America's Most Wanted- Missing Persons (2025) Season 1 Episode 2- People Don't Just Disappear
#CinemaJourney
#CinemaJourney
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00Five-year-old, nine-year-old, 14-year-old Gina DeJesus never made it home.
00:12It's a family's worst nightmare, a son, a daughter, a loved one.
00:16We're doing everything we possibly can to help you.
00:19Gone without a trace.
00:21America's Most Wanted has brought justice and hope to families across America, helping
00:26to bring more than 65 missing children home.
00:28Thanks to some tipsters, Elizabeth Smart was recovered alive.
00:34Now we carry that legacy forward with a single mission, to bring the missing home.
00:39This hole in my heart, where Chelsea's supposed to be.
00:43We've assembled a team to lead the search,
00:45boots on the ground, from America's Most Wanted, Callahan Walsh.
00:48She doesn't even know that she's a missing child.
00:50Former NYPD police chief, Rodney Harrison.
00:53Rex Sherman is a demon, and if not for the members of this task force,
00:57he would still be on the streets today.
00:59True crime podcaster, Payne Lindsey.
01:01Somebody needs to be asked some hard questions.
01:03And survivor and advocate, Elizabeth Smart.
01:06I'm here because you deserve your brother back home.
01:08Working with investigators and listening to families.
01:11Why would he take the rail? Why would he take my phone?
01:14There's no more waiting.
01:16Tonight, we're going to find them.
01:19Someone knows something.
01:20This little girl is still out there.
01:22We need your eyes. We need your voice.
01:24We're one tip away from changing the course of this case.
01:27We need your help.
01:29It's a missing piece to the family.
01:31I miss my son.
01:33Because one sighting, one tip, one moment.
01:36We're this close.
01:36Can bring someone home.
01:39We never stop searching, because we know the families won't stop either.
01:43The search begins now.
01:49Good evening, I'm Harris Faulkner,
01:51and this is America's Most Wanted Missing Persons,
01:54a new show based on the iconic true crime series.
01:57And we have one mission, to bring missing loved ones home.
02:01We have three urgent cases to dive into tonight,
02:04and we've assembled a team of experts to join us.
02:07Callahan Walsh, a familiar face to America's Most Wanted.
02:11Rodney Harrison, former NYPD police chief
02:14who helped crack the Gilgo Beach murders case.
02:17Payne Lindsey, whose podcasts have reached audiences worldwide
02:21with more than 50 million downloads.
02:24Let's start though, with an exciting update
02:27on one of the cases we covered last week.
02:29Daniel Robinson, a young man who went missing
02:32in the Arizona desert in June 2021.
02:35Payne, what's the update?
02:36The police have officially re-engaged in this case.
02:39There's been a new search.
02:41There's been a new witness.
02:42And also the evidence that David held onto
02:44in that storage locker for years is being retested.
02:47Amazing.
02:48It's big news.
02:49And this is momentum that we want.
02:51It's why we do this.
02:52Ah, great work.
02:52And it's a step in the right direction.
02:54And there's more good news to tell you about.
02:56Gabby Petito's father, Joe Petito,
02:58actually went to Arizona to help Daniel's father with his search.
03:01And we'll see Joe right here in studio next week.
03:04And by then, we hope to have even more updates to give you.
03:07There's movement in this case, and that's a positive thing.
03:10Oh, all good stuff.
03:11Well, let's get you to our first case for tonight.
03:14And I have to tell you, this one really breaks our hearts.
03:18Dane Elkins was a STAR student, the oldest of four children.
03:21His mother believes a mental break may have led to his disappearance.
03:25We have good reason to believe Dane is still alive.
03:29But time is of the essence.
03:31Watch.
03:35We're going to where Dane went missing.
03:38This is Dane's car I'm driving today.
03:40In December of 2020, college student and former racquetball champion,
03:44Dane Elkins, left his car behind and has disappeared off the map.
