in the wrong place.

I tried calling her on Wednesday. She didn't answer her phone, which is kind of pretty rare. And then I texted her. I said, hey, give me a call. I got a text message back, says, I'm not feeling good. I'm on the couch.

I'll call you tomorrow. I kept trying to call and she wouldn't answer. Toward the end of the week, it was going directly to voicemail. So then, in the back of my mind, I'm starting to get concerned. After Kelsey had driven to Pueblo, there was never a phone call that was answered from her phone. Kelsey is not the type of person who would, like, not talk to her friends. She was glued to her phone. Friends and family would get text replies back, but they said that it came in a voice that just didn't sound like Kelsey. It just didn't quite sound like Kelsey. It was just short, quick responses. Generally, any text message I had from Kelsey, words were spelled and there was punctuation, and they didn't have that.

I got to looking at the text messages, and it's like, man, I don't think that was her. Why didn't you think that was her? Just the verbiage in it and stuff. I mean, it just didn't seem like, you know, her texting me.

Then on that same day, Saturday morning, it's like the whole world just unraveled. All of her friends, like, started contacting us saying, you know, we've been trying to reach Kelsey and we can't reach her. I called Doug, her dad, and said, you know, something is wrong.

Kelsey!

Kelsey! And so then we all drove up to Denver that day. Went into the apartment. There was no sign of her in the apartment. And that's when we called the Denver Police.

Family members were visibly upset. They were frantic, actually, almost feverishly asking for any help they could get in trying to locate her. Did you reach out to Dante?

I did contact him to ask him, you know, if he knew where she was.

What did he sound like on the phone? Because the call that you're making to him is, Kelsey, the woman that you are with, the mother of your child, is missing. We are desperate to find her.

Nothing. No, not worked up. Not, you know, just—

He's not scared? What can I do? How can I help?

No, he just says, if I hear from her, I'll let you know. And then a little bit later, he got back with me. 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.

Intimating that she's alive, she's out there.

And I said, well, can you track that number? And he's like, yeah, I'll try and figure out what the number was. And then, of course, he never did.

When this case first came in, I called Dante. He was telling me that he had seen her and had talked with her and spent time with her. more recently than any of her family members, any of her friends. After I got off the phone, I did have a sinking feeling in my stomach. The following Friday, February 15th, that morning is when we drove down to Pueblo to turn the investigation over to the Pueblo Police Department. You want to have a chair right there, brother? We, in the beginning, were trying not to call him a suspect, just to try to build a rapport with him and try to sit down and get him to open up. Can you kind of tell me just briefly what happened? Well, Tuesday morning, early Tuesday morning, she came down to Pueblo.

During the course of the interrogation with Dante Lucas, he reveals some pretty shocking things about Kelsey and about the baby.

Now to the mysterious disappearance of a Denver woman. Pregnant woman who vanished.

Kelsey was 8 weeks pregnant. Last seen in Pueblo visiting her boyfriend, Dante Lucas.

So when do you start talking to Dante Lucas? We start talking to him fairly quickly as far as what is going on. Can I have a chair right there, brother? Police bring Dante in for questioning, and immediately he denies a romantic relationship with Kelsey. Now, is she your girlfriend, or— No, we never were actually in a relationship. Can you kind of tell me Just briefly, what happened? She came down to Pueblo and we're talking or whatever. You know, we ended up— she ended up, you know, getting mad at me or whatever. Dante tells Officer Robinson that Kelsey slept in her car in Pueblo. He said that they met up again the following morning and that he brought Kelsey Schelling to Parkview Medical Center where she went inside. So we went to Parkview and she went in and stayed for a night.

We have no record of Kelsey Schilling ever being here at Parkview Medical Center.

Now, what do you check to find out if she was here or not?

We have a medical records system that keeps track of every patient that's ever walked through our doors.

So for you, there was no way she's ever here?

That's correct. He alluded to the fact that she may have had a miscarriage.

She came out and she told me that she wasn't pregnant. Just the day before in Denver, Kelsey's doctor told her that the baby was healthy. So then after we left Parkview, Dante claimed that he and Kelsey then went to the Southside Walmart. Kelsey was going to grab some snacks before she made the drive back to Denver. She went to go get, uh, 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 like, get out of the car at Walmart, she didn't want to take me home. So I just left the Walmart, started walking But surveillance video from Walmart reveals a different version of events. He contends that the two of them are together, and clearly, based on the surveillance, it's one person. It's him getting out of the car, and no one else exits.

When the car was parked at Walmart on February 5th, police believe that it was Dante Lucas parking that car, getting out, and leaving. walking away. They have pretty good surveillance video showing it.

The car sat there overnight.

The morning of February 6th, this unknown man is seen walking to Kelsey Schelling's car parked at the Southside Walmart and is seen driving away with the car. We have no idea who that person was in that video.

It's a car that that person is familiar with, and we know earlier that Dante had the key. Who do you think that someone was that came back and drove that car away? You know, there are similarities to Dante, but it's nothing that we can 100% say that is the person who drove it away.

When Dante Lucas talked with police, he didn't paint the best picture of Kelsey. He painted a picture of, you know, just that she was kind of troubled.

She had, like, bad anxiety. She has anxiety attacks, so she had pills for that. Okay, tell me about that. She's told me before that, like, she's ended up in, like, the hospital a few times from, like, overdosing, I guess. Dante cast her to police as someone who had troubles with drugs.

No.

No?

I don't believe that, no.

