Abducted

Speaker 1 Struggling to see up close? Make it visible with Viz. Viz is a once-daily prescription eye drop to treat blurry near vision for up to 10 hours.

Speaker 1 The most common side effects that may be experienced while using Viz include eye irritation, temporary dim or dark vision, headaches, and eye redness.

Speaker 1 Talk to an eye doctor to learn if Viz is right for you. Learn more at Viz.com.

Speaker 3 It's time for Black Friday, Dell Technologies' biggest sale of the year. Enjoy huge savings on select PCs like the Dell 16 Plus featuring Intel Core Ultra processors.

Speaker 3 Plus, earn Dell rewards and enjoy many other benefits like free shipping, price match guarantee, and expert support.

Speaker 3 They also have huge deals on accessories that pair perfectly with your Dell PC and make perfect gifts for everyone on your list. Shop now at Dell.com slash deals.

Speaker 5 I'm Lester Holt. Tonight on Dateline, the story that made headlines nationwide, the mysterious disappearance of a Texas mom and her two-week old baby.

Speaker 6 We love you and we miss you and we need you home.

Speaker 1 My daughter's gone.

Speaker 7 She left without anything. No baby formula, no diapers, no clothes.

Speaker 9 We were beside ourselves.

Speaker 11 This was really all hands on deck.

Speaker 13 This was absolutely all hands on deck. We have to move heaven and earth to find that child.

Speaker 14 We were looking hard at the fiancée.

Speaker 17 Everything hurts and I don't know what to do.

Speaker 18 A lot of people thought that his interviews came came across strange.

Speaker 19 All of a sudden, there was breaking news.

Speaker 19 Wait a minute. I just got a text.
Oh my god.

Speaker 21 This mystery is literally unfolding as you're live on air.

Speaker 19 Oh my god. I don't even want to say this.

Speaker 22 Your heart skips a beat.

Speaker 23 This is the devil's work.

Speaker 24 Why'd you take her away from us?

Speaker 5 Here's Andrea Canning with Abducted.

Speaker 12 Heidi Broussard with her newborn baby Margot, the very picture of motherly bliss.

Speaker 9 Heidi

Speaker 9 just seemed so happy. It was exactly what she wanted.

Speaker 12 Her close-knit circle of friends was just as happy watching Heidi cherish those first days with her daughter.

Speaker 20 It was just a beautiful thing to see. Like, she was glowing.

Speaker 7 Glowing.

Speaker 12 None of these friends ever imagined that their circle of trust would be broken.

Speaker 23 It was really a lot of betrayal.

Speaker 20 Betrayal is a great word.

Speaker 26 We're all angry. We're all upset.

Speaker 7 Why did you take my friend?

Speaker 11 Why? She never hurt anyone.

Speaker 12 We begin our story in Austin, Texas. Thursday, December 12th, 2019, two weeks after Margo was born.
It was a typical busy morning for 33-year-old Heidi.

Speaker 12 The bubbly young mom lived with her fiancé, Shane Carey, and their two children in this modest apartment complex.

Speaker 12 The day started early, seeing Shane off to work, tending to baby Margot, and getting her six-year-old son Silas to school.

Speaker 23 I think she probably woke Silas up and started to get the baby ready while Silas got himself dressed.

Speaker 12 Destiny Fine was one of Heidi's closest friends.

Speaker 23 They probably brushed their teeth together because they did that quite often. I'm sure she made his lunch and got his breakfast ready and then they got out the door as quick as they could.

Speaker 12 Heidi dropped Silas off at school shortly after 8 a.m. Nothing out of the norm there.
Hours later, her fiancé Shane got home from work, expecting to see Heidi and baby Margo.

Speaker 12 After all, he saw Heidi's car in the parking lot when he pulled in, but Heidi and Margo weren't home.

Speaker 23 Now, she was supposed to hang out with a friend that day. I think he just thought that she had went to hang out with her friend early.

Speaker 12 Shane wasn't too worried and went about his day. But as the hours passed, he realized his son needed to be picked up from after-school activities, so he headed out to get him.

Speaker 12 And when he and Silas got home, still no Heidi or Margo. That's when Shane became alarmed.

Speaker 9 I spoke to Shane Thursday night. He asked me if I had heard from her.
Have you talked to Heidi today? Because I can't find her, Rebecca. I can't find her.

Speaker 12 Rebecca lived hours away in Houston, but was like a sister to Heidi and talked to her all the time.

Speaker 9 And he's like, I went and got Silas, but I don't know where Heidi is. And I'm like, well, where's Margo? Well, he says, she must have her.
I don't have her. So

Speaker 9 it gives you chills. Oh, absolutely.

Speaker 12 Rebecca says it wasn't like Heidi to forget Silas.

Speaker 2 Not at all.

Speaker 12 And it bothered Rebecca that Heidi's car was unlocked with her purse inside and all baby Margo's things were still in the the apartment.

Speaker 9 I mean,

Speaker 9 Shane was like, the diaper bag's even here, Becca. Like, she can't even change Margo's diaper.

Speaker 12 Rebecca says she tried not to worry. She knew Heidi was friendly, loved to chat, and help a friend or neighbor.

Speaker 9 Maybe she was in the apartment complex somewhere. She just started talking.
You know, she was helping someone,

Speaker 9 helping someone talk through their problem and just lost track of time.