03:49It's still a mystery.
03:51It's he vanished.
03:53There are so many awards in here.
03:57Dane is the oldest of four.
03:59It's a missing piece to the family.
04:03As a kid, we'd go to tournaments.
04:05We'd travel together.
04:06He made Team USA multiple times.
04:08I made Team USA for him.
04:10He was my role model.
04:11He was the person I looked up to.
04:13Most of the time, he was completely normal.
04:17But during the pandemic, something was wrong.
04:20The last time I saw him, he showed up as a surprise.
04:25Four in the morning, the doors open and his phone's in the trash.
04:30His jeans are in the trash.
04:32He left this book.
04:35This whole book's just question marks.
04:37It seems like he thinks people are out for him.
04:41Reading it back, it's a completely different person.
04:45For the next six days, Dane just wrote up and down the state.
04:51And he'd say, I'm going to come home.
04:52And then as soon as he'd get close, I can't.
04:55There's targets on me.
04:59I filed a missing person report.
05:01So here's his VIN number.
05:04Like, how long does it take for you to trace the car?
05:07That could be very instant.
05:08On December 21st, close to Castillo, California, he made one last Snapchat.
05:15The CIA's made up of 12 people, the 12 keepers of all the secrets.
05:20If you don't want to do whatever they want you to do, then they may kill you.
05:25They found his car.
05:28I was hysterical.
05:30A search team formed, but the search dogs lost his scent 500 feet from the car.
05:36We're pretty sure he hitchhiked.
05:38Yeah, he went missing here.
05:42No trace of him.
05:44He ditched everything, phone, wallet.
05:47The officer came back to give me this wallet.
05:49Like, this is all we have.
05:52That was the lowest point in my life, that I got so close to getting him home.
05:58And I knew at that point, when they told me his car was that bad,
06:04when they told me his car was empty, that I may never see him again.
06:12I have a little letter I wrote for him.
06:14I have some flowers.
06:18It's just a lot of pain being back here.
06:22There have been sightings.
06:23We put that on the news.
06:25He's been seen in Bakersfield, in Mojave, Oakdale, in Santa Cruz.
06:30All reported sightings of him have been on the street.
06:32He may be living out of a suitcase.
06:37Someone has to know where he is.
06:40Please come forward.
06:42The hope is the same.
06:44I want to find my son, Jay, safe.
06:50I mean, his state of mind tells a story of its own.
06:54The Snapchat video is very telling.
06:56It is.
06:57Basically, the CPIA is made up of 12 people, right?
07:01The 12 keepers of all the secrets.
07:03If you don't want to do whatever they want you to do, then they kill you.
07:08So...
07:09I mean, we have to remember, this is his reality right now.
07:12And so he left his family because he thought they were in danger.
07:16He's doing what he thinks is the right thing.
07:18What's scary is that he didn't just disappear.
07:21He really kind of erased himself.
07:23He doesn't have his phone, not a wallet, possibly going by a different name.
07:28One of the witnesses said that he referred to himself as his younger brother's name.
07:32Cody, yeah.
07:33Cody was his brother's name.
07:35I think it's also important to note who the people are that are reporting these sightings.
07:39Most of the people that have interaction with them have been mothers with kids.
07:42They're families.
07:43Families.
07:44At the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,
07:46we tell kids to look for trusted adults.
07:49People like a mother with children.
07:50People they can go to in a time of emergency to get aid.
07:54And I truly believe it's going to be the moms out there that help us locate Dane,
07:58that help us get that message back.
07:59Don't underestimate the power of moms.
08:01That is very true.
08:01Don't underestimate the power of love.
08:04Absolutely.
08:04There's got to be some type of community being galvanized regarding this investigation
08:09and helping out go to the different homeless shelters throughout the West Coast
08:13and see if we can just pass our flyers, see if anybody knows about his whereabouts.
08:16In order for us to bring missing people home,
08:20especially those that are struggling with that mental illness, it takes a partnership.