Um, she just one time was talking about suicide. She's almost ended up in the hospital behind it, like, multiple times.

When she was 15 years old, she did. So yes, she has had that in her past. But if she committed suicide, you would find her body. I mean, she was happy. She wanted that baby. She wanted to be a mom. So at this point, Kelsey has been missing for more than a week. But on Valentine's Day, February 14th, 2013, her car is discovered.

The car of a missing Denver woman has been found in Pueblo.

Detectives will be examining Kelsey's car. It was big news when Kelsey's car was found at St. Mary Corwin Medical Center. How did it get there? What happened to Kelsey? I knew once her car was found that something horrible had happened because there's just no way that she would have gone somewhere and left her car.

To find the car and no Kelsey. And no Kelsey. We did not have any good security footage that Could tell us who dropped off the car, how the car got there. 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.

Police start working backwards. They start going through surveillance video, and what they find is pretty surprising. Less than 12 hours after she would have arrived in Pueblo, surveillance video shows Dante in her car at an ATM in Pueblo. He's driving and he takes $400 out of Kelsey's bank account.

But is it suspicious for you that he uses that card after the date where you pinpoint Kelsey was missing? It is part of the suspicious activity, yes. Because Dante withdraws money from Kelsey's account without her in the car, Dante is brought in for a second time by Pueblo police. This is the second time I've talked to you. These detectives had a wealth of information to go at him. Why'd you get the money? The money?

Mm-hmm.

You know what, the money— 11:39 at the bank. You're on video, dude, in her car with her credit card. You're on tape. Oh, the $400 they're talking about?

Mm-hmm.

It was for my phone bill. Why didn't she go with you to the ATM? Just not the car. It's on the video. Um, it may have been while she was over at the hospital. I'm honestly, I'm not sure about this. Like I said, like, my time frame has been messed up. The detective moves on to another topic, talking about why there's no record of Kelsey ever showing up at the hospital. There's no record of her ever being at Parkview. That's— that's like a lie. I'm just saying. Now here's the thing. Instead of pressing Dante on these contradictions, they move on to an unrelated topic. When you dropped her off, when she dropped you off at Walmart, where were you parked at? I mean, like, apparently you guys know, so like, I don't understand why you— like, I told him one time, like, I don't— that's all I can say about it. When she dropped you off, when was that again? Can I speak to a lawyer, please? So if you guys just keep asking things They're asking the same questions over and over. It's like speaking to a lawyer. Once he requests a lawyer, all questions come to a halt.

Unfortunately, this is a very poorly executed interview. I think it's a tremendous missed opportunity. Once he shut down, our avenues of trying to talk to him end. How did you read that? As the possibility that he knows something.

Dante Lucas was arrested on February 15th. They don't arrest him on murder charges. He was arrested on felony identity theft charges for using Kelsey's debit card at the bank that day. But those charges were later dropped when investigators found out that Kelsey did, on occasion, give him permission to use her bank card.

How do you prove she did not or did give him permission at that time? And since you had permission to do it before, it makes it a very difficult case to prosecute.

He's released. He's, you know, living his life.

Do we suspect foul play?

Yes.

Have we come up with a body?

No.

Dante is a person of interest in the fact that she's missing. Hoping to get Dante to talk, police bring in the person who knows him better than anyone.

Mysterious disappearance.

The disappearance of Kelsey Schelling. Missing pregnant woman and her unborn baby.

World, I want to leave you better. As journalists, these are the stories that keep us up at night. This was a story that I spent 4 years working on and reporting on. I wanted so badly for there to be justice in this case. To let you see. Even though Kelsey's car was found in Pueblo, Kelsey hadn't been found. Police, you know, maintained at that time that it was a missing persons case.

When the charges of identity theft are dropped in March of 2013, Police can't get Dante to talk again. You'll have a chair right there. I'll grab your water and we'll be there in a second. So they take a different tact. They decide to speak to his mother, Sarah Lucas. I would love to clear Dante and move on. If Dante would come in, do a polygraph, we ask him like 5 questions. If he passes that, we can move on and look other directions.

I will work with you. I'll relay that to his lawyer, and I know my son wants nothing more than to find out what happened to her.

Detectives ask her about February 5th. That's the day that Dante was seen on surveillance camera parking Kelsey's car at Walmart.

Did you, in fact, pick Dante up? I did pick my son up.

At that time, did you see Kelsey? Was she with him, or—

No, um, she wasn't with him then.

Do you know where she was?

In the house.

Sarah gives Dante an alibi for his whereabouts on February 6th, when that unknown man is seen moving Kelsey's car from the Walmart. On the 6th, Dante, or somebody that looks remarkably similar to Dante— I'm not going to say 100% it was him, but went back and picked it up.

There's no way that was him.

There's no way he was at home.

I know my son. He's not capable of hurting anybody.

But it's been 3 years since this case happened. No one's been charged.

That's right.

You have inconsistencies, lies, but without a body or any direct evidence that tells us something happened to her to a homicide. You know, it may happen one day, but right now it's, you know, we haven't had any evidence to reclassify it.

You look at the Pueblo Police Department, they probably didn't have as many resources, and her family quickly became frustrated with how this investigation was progressing, or kind of the lack there of any progress. Kelsey's still not a victim according to them. There's not been a criminal act committed according to them. We just want an effective investigation done into Kelsey's disappearance.

Her family is pleading for your help.