Speaker 12 But as it got darker and colder outside, there was still no sign of Heidi or Margot.

Speaker 12 At about 7 p.m., Rachel West, Heidi's co-worker at an Austin restaurant, heard about what was going on and couldn't make sense of it. If anyone would know where Heidi was, she would.

Speaker 15 I was like last resort of where Heidi would be.

Speaker 7 Because Heidi and I did everything together, you know.

Speaker 8 Did you try to call Heidi? Yes. Did it go straight to voicemail?

Speaker 7 And I texted her. I was like, Heidi, like I'd literally just said her name in a text and it was nothing.

Speaker 11 She would always respond to you, I'm sure.

Speaker 20 Always, always, always. Yep.

Speaker 12 Not this time. Hoping to find her, Rachel headed straight to the strip mall across the street from Heidi's apartment complex.

Speaker 8 I was like,

Speaker 20 maybe she's in the HEB. You know, so I went to the grocery store.
The grocery store, yes, she was there. So I finally went to the apartment.

Speaker 7 I met up with Shane.

Speaker 12 That's when Shane called Heidi's mom, Tammy Broussard, and broke the news that her only child was missing.

Speaker 22 I said, call the police. I was not panicking.
My husband wasn't either. All he would tell me is he said, maybe we're going to find her.

Speaker 28 Were you scared at this point, or was it like, no, she's fine. We'll sort this out.

Speaker 22 I was not scared. I was determined to go find her.

Speaker 12 Heidi's parents lived five hours away in Louisiana, but jumped in their car and hightailed it to Austin.

Speaker 12 And the Austin Police Department immediately responded to Shane's call and launched a missing persons investigation. But that first day ended with no news.
Where on earth were Heidi and Margot?

Speaker 5 When we come back, concern grows and the mystery deepens.

Speaker 29 We're exploring every avenue that we have and every possibility.

Speaker 9 You felt so helpless. We couldn't do anything.

Speaker 13 More often than not, if someone is missing or abducted, the person that did the crime is very close to the person that's missing.

Speaker 22 I said, somebody's got her.

Speaker 28 Really? Yes.

Speaker 12 As the new day dawned over Austin, Texas, Heidi Broussard and her newborn daughter were still missing, nearly 24 hours after they were last seen.

Speaker 12 For Heidi's closest girlfriends, each passing hour was pure torture.

Speaker 9 None of us slept that night. I mean, we were just...

Speaker 9 You felt so helpless. Like, we couldn't do anything.
We had no idea where she was or,

Speaker 11 you know? What you knew was that she had dropped Silas off at school that morning. Yes.

Speaker 12 And then...

Speaker 9 And then nothing.

Speaker 9 We knew nothing.

Speaker 12 But they were sure about one thing. Heidi would never just leave her family without saying a word.

Speaker 4 Lifelong friend, Rebecca, would swear on it.

Speaker 9 She knew she could come to me if she needed to go somewhere. She wouldn't have left and not come to me.

Speaker 12 And Rachel had never known Heidi to run away from anything. She was too optimistic.

Speaker 15 The energy she just brought was super infectious and you wanted it and you wanted to be a part of why she was so joyous and because who doesn't want to be happy because Heidi was happy.

Speaker 12 In fact, most days she says Heidi couldn't contain her joy.

Speaker 15 That girl would never ever stop singing.

Speaker 12 The young mom grew up in Lake Charles, Louisiana, the only child in a tight-knit family where church was a big part of her life, including Bible camp.

Speaker 23 Heidi went to church every Sunday and she raised her kids in church. And anytime I strayed from my faith, you know, Heidi was the one that brought me back to it.

Speaker 12 Heidi met her fiancé, Shane, working at a Lake Charles casino more than a decade ago. Their son, Silas, was a surprise.
But Heidi's friends say she was thrilled to be a mom.

Speaker 12 Six years later, she was expecting again, this time a little girl.

Speaker 22 Everybody was excited. You know, Silas was always rubbing her belly and everything.

Speaker 12 Her friends learned the news at her gender reveal party.

Speaker 9 They popped balloons. They threw the darts at the balloons.

Speaker 9 In order to, and whichever balloon popped that had the powder in it, it was going to be the color. They literally popped every balloon until the last one.

Speaker 11 Oh, that had the...

Speaker 20 That had the color in it. So it was the girl.

Speaker 11 Pink powder.

Speaker 20 Yes, everywhere.

Speaker 24 Yes.

Speaker 12 And when Heidi had little Margo in late November, she was surrounded by loved ones. One of her close friends, Megan, drove from Houston for the special occasion.

Speaker 12 Even though she told Heidi she was pregnant too and due any day, Heidi was over the moon. For her, it was all about the children.

Speaker 14 They were her life.

Speaker 8 No one priority.

Speaker 11 She was the ultimate mom.

Speaker 15 Oh, absolutely.

Speaker 21 Oh, the best.

Speaker 30 Look at you.

Speaker 1 Look at this.

Speaker 15 The bond between her and Silas is something that

Speaker 15 I am so glad I had the pleasure of seeing in my lifetime.

Speaker 12 Heidi's mom had also seen that bond, and now it was leading her to a frightening conclusion.

Speaker 22 I said, uh-oh.

Speaker 22 Somebody's got her.

Speaker 4 Really? Yes.

Speaker 22 Because Heidi would have never left Silas. She would have never done that.

Speaker 28 That's a really scary feeling.