08:25And the public can really help out in this way without even having to engage.
08:29They can take out their cell phone.
08:30They can do a little record, maybe a quick pick and then call police.
08:35Yeah.
08:35As long as we're working with other agencies and getting the community involved
08:40and bringing awareness to a show like this.
08:41Well, you know, social media has played a huge part in this case.
08:45True crime podcaster Jackie Flores talked all about Dane's story on TikTok.
08:50And one of Jackie's followers connected the dots
08:53and realized she had actually seen Dane.
08:56Dane's car was found abandoned between Los Angeles and Bakersfield, California.
09:00One report is from a woman who says she's confident she interacted with Dane
09:03outside of a Taco Bell in Oakdale, California in July of 2021.
09:07Since then, several people have reported seeing Dane in Northern California.
09:11This gives a family hope that he is still out there.
09:14And Jackie is with us now from San Diego.
09:17Jackie, thanks so much for being here.
09:19First of all, what is it like to get the news that one of your followers says, I can help?
09:24I was just so happy for Dane's mom, because at the end of the day,
09:27all she wants is just that one confirmed sighting, that one connection,
09:31that one little sense of hope that her son is still out there and still alive.
09:35It just makes you realize how important social media can be
09:38and how people are paying attention.
09:40People are watching.
09:41People are listening.
09:42And it only just takes one person to make that connection.
09:44Well, and I want to talk to you about how you found out about this particular case.
09:48Well, Dane's mom actually reached out to me through TikTok.
09:50So she had come across my page.
09:53She liked the way that I presented these cases.
09:55So we worked together.
09:56We did the TikTok live.
09:58And I'll continue to just help her whenever she needs.
10:01Since you have such a conduit between you and your followers,
10:05what would you say to them about this case, about Dane?
10:08Just memorize his face.
10:09Look at this picture.
10:10And just remember that this could be your brother, your son, your cousin, your best friend.
10:15You know, you could be the key evidence in this investigation.
10:17And you might not even know it.
10:18So just always keep your eyes out.
10:20Jackie, thank you so much for what you're doing.
10:22And you take a look at some of the work and the participation
10:26that happened in the Gilgal Beach investigation,
10:27where a lot of people were calling in,
10:29talking about certain tips regarding the missing or the disappearance.
10:32These things help investigations go in the right direction.
10:36So Jackie, whatever you're doing, continue to do it.
10:38Yes, 100% I will.
10:39And again, you guys are doing such amazing work.
10:41So congrats to you guys as well.
10:43All right.
10:44Thanks, Jackie.
10:45The only thing we know for sure, his family is heartbroken without him.
10:50We need your help.
10:51Dane's mom says people should not directly approach him
10:54and they should not use his name if someone does see him.
10:58Just be a friendly face.
11:00And if you have more information about any of these cases,
11:03please call 1-866-AMW-TIPS or go to our website, amwtips.com.
11:11Still to come on America's Most Wanted Missing Persons.
11:14Nicole was murdered.
11:16I remember yelling no.
11:19Ariana, her daughter.
11:20Vanished.
11:21Do you think it's a possibility that she doesn't even know that she's a missing child?
11:24100%.
11:35Welcome back.
11:36Our next two cases are about missing children who we believe are still alive.
11:41We're joined again by our experts, a team, including Elizabeth Smart,
11:45an advocate and survivor who knows firsthand
11:48how important the public's attention to cases like this really is.
11:52And in this particular missing child case,
11:55a mother murdered, buried in a shallow grave in San Francisco.
11:59Her two and a half year old daughter, Ariana, is missing.
12:03The San Francisco Police Department is offering a quarter million dollar reward
12:08in this for any information about this missing child.
12:1332 year old Nicole Fitz was killed and buried in San Francisco's McLaren Park.
12:18Sources tell us she was beaten to death.
12:20Her two year old daughter, Ariana, still hasn't been found.