We are doing everything in our power to find our missing loved one. We tried to push Pueblo Police for answers. We were there for every press conference, every event. We just weren't getting any new information from them at all. And to me, that was so frustrating. The investigation really isn't being handled properly. Laura Saxton always been a fierce advocate for her daughter, and I don't think she'll rest until Kelsey is found.

Many in Pueblo are not giving up on finding clues that could help find Kelsey Schelling. Why do you think people feel so strongly about Kelsey You know, they can't believe it.

You know, they try and imagine what if it was their child.

We're gonna break up again over here.

In May of that year when she went missing, they started doing their own searches. They didn't think police were looking hard enough. The whole community was rallying. There were so many searches for her body. all over the city of Pueblo. This is probably one of the largest groups we've had in a while. After 3 years, that's— that means a lot. So thank you.

Come on, kid.

People were scattering, just looking for any shred of evidence. It's becoming harder to come— to come back. I dread the trips, but I know I have to do it. She comes home empty-handed. The one thing that she doesn't have is Kelsey. They never found anything on those searches. Then those searches turned into anniversaries. Kelsey Schelling disappeared 4 years ago this month.

And Kelsey's mother believes police are now closer than ever to finding her.

That turned into justice walks.

What do we want? Justice!

Around the Pueblo Police Department. Department and the District Attorney's Office. We appreciate you all so much. Your support keeps us going. To put pressure on our system to do something here. We're gonna keep going. We're gonna keep coming up with ideas. I mean, we're trying everything.

Kelsey's family offers a $50,000 reward for information. So you feel like you're doing everything you can, even to this day, to find out what happened with Kelsey? Yes. There is no lead. We don't Follow up. We, we followed up leads from psychics that call in. Well, they've had a vision on where Kelsey is, and we followed up those leads.

In an effort to get some more information, hopefully some tips and leads in the case, Kelsey's family also set up a Facebook page, Help Find Kelsey. It was one source or one place where people could come together to generate information, maybe from even people that Didn't want to call police.

You get a Facebook message.

It was from a woman saying, if I have information about Kelsey, can I remain anonymous? It's so awful. He sold her into sex trafficking. I almost feel like I went insane. What if? What if? What if she is still out there somewhere?

We were on the ground to investigate, and I couldn't believe what happened. Right when they're at the trunk, get ready. It's Ryan Smith, ABC News. From the studio that brought you WandaVision— I was an Avenger, but I'm not a hero anymore. This Wednesday, the Vision returns. returns for the final chapter of the groundbreaking trilogy. That family wasn't real. You sure about that? I had a father called Vision.

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Don't miss the 2-episode premiere of Marvel Television's Vision Quest. Nothing bonds a family together quite like Mortal Jeopardy. Streaming Wednesday, only on Disney+. The new documentary film Cat's Eye: Wild Hearts is coming to Disney+ and Hulu October 16th.

The more we grow into Cat's Eye the more eyes that we have on us. We want to do everything for the fans. Our icons are what make Cat's Eye iconic.

Cat's Eye: Wild Hearts, available October 16th on Disney+ and Hulu. Visit disneyplus.com/what's-on for more information. Terms apply.

I want to leave you better.

I want my They were meeting in a parking lot.

Dante sends her a text saying, let's meet at the Southside Walmart. And she parks her car there.

The car sat there overnight.

This unknown man is seen walking to Kelsey Schilling's car, and is seen driving away with the car.

And Kelsey's just gone.

Kelsey had taken 3 home pregnancy tests.

Now, is she your girlfriend, or— No, we never were actually in a relationship. The lead suspect stops talking. Can I speak to a lawyer, please? It's a dead end.

These are the stories that keep us up at night.

But an undercover volunteer befriends him.

I had to play the role that I didn't know what was happening, so I was like, oh my gosh, what's going on? Like, what is happening?

Okay, they're both rolling now. There's a sting operation. Right when they're at the trunk, get ready. We're about 10 seconds away. Marcus Ryan Smith, ABC News. How you doing?

I know that my testimony could potentially help take him down.

The anxiety level was high. The tension was high.

A witness in the Dante Lucas trial was found shot to death.

Another moment where your jaw hit the floor.

When they came and told us the verdict was in, we all were just like, oh my God.

Justice! Her mother simply won't give up on finding Kelsey. For nearly 2 years, Laura Saxton had been on a desperate search for answers about her daughter Kelsey, who suddenly disappeared in February of 2013. There will be a renewed search for clues in the case of Kelsey Schelling. Just through seeing Laura Saxton, the, the tears, the sadness, The frustration, it all came, you know, rolling out. Many in Pueblo are not giving up on finding clues that could help find Kelsey Schelling. The relentlessness of this mother's search really struck a chord with so many people in Pueblo. Scores of locals turned out to help Laura search all around the Pueblo area for any trace of Kelsey. Over here on this other hike in 2 more groups.

The ride home is always really tough. Going home empty-handed emotionally and physically.

Is it hard to keep hope?

As far as the hope of actually finding her, that dwindles, you know, every day.

But then in October of 2015, nearly 2 years after Kelsey's disappearance, there's a shocking development. A mysterious message giving Lara hope comes through the Help Find Kelsey Facebook page. That's the page that Lara had set up to gather tips and leads on the case.

It was saying, if I have information about Kelsey, can I remain anonymous?

When Laura responds, a man emails her saying, ma'am, please, your daughter is not dead. She will be back home alive. The man offers a harrowing account of what really happened to Kelsey. He claims that Dante hired a friend to kill her and says Dante has no idea she is alive. He thinks she is dead.