Speaker 1 Who could have had her, though?

Speaker 22 At the moment, I didn't know.

Speaker 12 Heidi's friends couldn't bear the thought of Silas being without his mom and sister. They knew law enforcement was hard at work, but they couldn't just sit back and wait for news.

Speaker 12 So they launched their own investigation and started by spreading the word that Heidi had disappeared.

Speaker 26 We constantly posted online, you know, have you seen Heidi Broussard and her infant daughter? You know, if you see her, please call local police.

Speaker 12 Carly Laughlin lived hours away, so she worked the phones, talking to anyone and everyone who came to mind.

Speaker 26 I tried to ask everyone I knew, mutual friends of ours, if they had heard from her or anything like that, and no one did.

Speaker 11 You must have just been like, where are you?

Speaker 15 Like, tell us where you are.

Speaker 26 Everyone was like that.

Speaker 12 Meanwhile, Heidi's Austin friends focused on organizing volunteer search parties to set out on foot.

Speaker 20 I searched every single day for her.

Speaker 12 Where did you go?

Speaker 15 Wooded areas, water, parks. I went to places she knew.

Speaker 9 Were you asking people, hey, have you seen

Speaker 17 numerous people?

Speaker 7 This woman?

Speaker 12 Destiny and I went knocking on doors in the apartment one by one oh yeah we did the whole nine were you like kind of peering inside oh yeah without being too intrusive oh i absolutely peered inside austin police officers were already canvassing the area with the help of the texas rangers and fbi special agent in charge christopher combs coordinated the fbi's efforts

Speaker 13 the austin police department called us and asked us for any assistance that we would have why did they bring you in austin police department is a very capable police department but they don't often have to deal with mothers and missing children, where the FBI has teams that solely focus on that.

Speaker 11 At what point did you become involved in the case?

Speaker 13 It was a few days into the case, and to us it was pretty clear we needed to bring in our special child abduction response team.

Speaker 12 But despite the added manpower, days passed with no news.

Speaker 13 The longer that time goes by, frankly, the percent chance of recovering the mother or the children alive goes down dramatically.

Speaker 12 Heidi's friends began to fear the worst.

Speaker 26 You have to be prepared for anything.

Speaker 26 You prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

Speaker 12 To deal with the stress and sadness of it all, Destiny and Rachel started a group text with Megan.

Speaker 11 What was the idea behind the group text?

Speaker 23 Mostly just to keep each other updated. Megan was in Houston.

Speaker 23 And her whole thing was that she couldn't get there because she had a new baby and that she felt like she was helpless because because she couldn't do anything. It was to keep her informed.

Speaker 11 And to lean on each other.

Speaker 23 And it was to lean on each other.

Speaker 12 After five days, local detectives held their first press conference. But it wasn't the update everyone had hoped for.

Speaker 29 This case is unique in that we don't have a person of interest right now. We're exploring every avenue that we have and every possibility.

Speaker 12 Jaclyn Powell is a reporter and anchor at NBC affiliate KXAN. She was struck by the outpouring of concern for Heidi and Margot in the days that followed.

Speaker 18 People in the community were so invested. You know, people who didn't know this lady from Adam, they were very invested.
I think especially because there was a newborn baby involved.

Speaker 18 I mean, there's something

Speaker 2 not right at play.

Speaker 18 Yeah, so that's why people were so interested.

Speaker 12 The story went national.

Speaker 5 The FBI has now joined the urgent search for a mother. Let us turn now to that desperate search in Texas for a missing mother and her newborn baby.

Speaker 12 Scared and desperate for leads, Heidi's parents took to the airwaves to make a public appeal.

Speaker 12 NBC News correspondent Sam Brock spoke to them.

Speaker 30 But we're asking if anyone has her, that whoever it is that has her and knows anything, just please come forward and let our babies come home.

Speaker 12 Despite the somber tone of the investigators and dwindling hope among Heidi's friends, her parents had faith she and Margot were alive.

Speaker 31 Do you feel hopeful at this point that they're going to find Heidi? Yes.

Speaker 6 Yes, Margaret? Yes.

Speaker 30 Yes.

Speaker 6 Oh, yes.

Speaker 30 And she'll fight to live, and she'll fight for that child and she'll fight to get home. She will fight to get home to her son and to the family.

Speaker 12 For investigators, no one was above suspicion.

Speaker 13 More often than not, if someone is missing or abducted, the person that did the crime is very close to the person that's missing or abducted.

Speaker 12 Rachel found that out firsthand.

Speaker 7 I personally got interrogated for two hours.

Speaker 2 Really? Huh?

Speaker 12 I mean, did you feel like it was an interrogation?

Speaker 7 He asked me hard questions, and I was honest the whole time.

Speaker 11 Did any of the questions get to the point where it was like, Did you do this?

Speaker 12 Or were you feeling like they were trying to get that out of you?

Speaker 15 He asked me if I would ever hurt Heidi, and I said, No, you don't hurt people you love.

Speaker 12 Rachel says later she was told she was never really under suspicion, but they needed to be sure. But there was someone people around town were talking about.
Someone very close to Heidi.

Speaker 17 Coming up, everything hurts. Everything hurts and I don't know what to do.

Speaker 18 A lot of people thought that his interviews came across strange.

Speaker 5 Heidi's fiancé, Shane, a man under the microscope.

Speaker 14 People all over were making comments.