12:27So I'm here in San Francisco searching for Ariana Fitz,
12:31a young, young girl who went missing after her mother was found brutally murdered.
12:36I first learned about this case through my work with the National Center for
12:39Missing and Exploited Children, and it means a lot to me personally.
12:43We need to find Ariana.
12:46How are you?
12:46Hey.
12:47Callahan Walsh.
12:48Tess Fitz.
12:48Good to meet you.
12:50Thanks for meeting me here.
12:51Tell me about your sister and what happened to her.
12:56My sister is the most kindest person anyone could ever meet.
13:00Her priority was working to take care of her family.
13:05Nikki, as a sister, had her struggles and things that weren't going so well in her life,
13:10but would always look out for me, always looks out for people, you know, before herself.
13:15One day we get word that no one had heard from Nikki.
13:19After a few days of searching, we were delivered the devastating news that she was found dead
13:28in McLaren Park.
13:30Sorry to hear that.
13:31I mean, it was a punch to the gut, and at the same time, not real.
13:40And Ariana, her daughter, where was she at the time?
13:46Vanished.
13:47So you're not only grieving the loss of your sister, but desperately searching for a missing
13:52child.
13:52Desperately searching for her.
13:54You believe that she's still out there.
13:57There is hope.
13:58100 percent.
13:59100 percent.
14:01We need answers.
14:02We need to bring her home.
14:07There was a period of time where my sister was living at a shelter.
14:10As a result of just how expensive living was, it was there that she met Lemasani.
14:18Lemasani Briggs was a street pastor who met Nicole and her daughter in a San Francisco
14:22homeless shelter.
14:23My thing is that I help people.
14:26Briggs passed away in 2021.
14:28Lemasani decided, like, hey, why don't you just move in here?
14:33She charged Nikki rent, which, you know, rightfully so.
14:36Lemasani was also babysitting Ariana, but Lemasani was going through her stuff when
14:42she wasn't there.
14:43Although Lemasani opened her home to Nicole, she didn't give her a key.
14:47She read her personal diaries, and she forced her to donate both money and time to her
14:52organization.
14:54My sister was like, I'm fed up.
14:55I can't take this anymore.
14:57After my sister got out of there, Lemasani refuses to give her her stuff and refused
15:01to even give us Ariana's car seat.
15:06It's like I don't want to get makeup on you.
15:08I'm so sorry.
15:11You're strong for Nicole.
15:13I have to be.
15:14I met Nicole working at Best Buy.
15:17I knew something was wrong, and the first thing I said is, just come stay with me.
15:22Nikki changed babysitters from Lemasani to Lemasani's nieces, Cielo and Helena, with
15:30Devin Martin.
15:31She was paying them around like $600 a month to watch Ariana because she was with them
15:37so much.
15:40It was Friday.
15:42She got a call from the babysitter around 930.
15:45She was supposed to get Ariana back that evening.
15:49She was like, hey, the babysitter wants to meet at B&J's restaurant.
15:53She said she was going to be five minutes.
15:56When I tell you she looked at me, Callahan, and said, I will be right back.
16:02And like part of me believed her that night.
16:05And that was the last time I saw her.
16:08The morning I woke up to a text message from her around 1244 in the morning saying that
16:13she was heading to Fresno to help a friend named Sam who she had never mentioned before.
16:18But I don't think she sent that message.
16:20Like I never thought she sent that message.
16:26I get a call from a detective and I just remember just yelling no.
16:34Like I didn't even, I didn't even give him a chance to say the words.
16:39This is the spot where Nicole Fitz's body was found buried in a shallow grave here in
16:43McLaren Park.
16:44How was someone capable of doing that?
16:48Like I don't, I don't understand.
16:50Police and FBI investigators also revealed a piece of plywood with unusual markings
16:55found placed over Nicole's body.
16:57How did Nicole's body wind up in McLaren Park?