And that the friend did not kill her. He sold her into sex trafficking. It made me sick. I mean, I could barely function. What if she is still out there somewhere?

The emailer says he needs money to help Kelsey escape— $50,000 in cash. The money is to be brought to Vancouver, Washington, specifically to a local McDonald's restaurant. Then it's to be hand-delivered to a guy named Marcus who would be wearing a red hat.

Once the money was exchanged, then this courier person would go and get Kelsey and bring her back to the McDonald's. I'll have to sell some stocks, which will take about a week. But I can push to expedite that process. I just thought, what if she's been out there and, and I could have found her and we haven't? I mean, it was just, what if? What if?

Laura sets up the meeting at the McDonald's in Vancouver to deliver the cash. But even though she's desperate for answers, she's worried that something criminal is going on. So she reaches out to her friend, So he reaches out to the Vancouver police and asks them to go undercover to meet this courier.

It felt like law enforcement from Vancouver should have been involved in this situation.

But just before the appointed time, the Vancouver police back out, believing it to be an internet scam and not an actual human trafficking plot. But 20/20 had the McDonald's under surveillance to see if anyone would show up. As a man with a red hat comes in. That's him. He sits quietly, but after no one shows up, he takes off. Okay, he's on the move. Cut the engine.

Weird, eerie to see that they actually were, you know, going through with this. He's gone. It was just all a matter of trying to get down to the truth of this.

As I was investigating this mysterious email, a contact of mine told me about another missing woman's case. that proved to be the key to unraveling this mystery. In Portsmouth, Ohio, 1,200 miles away from Colorado, Megan Lancaster, 25 years old, has also suddenly disappeared. Katie Lancaster is on a mission to help find her sister-in-law.

I mean, she's gone without a trace. We have her car and her wallet. An eerie feeling, like there's something, like we're gonna find something.

Months go by with no developments. Megan's family organizes searches and sets up a Facebook page to publicize the case.

And then out of nowhere, he pops up.

A startling message comes through the family's Facebook page about Megan.

He says, I know where Megan is and I can get her back.

Just like with Kelsey's family, the emailer says he can help Megan escape, but he needs money— $50,000. He directs them to bring $25,000 in cash up front to Vancouver, Washington, specifically to that same McDonald's, and deliver it to a man named Marcus wearing— no surprise— a red hat.

What if he really does have her and I can bring her home?

You should stick with the crew, behind the camera with the crew. To unravel just what's going on with this mystery, Katie agreed to work with 20/20 to set up a sting operation. Katie and I are going to be in one vehicle. Just like Laura did 2 weeks earlier, she arranges a meeting to drop off the money in Vancouver at that McDonald's. There are booths over here. Katie, you said this morning that they sent you a text message.

They will be sending Marcus.

Okay, they're both rolling now. I would be going to this rendezvous with Katie, but— As we walk into the McDonald's at the appointed meet time, we quickly spot Marcus, the man in the red hat, and walk over to him. Katie was instructed not to ask any questions, so I told Marcus, hey, the money is in the trunk of a car parked outside. Right when they're at the trunk, get ready. We're about 10 seconds away. Meanwhile, I was waiting outside with our camera team and a security guard in a car In parked a few blocks away. case this thing went sideways. Okay, let's get ready. As they head out to the parking lot, before the trunk is opened, I walk over to Marcus. I want to get some answers. Marcus, Ryan Smith, ABC News.

How you doing?

Pretty good. Good. Why'd you come here to take $25,000 from Katie? Uh, I don't know. You don't know why you're here to take $25,000 from Katie?

Nope.

What are you here for? Oh, 'cause to collect some money. You see, Marcus claims he was suckered too, lured online into a supposed jewelry venture. He says he was supposed to pick up the money and then wire it to someone he's never met. So a random guy tells you to go to McDonald's twice in less than 2 weeks to meet people to pick up money, and you don't think anything of it?

I didn't think none of it.

We were told that you were going to deliver Megan to Katie today. Is that true? I have no idea about no Megan or no kidnapping or anything like This would be a scheme to extort money from families who have family members that are missing. I didn't know nothing of this. 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. So you've been here twice?

Yeah.

Coming to pick up money at a McDonald's?

Yeah.

Your name is attached to this.

I feel shaky inside.

I had no clue. It's important that you be real honest with me. Yeah, I'm real honest. You have never heard of Kelsey Shelley? Never.

Definitely, uh, a big scam. I want to know who's behind it.

But an FBI analysis of the emailer's Facebook page showed it used an IP address traced all the way to Russia. In most scams, they're compartmentalized. So the person you may send to pick up the cash at a particular location may know nothing about what the scam is.

Then that's just 100% clarification that, you know, this is just some dirtbags out there, you know, trying to get money off of these poor families.

But while the extortion plot that was torturing Lara was laid to rest, the roller coaster ride wasn't over. A sympathetic stranger who feels for Lara comes up with a shocking plan— to go undercover on her own and befriend Dante to try to find the truth about what happened to Kelsey.

I knew that I was potentially putting myself into danger.

Dante Lucas? And when we go to get some answers from Dante, she was right there with him. What do you have to say to her family? Even though Lara Saxton lives hundreds of miles away from Pueblo, Colorado, The news about her years-long crusade to find her missing daughter continued to resonate with folks living there.

Our top story tonight, the search for Kelsey Schelling. Today, law enforcement following new leads in the case. We're gonna keep coming up with ideas. I mean, we're trying everything. I felt really heartbroken for her. As a mom, I couldn't even begin to fathom knowing that your child's out there.