Speaker 9 I did not roll anyone out.

Speaker 5 When Dateline continues.

Speaker 4 From the creator of Homeland.

Speaker 3 Clara Daines and Matthew Reese star in the new Netflix series The Beast in Me as ruthless rivals whose shared darkness will set them on a collision course with fatal consequences.

Speaker 3 The Beast in Me is a riveting psychological cat and mouse story about guilt and justice and doubt now playing only on Netflix. Looking to crack the code on your career?

Speaker 3 Well, maybe it's time to get your degree.

Speaker 3 Southern New Hampshire University offers over 200 programs you can complete online. No set class times means you can do it all on your schedule.

Speaker 3 And with some of the lowest online tuition rates in the U.S., they make getting your degree affordable too. Get started at snhu.edu slash dateline.
That's snhu.edu slash dateline.

Speaker 25 If you're a maintenance supervisor at a manufacturing facility and your machinery isn't working right, Granger knows you need to understand what's wrong as soon as possible.

Speaker 25 So when a conveyor motor falters, Granger offers diagnostic tools like calibration kits and multimeters to help you identify and fix the problem.

Speaker 25 With Granger, you can be confident you have everything you need to keep your facility running smoothly. Call 1-800-GRANGER, ClickGranger.com, or just stop by.

Speaker 1 Granger for the ones who get it done.

Speaker 6 We love you and we missed you.

Speaker 2 And we need you home.

Speaker 12 Five days after Heidi Broussard went missing, her parents were heartbroken, heartbroken didn't know what to do but giving up was not an option we will never stop and the authorities and they will never stop either we're not giving up

Speaker 12 with the fbi's child abduction response team now on board the investigation was in high gear what the fbi brings to the table is is resources and an expertise The FBI team included high-tech specialists, behavioral scientists, and dozens of agents, adding boots on the ground in an already intensive search.

Speaker 11 This was really all hands on deck in the search for Heidi Broussard and her daughter.

Speaker 13 This was absolutely all hands on deck. What we bring is so much more manpower that we can take the time and use that manpower to really search through every single piece of evidence.

Speaker 13 We brought 50 FBI personnel in just focused on this.

Speaker 12 If there were any leads, nobody was talking about them.

Speaker 12 At their news conference, police said there was no person of interest.

Speaker 12 But the press in attendance had a person of great interest, Heidi's fiancée, Shane Carey.

Speaker 12 KXAN reporter Jacqueline Powell was there.

Speaker 15 When we went in that press conference, everybody's asking questions about Shane Carey, and police were very careful not to talk about him at all.

Speaker 12 But Shane seemed perfectly willing to talk. He was interviewed at length by police, and he made himself available to local and national media.

Speaker 24 I don't know. Everything hurts.

Speaker 17 Everything hurts and I don't know what to do. I have great support, but I don't know what to do.
Like, what's the first step?

Speaker 31 Doesn't it make you feel better to know we saw the FBI agents here today going and trying to get surveillance video talking to people? Oh, they did? That's what they've been doing all morning.

Speaker 6 Oh, wow. Yeah, that feels, yeah.

Speaker 6 Yeah, it feels great. That does feel good.

Speaker 6 That's what they told me yesterday.

Speaker 15 He gave several interviews right off the bat, and, you know, people thought he seemed to be all over the place.

Speaker 6 loves her friends, she loves her family, and she would tell somebody, you know, and all of her friends don't know nobody, it's her member. I was the last person to speak from her.

Speaker 18 A lot of people thought that his interviews came across strange,

Speaker 18 but I was thinking, you know, well, if your newborn baby and longtime girlfriend are missing and it seems suspicious to you,

Speaker 27 who am I to judge how someone's reacting?

Speaker 12 In the rough and tumble world of social media, there was no such reluctance.

Speaker 21 People were very critical of him.

Speaker 21 You know, it's my job to go stalk his Facebook page and his social media and his dad's social media, and people were brutal.

Speaker 19 Hey, good evening, everybody.

Speaker 12 The story of the missing mother and daughter caught the attention of Jay Risch, Melissa Bayo, and Christy Prado, hosts of a crime podcast called Jay is for Justice, which had more than 24,000 subscribers nationwide.

Speaker 12 Why did you choose that one

Speaker 14 to cover?

Speaker 19 Well, I heard about it and I immediately went back to a prior case that we had covered extensively and it reminded me of that a little bit. That was the Chris Watts case.

Speaker 12 Chris Watts, the Colorado man who also spoke to the media about his missing family, he eventually pleaded guilty to murdering his wife, unborn son, and two daughters.

Speaker 12 As the podcast hosts reported on Heidi's disappearance, listeners offered their views in the J is for Justice chat room.

Speaker 11 What kind of things were people saying?

Speaker 10 Theories, discussions?

Speaker 19 There were several theories. Maybe the boyfriend had something to do with it.
Maybe she disappeared on her own accord.

Speaker 14 I think the primary one that, you know, everybody was focusing on looking hard at the boyfriend because it's always the

Speaker 10 first one people look at.

Speaker 12 Heidi's friend Rebecca heard all of the talk about Shane.

Speaker 15 People thought Shane killed her.

Speaker 19 Oh, yeah.

Speaker 11 And the baby.

Speaker 9 People all over were making comments, the media, everybody, that it was him. I'll be honest, at that point, I just wanted her back.
I didn't care.