17:01Just a five minute drive from the burger joint.
17:03Why is it in the parking lot?
17:05Just a five minute drive from the burger joint.
17:08Why that specific location?
17:10Somebody has the answers.
17:12Prior to Nikki's death, Lemasoni was just sending like angry texts to Nikki.
17:18Like the one that I remember most distinctly was bring my baby back to me.
17:24This lady's crazy.
17:27This is unreal.
17:29I mean this little girl goes missing in circumstances like this.
17:32Her mom working all those hours.
17:35I just can't put this one together.
17:38It's difficult to wrap your mind around.
17:39You know this is still a red hot case.
17:42It's been nine years but I think that $250,000 reward is indication, especially from SFPD,
17:48a great vote of confidence that they believe Arianna is still alive.
17:51That this case can be solved.
17:53And that reward can be a very motivating factor.
17:57It's change your life money.
17:59I completely agree.
18:00And I think it's something that if you've seen someone that looks like Arianna,
18:04you're a teacher.
18:05There's a student in your class that matches the age progressed picture.
18:10A new girl down the street.
18:11A new girl down the street.
18:12Don't just think I don't want to get involved.
18:15We cannot have that mentality.
18:17You got to get down to the motive.
18:20And what was the motive for Nicole being killed?
18:23What exactly do we know about the background of these babysitters?
18:27Well, I can't speak about all three of them.
18:28But the one thing, Helena Martin, she did six years in custody for the killing of her
18:36baby's father.
18:36I mean, what's the job of a babysitter?
18:40To watch over the kids, right?
18:41Yeah, to keep them safe.
18:43This kid went missing.
18:45At what point do you start, what do you stop saying it's a coincidence?
18:49Right.
18:50And we're going to learn a lot more in part two after the break.
18:54Remember, we have reason to believe Ariana is still alive.
18:58And we also need your help with this urgent case.
19:03Pay attention to this photo of 14-year-old Stephanie Dameron.
19:07She's been missing since September 23 after walking into the woods behind her home in
19:13New Sweden, Maine, near the Canadian border.
19:15The FBI and Maine State Police are offering a $15,000 reward for information leading to
19:21Stephanie's safe return.
19:25In part two of our story, the question becomes, who saw Ariana last?
19:31We need your detective work on this one, because Ariana is likely still alive.
19:37And if we find her, we may also find out who killed her mother.
19:41Take a look.
19:44It's just such a tragic case that this mother has been found dead and Ariana now missing.
19:50Right now, all I have is a picture of Cielo, Devin, and Helena.
19:54I don't know where they are, and they did deny any wrongdoing.
19:56But I do need to find out more about them.
19:59Helena told a neighbor she's being targeted unfairly because she has a criminal record.
20:03She served six years in prison back in 2001 for killing the father of her child.
20:08We understand she was last seen with you?
20:10Yeah.
20:13I'm on my way to the police station.
20:15I'm going to go to the police station.
20:17I'm on my way right now to the FBI's headquarters here in San Francisco.
20:21I want to hear the FBI's theories.
20:23Nothing is adding up.
20:26Can you tell me what the current state of the investigation is?
20:29This case has been very much an active investigation for us.
20:33Open since, you know, the day we were notified that she was missing.
20:37The babysitters were likely the last people known to be in contact with Ariana.
20:44Were you able to contact them?
20:46We were able to interview Helena Hearn and Devin Martin.
20:49They came into my office voluntarily on two separate occasions, and then they stopped coming in.
20:55They left the area.
20:57We do believe the individuals who were in the Bay Area have since relocated to Las Vegas.
21:04So we've targeted the Las Vegas area with billboards and an information campaign.
21:09The reward is up to $250,000.
21:14Ariana would be around 12 years old now.
21:18Do you believe that Ariana is still alive?
21:20Absolutely.
21:21We have nothing, believe otherwise, in our investigation, and we want to bring her home safely.