It's spring of 2016 when Lauren Shore, a single mom living near Pueblo, says Laura's story inspired her to hatch an audacious plan of her own: make Facebook friends with Dante Lucas, gain his trust, and meet up with him in real life, and just maybe help solve the mystery of what happened to Kelsey.

Definitely was nerve-wracking, but I felt like I could do it. So I messaged him on Facebook, and I told him that I was looking to meet new friends. He responded fairly quickly, within, I'd say, a couple of hours.

Lauren was eventually able to get Dante to meet her in person. When we shot this footage of Dante playing basketball in 2016, Lauren was there with him. She says it was only the second time they'd ever met.

We had went to a basketball court to just play around, shoot some hoops, and that's when a man with a camera came up to us.

Dante Lucas, I'm with ABC News 20/20. The family of Kelsey says you're responsible for her disappearance.

Is that true? Kelsey. I freaked out. I had to play the role that I didn't know what was happening, so I was like, oh my gosh, what's going on? Like, what is happening? What the fuck is happening right now? And he kind of just shut down and was like, I'll tell you about it later on. Don't freak out. It's okay. None of this is true.

As the weeks go by, Lauren says she's able to develop a close relationship with Donnie.

We'd just hang around the family, watch movies, drink a little bit. He always smelt of alcohol. He comes off as very cocky. I feel like he feels like he's just the man and he's just— he can't do no wrong.

Just as she'd planned, Lauren says she got Dante to open up, to trust her enough. The time finally seemed right to ask him about Kelsey.

There was only a certain amount of period of time that he would talk about it. One minute he had no involvement, he had nothing to do with it, and then he would just shut down and start crying hysterically and get really upset.

But Lauren says something very unexpected happened with Dante. Her undercover relationship with him blossomed into romance.

I felt like he did genuinely develop feelings for me and did genuinely fall in love with me. He has this way about him that makes you just feel so sorry for him. In the back of my mind, I always kept that he is potentially a murderer.

Lauren says her relationship with Dante continued for about a year, but then something happened. There was an incident outside his house that made her realize she was in way over her head.

He's like, I want you to marry me, and he showed me the ring. I took the ring. At that point, I was kind of like done because I didn't want to get in any deeper than I had already gotten into.

Despite all the efforts of this clandestine girlfriend, her work doesn't seem to be paying off, and the clock just keeps ticking for Laura Saxton. She's not any closer to knowing the truth about what happened to Kelsey.

I wasn't happy at all with how things were going, and I mean, that's One big reason why I wanted to do the first story with you guys was I was hoping that that would somehow bring something out into the light. Tonight on 20/20, when do you stop looking for a pregnant daughter who's vanished?

In May of 2016, our first 20/20 program on the Kelsey Schelling case hits the airwaves. The very day of our broadcast, there's a big announcement regarding the investigation into Kelsey's disappearance. The Colorado Bureau of Investigation was going to join the case.

That was news to me, so I was kind of like, oh my God, this is awesome. I think once that 20/20 special aired, it really turned up the heat on Pueblo Police and on this case.

Taking over the case, Pueblo Police Department Commander Eric Bravo And CBI Agent Kevin Torres. Working together, they move fast, turning it from a missing persons case into a full-blown criminal investigation. It was a homicide investigation in our eyes, so I immediately started working on setting a plan into motion how we wanted to proceed.

Police got a tip that led them to believe Schelling's body might be in Dante's backyard.

It's not long before police dig up the yard of the house where Dante and his family have been staying. So we thought, man, you know, we really have something. But it went from elation to dissatisfaction. You know, that day it just seemed like we were there, and then it slipped away. During the investigation, Agent Torres finds out about Dante's relationship with Lauren Shore. When he interviews Shore, she reveals that Dante had made a key admission to her about Kelsey's disappearance, and it's about that Walmart surveillance video of the mystery man walking over to her car and then driving off with it. She confirmed for us Dante admitting it was him in the Walmart surveillance video. She also informed us that Dante admitted to her dropping Kelsey's car off at St. Mary Corwin Hospital. The piece of information that Lauren provided to us was a pretty crucial piece at that point. Then in late 2017, there's a huge development that will totally transform the case. A Pueblo man tells police that Dante and other family members had attacked him in front of their home and stolen $1,000 from him. Now that gives police a reason to arrest Dante.

I had information that Dante was leaving Pueblo and was heading to DIA, where he seemingly intended to board a flight to Tucson. And the concern was that he may take other efforts to meet friends in Mexico. Boy, the anxiety level was high. The tension was high. The time was ticking away, and the tires were turning on the road, and Dante was within 20 minutes of getting on a plane for Tucson, Arizona when he was arrested.

When he was arrested, there was hope across the community that maybe investigators would finally get some answers in this case.

We decided that the next day would be the day that, uh, we would send a couple detectives back in to try and, uh, answer some of the questions that we didn't have answered. During his interrogation, Dante finally breaks down and comes clean, confirming Lauren Shore's account that he was the one seen in that Walmart video. So that information that he confirmed that that was him was huge. You see, it was that admission combined with the wealth of evidence from text messages, cell phone records, and surveillance video already gathered— all of that was enough for prosecutors to move forward. At the end of the I said, I think we have enough here to go forward. I ethically believe that Dante Lucas killed Kelsey Schilling, and I think we have the evidence to prove it.