Speaker 9 Even if it was him, I did not rule anyone out.

Speaker 9 Everyone was guilty.

Speaker 12 None of Heidi's close friends wanted to believe it was someone close to her. And they were supportive of Shane.
But they also knew Shane and Heidi's relationship was far from perfect.

Speaker 26 Shane and Heidi had their ups and downs. I know their relationship was very rocky and they had split up a few times.

Speaker 26 But I mean, she always went back to him because she saw something good in him.

Speaker 12 Despite their sometimes volatile relationship, Heidi and Shane seemed to have repaired things and they'd happily embraced their role as parents.

Speaker 12 As the days passed and the chances for a safe return seemed to be slipping away, Heidi's friends, focus, and fears were all about Heidi and Margot.

Speaker 11 Is your mind starting to wander to that a really dark place?

Speaker 24 Yeah.

Speaker 11 That she may not be alive anymore.

Speaker 26 Yeah, that ran through everyone's mind, and we knew we had to prepare for it if it did happen.

Speaker 12 They tried to brace themselves for the worst, but nothing could prepare them for the devastating truth that was about to be revealed.

Speaker 16 Coming up

Speaker 5 live on the podcast, a stunning break in the case.

Speaker 19 Wait a minute. I just got a text.
Oh my god.

Speaker 5 Police rushed to the home in Houston. What would they learn about Heidi and Margot?

Speaker 26 We were thinking, what was going on? Was she hiding out there?

Speaker 12 Heidi Broussard's friends were doing their best to keep the story of her disappearance public.

Speaker 12 One of them agreed to do an interview on that Jay is for Justice podcast, which streams video and live commentary on YouTube.

Speaker 19 I appreciate you taking the time to talk to us tonight. I know that you're extremely busy trying to find Heidi, and that's what we're here to help you with.
Thank you.

Speaker 12 It was December 19th, exactly one week after Heidi and Margo went missing.

Speaker 19 The purpose of the podcast that day was to find out a little bit more about Heidi. How long have you known Heidi?

Speaker 12 The interview went on for an uneventful 90 minutes. And then...

Speaker 19 Wait a second, you guys. We have breaking news.
All of a sudden in the chat,

Speaker 19 there was breaking news that there was a raid going on in Houston, Texas.

Speaker 16 New developments in the case of a missing Austin woman and her newborn baby.

Speaker 19 At first, I blew it off. I was like, this has nothing to do with what we're talking about.
Northwest Harris County homes swarmed by FBI and Austin police.

Speaker 12 Jay is for Justice subscribers are a big part of the podcast, providing running commentary.

Speaker 19 I had 3,000 people in my chat room. They were very persistent.

Speaker 12 Why was everybody so persistent?

Speaker 19 They were seeing that it had to do with a missing person in Austin and that the Austin Police Department was at this raid in Houston. Oh, wow.

Speaker 19 It says it may be connected to a high-profile case.

Speaker 12 In that moment, the podcast about Heidi took on a sudden urgency. As local news helicopters hovered over the house in Houston, Jay asked her chat room followers for help.

Speaker 19 I'm wondering right now,

Speaker 19 this home that they're at right now, I know that there's people in this chat that can find out who lives in this home. So if someone can look that up, I know I have tons of sleuths in here.

Speaker 12 Listeners quickly found the address and posted it. Heidi's friend Carly Laughlin was in the chat room and decided to do some sleuthing of her own.

Speaker 14 I started Googling who the address belonged to.

Speaker 12 What did you find out?

Speaker 15 A baby registry popped up.

Speaker 11 You put in an address and a baby registry pops up.

Speaker 15 Yeah.

Speaker 12 Interesting.

Speaker 12 Carly jumped back into the podcast and typed her discovery into the live chat.

Speaker 32 Someone just said there's chat that there is a baby registry to the owners of that house.

Speaker 2 Oh, okay.

Speaker 12 Megan

Speaker 32 Humphrey, and Christopher Green have a baby registry.

Speaker 19 Oh my god, this Megan's house. Oh my God.

Speaker 33 Oh my God.

Speaker 12 Megan, 33 years old, had been friends with Heidi since they were teenagers. She told Heidi they had due dates just days apart, and they'd been happily talking about their pregnancies.

Speaker 12 She was the one who drove all the way from Houston to be at Heidi's side when Margot was born. And when Heidi went missing, she joined the circle of friends trying to find her.

Speaker 9 She was very actively involved in calling all of the friends and checking and seeing if we had heard anything. Was she upset? Just as upset as the rest of us.

Speaker 9 Just devastated that she and Margo were missing.

Speaker 12 Megan also tried to comfort Heidi's parents.

Speaker 8 She called Heidi's parents. What did she say to them?

Speaker 7 Just how concerned she was and making sure they're okay.

Speaker 20 And yeah.

Speaker 12 During one call, Heidi's mother expressed concern for Megan, reminding her to take care of herself.

Speaker 22 And I told her, I said, are you eating? Are you taking care of your baby? Taking care of yourself? And she was like,

Speaker 22 no, I'm worried. I'm worried about Heidi.
I said, Heidi would want you to feed your baby.

Speaker 12 Now, on the live podcast, Heidi's friend was trying to make sense of the breaking news in Houston.

Speaker 33 That's Megan, her best friend, that met her at church camp with me.

Speaker 1 What?