21:26Do you think it's a possibility that she doesn't even know that she's a missing child?
21:30100%. Yeah, I would say she might not even know she's missing herself.
21:33What do you want the public to know?
21:35Nicole Fitts worked very hard to keep her family united and was murdered and buried in a shallow hole in a public park in one of the wealthiest cities on the face of this earth, San Francisco, and her daughter is missing, and to speak frankly, the community should care about this case.
22:03This is the park where her body was found.
22:10Yeah.
22:11Are you okay being here?
22:14It's, uh, it's tough being here.
22:18There's a $250,000 reward for information that leads to the whereabouts of Ariana.
22:24Anybody out there who has information, come forward.
22:29It's been nine years.
22:32The public, her friends, her family, never ever going to forget.
22:38And there's so many people who I know now who I wish got to know her as well.
22:45I'm just asking the public to please first remember the brutal injustice that happened when my sister was killed and her daughter was abducted.
22:58Be on the lookout for Ariana and also for anyone who knows anything, please provide information.
23:14This is tough.
23:16Yeah, I mean, somebody should come forward and talk.
23:20People know what happened.
23:23That's definitive here, in my opinion.
23:25Yeah.
23:25I want to pull up the text message that was sent.
23:27There are so many red flags with this text message alone.
23:31I'm with my daughter.
23:33I don't think Nicole is somebody who refers to her daughter as my daughter, when she could easily say Ariana.
23:39And I'm not gonna lie, my first thought was, I wonder if it's someone else on the end of that line.
23:45Also, this is Nicole's Facebook account, posted the day after she was last seen.
23:50Spending time with my three-year-old.
23:53Need this break.
23:54So, two things I noticed right away.
23:57First one is, they misspelled break.
23:59And talking to Nicole's friends, she always wrote incomplete sentences, used proper grammar.
24:05Her spelling was immaculate.
24:07This is not something she would write.
24:09Also, my mom would call me by my name.
24:12Payne, not a three-year-old.
24:14It's very impersonal.
24:15But also, she's two and a half, the wrong age.
24:18Not to mention the age being wrong.
24:20Um, that feels very detached from a mother.
24:25If a phone is destroyed, can you still retract the pings through its service?
24:32Absolutely, yes you can.
24:33And law enforcement, they have reason to believe that Ciolo and Helena are in the Las Vegas area.
24:38And they're targeting that area with billboards that have Ariana's picture on them.
24:43And if she sees these billboards, and she looks up at them, and she's like,
24:47that looks just like my picture.
24:49Don't you think that would cause her to start asking questions?
24:52I completely agree.
24:53We know the most important tool when it comes to the recovery of a missing child
24:56is a photo of that child.
24:58So if you see these billboards, and you think you've seen this little girl that matches that
25:02picture, please give us that information.
25:04Give the FBI that information.
25:06People need to call in.
25:06Even if they have something that they think is insignificant,
25:09it may be the thing that law enforcement has been waiting for.
25:13That one little piece of information.
25:15And there's a huge reward here.
25:17Quarter million dollars.
25:19People know things.
25:21Listen, the streets are talking.
25:23People know what happened to Nicole or the disappearance of Ariana.
25:27The right information can help us bring closure to both of them.
25:31Ariana would look like this now.
25:33How do we find her?
25:34Put all your law enforcement partners together.
25:36Make sure you work together.
25:38Dedicate these investigators just to this case.
25:41It worked in Gilgal.
25:42It will work here.
25:43I mean, it made all the difference in my case.
25:45When I was brought out into public, that's when the phone call came in saying,
25:48I think I just saw Elizabeth Smart.
25:50That led to my rescue.
25:52The same thing could happen for Ariana.
25:54Well, the truth is out there.
25:56We need your help in finding it.
25:58Police are searching in Las Vegas and across California.
26:01Someone around this case knows something.
26:04And if you have any information, please call 1-866-AMW-TIPS,
26:09or go to our website, amwtips.com.