A major development. The ex-boyfriend of a pregnant Denver woman who went missing 4 years ago, he now faces charges of first-degree murder.

How were you thinking as his trial approached? Are you thinking justice will be done?

I put a lot of things on hold because I just She just was, you know, sure it was going to happen and, you know, wanted to be ready to go. So after 8 years, Dante Lucas is finally in court, and the prosecution has a surprise witness.

That just took the whole room's breath away. No one saw that coming. This story became such a big deal here in Pueblo because people want answers. And they haven't gotten any for 8 years.

Dante Lucas, the Pueblo man accused of murdering his pregnant ex-girlfriend Kelsey Schelling nearly 8 years ago, is headed to trial tomorrow.

Did I think it was going to be a tough case? Absolutely. And we well may not win it, but I owe it to the family. I think I owe it to Kelsey to go forward and try this case.

KRDO News Channel 13's Dan Beattie has been following this case and the trial for more than 2 years.

I was anticipating there to just be a mad rush of reporters who were gonna try to get into the courtroom. I was very worried that I might not even get a seat. You could feel the anticipation. When I saw Laura Saxton walk into the judicial building, you could tell this was a day she's been waiting for for a long time. Denver7's Liz Gilardi in Pueblo today for opening statements. Liz, you have been with this case every step of the way now for all these years.

The prosecution simply started out and they said, this is not a missing persons case, this is a homicide case.

The case that the prosecution was making right off the jump was, one, they were going to prove through text messages and surveillance video that Dante Lucas has to be the one responsible for Kelsey Schelling's death.

These were 2 people in a relationship. Kelsey Schelling became pregnant. Dante Lucas didn't want to have a baby, and he made sure that didn't happen.

I know that she had mentioned Kelsey Schelling's Chevy Cruze.

The prosecution said this car tells a story, and they told the jurors that you will see Dante Lucas moving this car around Pueblo in the days after she went missing.

The idea that someone can essentially disappear without a trace, I think, is kind of a counterintuitive thought for people to have.

Prosecutors think there's enough evidence to convict Lucas even without a body, but the defense disagrees. In the opening statements, the defense said, this is a missing persons case. This has always been a missing persons case. They said there's no body, there's no evidence. Why should you believe that Dante Lucas killed her?

They do not have a crime scene. They do not have a murder weapon.

Today, the jury got a detailed look at some of the text messages exchanged between them.

For the prosecutors, their goal was to show that those text messages Showed intent, showed that Dante Lucas consistently lied not only to investigators but to Laura Saxton herself. What they refer to as his luring of Kelsey Schelling to Pueblo.

The prosecution say that he lured her there to end her life.

We know that that's his phone. He admitted to those text messages. We know that that's his thoughts and feelings about it. That's direct evidence. And the movements of their phones as well, as they were pinging off cell phone towers in Pueblo on the night of February 4th and the early morning hours of February 5th. I think that a lot of the case really centered around those movements. 2 pivotal witnesses testified in the high-profile Pueblo murder case against Dante Lucas. First witness was Laura Saxton, and we were not expecting Laura Saxton to be the first one to take the stand. She didn't break down, but you can tell she's hurting. There's a lot of the pain behind her voice.

I think that was really powerful for the jury to see. Her mom spoke to the fact that she absolutely wanted this baby.

Prosecutors today painted Kelsey Schelling as an excited mother-to-be, desperate to make it work with her boyfriend. It didn't take long for the prosecutors to swing for the fences, calling some pretty shocking witnesses to the stand. Ryan Rivera is a former Pueblo County inmate who considered himself to be a friend of Dante Lewis. And when he took the stand, he said that Dante Lucas told him that they're never going to find Kelsey Schelling's body. That just took the whole room's breath away. Ryan Rivera, he was the only person who came forward over the duration of this trial that really and said, Dante told me he did this. I wasn't in the courtroom, but, well, jailhouse snitch on its face is just not credible. I mean, that's the assumption that we believe jurors have, and it's the assumption we have as defense lawyers. Why would this person do it? What's the benefit? What's the motive? There was no deals made about charges he would get to plead to, time he would get to serve. There was no deals like that. There were a lot of names on the prosecutor's list that I was shocked by, but Sarah Lucas certainly topped that list.

When you saw that Sarah Lucas was on the prosecution's side, everyone wondered, what is she going to say?

The one important thing that I've kind of mentioned, she confirmed— that Dante was the last person left alone with Kelsey.

The prosecution painted a picture of a troubled relationship.

Some of Kelsey's close friends testified. They pointed toward elements of domestic abuse in Kelsey and Dante's relationship. Something worth pointing out was the prosecution and even the defense made it clear that Dante was using Kelsey for a number of things. For her money, Dante used Kelsey Kelsey used Dante for her apartment in Denver, and Dante used Kelsey for her car. And his argument was, she lets me do it. The defense pushed the narrative that Kelsey Schelling popped pills, was an addict, that Kelsey, when she left Dante Lucas at the Southside Walmart here in Pueblo, that she was going to meet up with a drug dealer. There's no evidence that Kelsey Schelling no single person other than the defendant in 2017 who's saying that she was into drugs and that she was a party girl. You didn't have the forensic evidence. It seemed like you were really relying on circumstantial evidence and the evidence of snitches and these other witnesses. That's pretty straightforward. Either you believe them or you don't. The witness list yields more surprises. The ones who make it to court.

I know that my testimony could potentially help take him down.