Speaker 33 She would not be there. I'm saying Heidi would not

Speaker 33 be there. Megan, I've talked to Megan every day all day.

Speaker 19 Wait a minute, wait a minute.

Speaker 19 This girl Megan just had a baby?

Speaker 24 Yes.

Speaker 24 Her name's Luna.

Speaker 33 She's 15 days old, 16 days old. Her and Heidi are best, best friends.

Speaker 34 Oh, wow.

Speaker 33 Does Megan doesn't live in Houston, though, does she?

Speaker 12 Yes.

Speaker 34 Oh, my God.

Speaker 11 What are you thinking in that moment as all this information is swirling around you?

Speaker 12 It didn't make sense.

Speaker 26 We were thinking why was she at Megan's house? What was going on? Was she hiding out there? What was going on?

Speaker 12 You're thinking though that she could still be alive.

Speaker 11 Yeah.

Speaker 12 Because Megan was her friend. Because if I look at the ceiling.
Then, suddenly, more alarming news from that raid in Houston.

Speaker 24 You know what I'm saying? Oh!

Speaker 19 Wait a minute. I just got a text.
Oh my god.

Speaker 33 I'm over here freaking out, guys. Sorry.

Speaker 19 Oh my god. I don't even want to say this out loud.
I can't.

Speaker 32 Well, mute everybody else and just tell us.

Speaker 19 Okay, I'm going to mute. Yeah.
I'm going to mute YouTube right now.

Speaker 12 News choppers at the scene broadcast pictures of a car parked right up against the back of Megan's house. Strange.

Speaker 12 What was happening?

Speaker 16 Coming up.

Speaker 9 I felt like I was in a dream.

Speaker 5 The revelation that would stop everyone cold.

Speaker 27 My life was like crashing down in that moment.

Speaker 15 It completely crashed.

Speaker 5 When dateline continues.

Speaker 4 Most holiday gifts end up in a drawer or the back of your closet or accidentally left at your cousin's house. Not this one.
Mint Mobile is offering unlimited premium wireless for $15 a month.

Speaker 4 That's their best deal of the year, aka a holiday gift you'll actually use every single day. Don't get them socks.
Get them premium wireless for $15 a month.

Speaker 4 Shop Mint Unlimited plans at mintmobile.com slash dateline. That's mintmobile.com slash dateline.
Limited time offer. Upfront payment of $45 for three months, $90 for 6 months, or $180 for 12 months.

Speaker 4 Plan required, $15 per month equivalent.

Speaker 29 Taxes and fees extra.

Speaker 4 Initial plan term only

Speaker 35 greater than 35 gigabytes may slow when the network is busy capable device required availability speed and coverage vary see mintmobile.com hi there it's Andy Richter and I'm here to tell you about my podcast the three questions with Andy Richter each week I invite friends comedians actors and musicians to discuss these three questions where do you come from where are you going and what have you learned new episodes are out every tuesday with guests like Julie Bo and Ted Danson, Tig Nataro, Will Arnett, Phoebe Bridgers, and more.

Speaker 35 You can also tune in for my weekly Andy Richter call-in show episodes where me and a special guest invite callers to weigh in on topics like dating disasters, bad teachers, and lots more.

Speaker 35 Listen to the three questions with Andy Richter wherever you get your podcasts.

Speaker 16 If you're a smoker or dipper ready to make a change, you really only need one good reason. But with Zen nicotine pouches, you'll discover many good reasons.

Speaker 16 Zin is America's number one nicotine pouch brand. Plus, Zen offers a robust rewards program.
There are lots of options when it comes to nicotine satisfaction, but there's only one Zin.

Speaker 16 Check out zinn.com/slash find to find Zin at a store near you.

Speaker 16 Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.

Speaker 12 Thursday, December 19th, 2019.

Speaker 12 As day turned to night, all eyes were focused on this home in northwest Houston. Police entered the house where Heidi Broussard's close friend Megan lived with her ex-boyfriend.

Speaker 12 They'd been tight-lipped about their investigation. Squad cars, ambulances, and a medical examiner's van were standing by.

Speaker 12 All of them would be needed.

Speaker 12 Word of Heidi came first. It was the news no one wanted.
The devoted friend and loving mother.

Speaker 12 Authorities say she was found stuffed into a duffel bag in the trunk of Megan Humphrey's car and that she was strangled.

Speaker 28 It's shocking.

Speaker 22 Yeah.

Speaker 1 And

Speaker 22 so unbelievable. First, you break down because they're missing, and then you break down to find out that she was dead.
But then when you find out the details,

Speaker 22 I start getting angry.

Speaker 27 My life was like crashing down in that moment.

Speaker 7 I mean, my life started crashing down the night Heidi went missing, but when they found her, it crashed.

Speaker 15 It completely crashed. Yep.

Speaker 9 Yep. I felt like I was in a dream.
This happens to other people. It doesn't happen to us.
You never think that you're going to wake up one day and

Speaker 9 someone who is like your little sister

Speaker 11 be gone.

Speaker 9 You just never expect to be a part of such a horrible story.

Speaker 12 Knowing Heidi's fate only made those watching these events unfold worry even more about Margot. Then, a flurry of activity.

Speaker 12 Not far from where Heidi was found, police formed a human shield in front of news cameras as a small bundle was carried to an ambulance.

Speaker 16 It was Margo.

Speaker 12 Margot was alive and unharmed. Heidi's mother, Tammy, got a call from detectives about her granddaughter.