And the ones who didn't witness— 31-year-old Roxanne Martinez was found shot to death. That was a completely unforeseen development in this case. The NBA on ESPN is happening now, and we're here for all of it, from the superstar moves to the next next-gen revolution. Let's get who we are, boys. Another 3, bang! We don't just live it, we love it, because the NBA is a world of its own. So from the biggest names to the biggest moments, ESPN is where you call home. Opening week begins October 21st. The Hulu original series Phony is coming to Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ October 20th. My name is Sonny Cook. Ever since the accident, my mom looks She looks different.

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Breaking on Denver 7, a key witness in the Kelsey Schelling murder trial Found dead.

That witness, 31-year-old Roxanne Martinez, was found shot to death in Denver last week.

These are still very stunning developments. Roxanne Martinez, a witness for the prosecution, who was set to testify soon.

That was just an absolutely completely unforeseen development in this case. People were reeling when that news broke. Denver police officers were called to a residential area in Southeast Denver. On a report of an unresponsive female who was lying in the roadway. We determined that that individual had been shot one time and died from that injury. Her dad is in shock, her mom, her stepmom. It's just tragic all the way around. I think when a witness in any major case turns up dead directly before they're set to testify, I think, of course, people are going to think, was she killed because she was going to testify? Denver police arrested a suspect in Martinez's killing, 29-year-old Emmanuel Chandler. Chandler has been charged with first-degree murder, but he hasn't entered a plea yet. We don't have any connection between Mr. Chandler and Mr. Lucas or anybody associated with that trial. Our concern was to make sure that people understood that while she was an endorsed witness, I couldn't comment on her testimony. Nobody knows what Roxanne Martinez was going to say on the stand for sure, with the exception of maybe the investigators who talked to her. But while prosecutors say they can't discuss what Roxanne Martinez would have said on the stand, 20/20 has uncovered some revealing details about her.

You see, back in March of 2016, a woman named Roxanne had reached out to Laura Saxton Through that Help Find Kelsey Facebook page, Roxanne messaged that she used to date the guy Kelsey was pregnant with, and he told me what had happened and started crying.

I'm instantly like mixed emotions, like, okay, are you going for the reward or, you know, are you for real?

When Laura asked, do you know where Kelsey is located? Roxanne replied, he told me everything. Yes, I do.

Basically, her information sounded very good and very promising, and so we really wanted to meet with her.

This mysterious woman agreed to meet Lara and her husband at a Mexican restaurant in Denver.

We were actually on our way there, and I tried to reach her by phone to let her know we were coming. She said that she was in the hospital and couldn't meet us. That was kind of the extent of what I really remember. And then, you know, past that, then, you know, that was all turned over to law enforcement to look into further.

Authorities say that woman was the same Roxanne who was killed during the trial.

I can confirm that CBI followed up and interviewed her, that we did have her as an endorsed witness that we wanted to testify during trial. The thing that I'm steering clear from is I don't, um, I just don't want to talk about evidence that wasn't actually admitted during trial.

Martinez's killing shakes up the trial and threatens to overshadow the testimony of another prosecution witness who had a remarkable story to tell. It's none other than Lauren Shore, that woman who befriended Dante as part of a plan to try to find out what happened to Kelsey.

I know that my testimony could Potentially help take him down, and that was realistically why I wanted to testify.

Shore testifies about Dante's critical admission to her that he was the mysterious figure seen picking up Kelsey's car after it sat overnight in a Walmart parking lot.

I said, so that must have meant that you had dropped the car off at the hospital, correct? And that's when he said yes. That he— that was him that dropped the car off.

When the defense cross-examines Shore, they attack her credibility and her motives, at one point characterizing her as a sex informant because she had a physical relationship with Dante. It's fair game, and if you're gonna put yourself out there like she did and sleep with someone, the jury ought to know about that. You're having intimate conversations, and that casts a lot of suspicion on her as a witness.

The sex informant part really bothered me because I wasn't having sex with Dante to get answers out of him. I was playing my part in a role as girlfriend. So to me, to be called such was really, really degrading.

On the very last day of its case, the prosecution played an interrogation video of Dante confessing confirming Shore's account.

The clip that I played at the beginning of my closing was his phrase to detectives, I lied from the jump, I moved the car. I wanted the jury to hear the defendant in his own words say, I lied.

When it's the defense's turn to present its case, they raise a lot of eyebrows The defense didn't call a single witness to the stand. The defense immediately rested their case, and it was just another moment where your jaw hit the floor. The burden of proof is on the government. It's simply messaging in a very strong way to the jury, they haven't done it, it's not guilty. So it's a strong message. There was just really not a lot of evidence. a lot of hard forensic evidence to go off of. So as far as, you know, what evidence they, they put forth to court that was irrefutable that, that Dante Lucas killed Kelsey Schelling, I never saw that. After a shocking final day of the trial, the jury was going to deliberate, and I had no idea what was going to happen at that point.

I think everybody was just like, Holding their breath.

Prosecution and defense have given closing arguments. The jury is now deliberating. Well, on that last day of the trial, no one expected to get a verdict that day. So now the waiting begins.

Yes, and I was prepared to camp out at the courthouse as long as I had to. I really I thought I would be there all week and were really totally unprepared for when they came and told us the verdict was in. I think we were— we all were just like, oh my God. I mean, it was shocking how quickly they arrived at their decision, especially given just the amount of information they had to look at.

I can tell you, because the decision came back so early, all of our experience as prosecutors is that this was probably an acquittal. Because juries tend to come to decisions more quickly on acquittals than convictions.

It was like standing on the precipice of a cliff and looking down. It was scary.

It was a very tense atmosphere in the courthouse while everyone was waiting to hear what the verdict was. Even I was nervous, and I'm not affiliated with Kelsey Schelling's family at all.

People were wondering, does that mean I think everybody was just, like, holding their breath almost.

And then when you hear the verdict, tell me how you're feeling.

Well, the words came out way too slow. Like, I feel like the judge was talking in slow-mo, even though he wasn't. I mean, I was just like, every word, it's like, okay, okay, spit it out, please. And then he finally got to, you know, guilty of first degree. And I think that was the first breath, like, I had taken in a long time. This is a guilty verdict 8 years in the making. And even though Kelsey Schelling's body has never been found, the jury clearly felt there was enough evidence to convict the man her family has always suspected from the very beginning. World, I want to leave you better. I want my life to matter. I am afraid.

It took the jury less than 3 hours to find Dante Lucas guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

It was just so emotional for, for everybody, for both sides. It's a sad It's a sad situation that didn't have to end up like this if he had just let her come home.

You mentioned it was a lot of emotions for both sides. Did you find yourself looking over at their side?

Dante was sitting right in front of me. I looked at the back of his head through the whole trial. Um, but, you know, the mother of his child was there. And she broke down. And honestly, my, my heart hurt for her, hurt for their child, because it didn't have to— it didn't have to end up this way.

Ryan Rivera's testimony was the biggest, like, bombshell for our trial. It had moved us all. I could hear the gasps even in the masks of When it came out that he was convicted, I think there was a great feeling of satisfaction and relief, not elation. You know, you have to look at it from this side too. Mr. Lucas is a young man, and he was convicted of a criminal crime that shapes his life for however long he lives. I think it's every parent's worst nightmare. that a child goes before you, and you can never fully heal that wound. I can tell you, uh, I almost lost a child in the early '80s, and so I had a lot of sympathy with Laura and her family because I came that close to that tragedy. And that child was the lead prosecutor on this case.

So the elected DA is my dad, And Kyle McCarthy, who was obviously on the case with me, is my husband. And we, I don't think, had a night in the last 4 years that we haven't gone home and talked about Kelsey Schelling. Sometimes it's the first thing we talk about when we wake up. Sometimes it's the last thing we talk about before we go to sleep.

On Saturdays when we're driving kids around for soccer, a lot of times we're being told to stop talking about it because they can hear us in the front seat talking about it.

We both also had, and I mean, an incredible emotional pull to the family. That is a very special relationship, one that I will value for the rest of my life. Well, I think, I mean, Michelle and Kyle with their, their closing, they're, they're just, they're amazing. I, I don't even know what other words to use.

The first things that she told the reporters outside of When she walked out of the courthouse after the guilty verdict, yes, she was happy, but she was still devastated.

So we're very, very thankful for, for this outcome, um, but in the end, I didn't get Kelsey back, and that's what I wanted more than anything. So I feel like I didn't Do something. I didn't push hard enough on something, or I didn't look enough on something to, to bring her home.

That devastation isn't going anywhere. Like she said, she has to live with that forever. Her goal throughout all of this was to bring Kelsey home, give her a proper burial. So I know she had expressed that in some ways she felt like she had failed in I think the investigative team has some ideas where she may rest.

If, if that's where she is, that, that's just like the worst possibility to me.

That very first day that we met in September of 2016, I'll never forget it like it was yesterday. yesterday, and it was just a special bond that we formed. Kelsey's mom just battled and battled and battled.

8 years.

I was hoping that it would never take this long. I grabbed my mother very tight and held her very close. I was holding on to my dad's hands.

Since the trial's over, it's because— and Kelsey still hasn't been found, so— but I've just felt very empty this past week. It doesn't feel final because we still don't know where Kelsey is, and we still don't know exactly what happened.

It turns out that prosecutors did present troubling evidence from the night Kelsey disappeared. That evidence provided a possible explanation to where her body could be. We received information from the Pueblo landfill that there was some video evidence of a vehicle You couldn't see what kind of vehicle. You couldn't tell who was in the car. Their lock to their front gate into the dump had been tampered with. Well, it caught my attention when I grabbed the lock on my hand, and I said, well, somebody tried to get in here overnight. The cell phone records, the pings, were all out in that area, so— You know, we suspected that's, that's what happened. If you heard the testimony of the landfill expert, it would be next to impossible to just find a body just by conducting a search of the landfill.

Who wants that for their child to be the final resting place?

No one. We want to bring her justice and bring her home with us. Her and Kadri both. Kadri, that was the name that she was going to give the child.

I'm never going to recover without getting her back. And so I still have nowhere to go to take her flowers, to go sit and talk with her, take her balloons on her birthday, you know, go to see her on the holidays. Hi, Cal. Hi, Cocoa Bean.

How do you want her to be remembered?

A little girl with a really big heart, a really big smile, a really big laugh, beautiful eyes, silly. She was so silly. I miss being silly I miss all the things that we didn't get to do together.

We've been covering this story for more than 5 years now, and as you can see, the heartbreak never really stops for Kelsey's mom and the entire Schelling family.

And Dante Lucas's defense team declined to comment for our program, but it is likely they will file an appeal.

Thanks for listening to the 20/20 True Crime Vault. We hope you'll join us Friday nights at 9:00 on ABC for all-new broadcast episodes.

See you then.

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