Speaker 28 What did they tell you?

Speaker 22 She said

Speaker 22 that she had Margot and Margot was safe.

Speaker 12 What's that moment like where you learn that Margo is okay?

Speaker 22 I was happy. I couldn't even think of something like this happening to my grandbaby and my daughter.

Speaker 12 Rebecca heard that good news from her sister.

Speaker 9 That was a silver lining in that sobbing moment on the phone with her.

Speaker 9 She's like trying to stop me because I'm hysterical. And she's like, but Becca, Margot's alive.

Speaker 20 She's alive.

Speaker 10 It's a miracle that Margo was alive.

Speaker 9 Oh my God, yeah.

Speaker 9 Well, because anybody who could be that dark and do what they did to Heidi, who knows what they're capable of.

Speaker 12 As for Megan, she was found in the house with Margo. She was ultimately taken into custody and initially charged with kidnapping and tampering with a corpse.

Speaker 12 Megan was booked under her legal name, Ferrim Yuska. Some who knew her say they didn't even recognize her.

Speaker 9 When we saw those pictures, it just wasn't who I remembered. She looked different, but almost dark, like it's something's changed in her.

Speaker 12 Megan, who had been so close to Heidi, had talked to her about her own pregnancy and joined the efforts to find her.

Speaker 12 In Megan's arrest warrant affidavit, police laid out the leads and evidence that they say led them to Megan's door, among them.

Speaker 12 Megan told her ex-boyfriend that she'd given birth and he believed it was his baby, even though they'd been broken up for several months.

Speaker 12 Megan told him she'd delivered the baby on December 12th near Houston.

Speaker 12 But according to police, her cell phone pinged near Heidi's apartment in Austin that day, the very day Heidi and Margo disappeared.

Speaker 12 Security camera video from one of Heidi's neighbors captured images that day of a woman believed to be Heidi carrying a baby to a car with another woman in it.

Speaker 12 They talked to a witness who told them she was 60 to 70% sure that the woman in the car was Megan.

Speaker 12 And the car was later seen driving away. And there was something else in the document about what investigators say Megan was doing before Margot was even born.

Speaker 18 So from looking at her internet searches, they found that from just a couple of weeks before Margot was born until they were investigating that more than 162 times Megan Fioramuska had searched Heidi Broussard's name.

Speaker 18 which to me sounds like you're obsessed.

Speaker 12 When they heard all this, Heidi's friends were angry and quick to judge Megan. They said they felt deceived by the concern she expressed during the week Heidi was missing.

Speaker 7 I confided in her, my feelings.

Speaker 23 I had texted Megan and I just said, I'm sick over this. Like I'm physically sick.
And she had texted me back something similar.

Speaker 23 And everything she texted me was just, you know, wishing that things were different.

Speaker 8 And she really played this story.

Speaker 15 And it made me feel super betrayed.

Speaker 23 I mean, it disgusts me down to my core that it turned out this way because she

Speaker 12 really played it.

Speaker 20 That's crazy.

Speaker 2 Like,

Speaker 20 your best friends, you took your best friend's baby and you don't do that.

Speaker 11 You don't do that.

Speaker 12 Megan Faramuska sat in the Travis County Jail. Five weeks after her arrest, the case against her took took a more serious turn.
Megan was charged with capital murder in the death of Heidi Broussard.

Speaker 12 Megan has not spoken publicly, nor has she entered a plea.

Speaker 12 But in statements after her arrest, her lawyers warned against the rush to judgment until all the facts are in and say they intend to defend Megan vigorously.

Speaker 12 They insist the account in the arrest warrant affidavit is, quote, nothing more than mere allegations, end quote. Finally, they say, at this point, under the law, she is presumed innocent.

Speaker 12 But if Megan did what she was charged with, the one question everyone had was, why?

Speaker 5 Coming up.

Speaker 22 For her to be there for the birth was very odd. Megan, what was she doing here?

Speaker 11 Heidi trusted Megan.

Speaker 7 Yep, I trusted Megan.

Speaker 20 I don't think Megan did this by herself.

Speaker 11 You think there was another person? Yes.

Speaker 12 Three days after Christmas, Heidi Broussard was laid to rest in her hometown of Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Speaker 11 The funeral, I'm sure, must have been extremely difficult.

Speaker 24 Yeah, it was.

Speaker 11 Someone said that they could hear baby Margot when it was silent in the

Speaker 11 funeral, they could hear her.

Speaker 9 The pastor even made a comment.

Speaker 8 He said, let her cry.

Speaker 9 He said, it's a beautiful sound.

Speaker 15 None of us minded it.

Speaker 11 We didn't.

Speaker 15 We were glad that she was there.

Speaker 9 The story could have been worse.

Speaker 12 Still, it's such a painful story for Silas.

Speaker 7 The wail that he let out after he comprehended as much as he could that his mama was never coming home.

Speaker 7 Like,

Speaker 15 it's too much.

Speaker 7 And that replays over in my head.

Speaker 15 It's too much. Nobody should ever have to be a part of that.

Speaker 17 God, I thank you for Heidi.

Speaker 12 Soon after the funeral, back home in Austin, Silas, Margot, and their dad attended another memorial service.

Speaker 24 But now

Speaker 24 I see.

Speaker 12 The community was now supporting Shane, not whispering about him. After Megan's arrest, no one, including authorities, believed Shane had anything to do with Heidi's disappearance or murder.

Speaker 9 It's going to take Shane months to recover just from what he was put through in this whole searching for Heidi.

Speaker 12 Support and time may bring some healing to Heidi's family, but it's also bringing more questions about the case.

Speaker 8 What would be justice for Heidi at this point in your mind?

Speaker 20 Everybody who was involved to be brought to justice, because I don't think Megan did this by herself.

Speaker 11 You think there was another person?

Speaker 15 Yes, Heidi is very, very strong, and especially when it comes to her kids.

Speaker 20 If her kids are in harm, forget about it.

Speaker 7 You got an angry mama bear, and she'll do anything for her kids. So she thought in that moment Margot was going to be harmed.

Speaker 15 She would have done anything and everything.

Speaker 12 To date, authorities have not said if they're investigating a possible accomplice.

Speaker 12 In hindsight, Heidi's friends also had questions about something that happened in the hospital the day Margo was born. Megan was there as Margo was being introduced to Heidi's family.

Speaker 12 including the baby's grandfather, Ty.

Speaker 12 Rachel West had heard about what happened.

Speaker 15 I just heard like that Ty was holding Margo and Megan County came and took Margo out of his arms and you're not going to fight over a newborn baby.

Speaker 20 That's odd.

Speaker 15 Ty is Margo's grandfather. He's pops.

Speaker 7 So no, you should never ever take a baby out of a grandfather's arms for the first time.

Speaker 12 Tammy Broussard and her husband David got to the hospital after that incident. But Tammy says she was surprised and bothered that Megan was there.

Speaker 22 For her to be there for the birth was very odd. Megan?

Speaker 22 Yeah, I was thinking to myself, what was she doing here? And when I walked in and saw her, I thought it was very strange.

Speaker 12 Police cited that scene in the arrest warrant affidavit. Also, according to the document, the FBI provided an assessment of something known as maternal desire.

Speaker 12 We asked the FBI's Christopher Combs about that.

Speaker 12 He would not discuss specifics of this case, but he was familiar with the term and told us he's aware of instances of women taking children from their mothers.

Speaker 13 We have seen in a number of occasions where a woman has either lost a child or has been unable to have a child, where that takes over their mind. It possesses their mind into trying to obtain a child.

Speaker 13 And that's either through stealing them in hospitals, and we've seen that, or by befriending women who have children.

Speaker 12 And if the arrest warrant affidavit is correct, and it was Megan who got Heidi and Margot into her car, Rachel says that's not surprising at all.

Speaker 12 If that was Megan in that video, how do you think she got Heidi out to the car with the baby?

Speaker 7 I think Megan was like, hey, I'm coming through town. I'm here.
Surprise I'm here. Come down.

Speaker 9 Like, come see me real quick.

Speaker 20 I gotta go.

Speaker 11 That was something Heidi did sometimes, hang out in the car, listen to music.

Speaker 10 Oh, yeah.

Speaker 7 Heidi and I numerous times would just sit in the car, listen to music, and just talk. And it was some of my favorite moments with her.

Speaker 11 So you don't think it would have been that hard to get Heidi out to the car with the baby?

Speaker 7 No, especially it being Megan. Heidi didn't think twice.

Speaker 11 Heidi trusted Megan. Yep.

Speaker 7 I trusted Megan.

Speaker 12 As for baby Margo, she remains safe with family.

Speaker 12 And her family says she's advanced for her age, having learned to walk before turning one.

Speaker 12 They also say she's happy and doing great. Life will, of course, be different.
But she and Silas will be loved.

Speaker 8 Are you hopeful for the future for Silas and Margo?

Speaker 22 Yes.

Speaker 22 And as much as we can between Shane and Ty and me and Dave, we're just gonna make sure that they have the childhood that they should have and what Heidi would have given them.

Speaker 12 And the family won't have to do it alone. Heidi's circle of friends has made a firm vow to help as well.

Speaker 15 I've known Silas since he was two.

Speaker 7 That's my boy. Oh, I love him more than life.

Speaker 20 And I hate that he's in so much pain.

Speaker 7 I love Margo.

Speaker 24 I'm going to be there.

Speaker 7 Those kids are my priority now.

Speaker 11 Will you and everyone else make sure that Heidi's memory is really kept alive for Silas and Margo?

Speaker 9 Oh, absolutely. It's a big part of my future.

Speaker 9 Those kids will know who she really was and how much she loved. I want them to remember her for her contagious laugh and her bright blue eyes.

Speaker 15 That was Heidi's life.

Speaker 12 It's what she did.

Speaker 9 Make somebody smile. She'd give compliments to strangers.

Speaker 15 She was that girl.

Speaker 9 So that's what people need to remember. And that's what people need to bring into their everyday lives.
We could all use a little bit of love.

Speaker 12 A little bit of Heidi.

Speaker 5 That's all for now. I'm Lester Holt.
Thanks for joining us.

Speaker 16 If you're a smoker or dipper ready to make a change, you really only need one good reason. But with Zen nicotine pouches, you'll discover many good reasons.

Speaker 16 Zen is America's number one nicotine pouch brand. Plus, Zen offers a robust rewards program.
There are lots of options when it comes to nicotine satisfaction, but there's only one Zen.

Speaker 16 Check out Zen.com/slash find to find Zen at a store near you.

Speaker 16 Warning, this product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.