26:12Coming up, a 13-year-old boy vanished.
26:16Did he run away from home, or was he taken?
26:20Elizabeth Smart flew to Wisconsin to talk with the family and investigators,
26:24who say we might only be one tip away from finding him.
26:29Stay close.
26:30Welcome back.
26:43One year, 10 months, and 23 days.
26:46That's how long James Jablonski has been missing.
26:49And James was just 13 years old when he vanished in June 2023.
26:53Our Elizabeth Smart went to Wisconsin, where James was last seen.
26:57His family desperate for any help, and Elizabeth offering hope in their time of need.
27:07Every year, over 600,000 people go missing.
27:12James Jablonski has been missing now for almost two years.
27:18There is absolutely still hope that he's out there, that he's alive.
27:21And we just need to bring his story to the attention of more people,
27:25because someone knows something.
27:30In a bizarre case from Sauk County, Wisconsin, on June 12, 2023,
27:3613-year-old James Jablonski was reported missing.
27:40Images of James leaving his home were captured on the family's home security system.
27:46Early that morning, you see James Jablonski carrying several bags out to the family van,
27:52and then he departs the home in the van.
27:55I would have never seen James doing anything like this.
28:06Sauk County deputies found the family's van abandoned on Highway 12, but no sign of James.
28:12Not knowing takes your breath away.
28:15It makes you wonder if you have the strength to go on.
28:21Hello.
28:22Hi.
28:23You must be Bill.
28:24Yes.
28:24Elizabeth.
28:25Come on in.
28:27This is my daughter, Natasha.
28:29Hi, Natasha.
28:30I think this is amazing that you're doing this.
28:34I just want him home.
28:35It's been too long.
28:36How do both of you feel?
28:38It's hard on her.
28:39Yeah.
28:40Because they were so close.
28:41I'm here because you deserve your brother back home with you.
28:46Do you have pictures of James here?
28:48Oh, yeah.
28:49Could I see him?
28:50Sure.
28:50Come on, baby.
28:51One of the things that is most heartbreaking is just the giant,
28:56gaping wound that his absence has left in his family's lives.
29:01I'm a single father.
29:02I have four children at home, three boys and a little girl, and James is my baby boy.
29:12James is very warm and loving.
29:18He cares about people.
29:20He loves tinkering with all kinds of engines and stuff.
29:24So that's why I bought him his own boat.
29:27Oh, you bought his own boat?
29:28It's a project he can look forward to working on, and it's his.
29:32I mean, the boat is waiting for him when he gets home.
29:41When police get called that morning by Bill reporting James is gone,
29:45the van is gone, his phone is gone,
29:48the police realize, actually, they have already had a hit on the van.
29:54Walk me through what happened.
29:56A patrol deputy had come upon an abandoned vehicle along the side of US Highway 12,
30:01tagged it at about 4.40 a.m. that morning,
30:04and then the missing call for Bill came closer to the 8 o'clock hour.
30:08The van was left on the side of the highway.
30:11There's really nothing in that area.
30:16Where did James go?
30:19What was unique is Bill was missing his phone,
30:22and so one of the steps we took right away also was to get location information on the phone,
30:26what we call a ping.
30:28And in this case, the ping was coming back to the area of the van with a large radius.
30:33We go up into the woods, and we ultimately locate a duffel bag and then a backpack.
30:39The police do actually bring canines to the scene,
30:42and James's scent is with the belongings,
30:46but they can't find his scent in any other direction.
30:51Was he really the one that brought the belongings there,
30:54or did he stop somewhere prior and get into a different car?
31:00Maybe someone else brought the car and abandoned it and then left the belongings up there.
31:06There are just no definitive answers whatsoever.
31:09Do you think it's possible that someone else came and dropped James's things there?
31:14That is still a possibility.
31:16His route that night didn't show anything other than his home
31:20and the location where the van was found.
31:23The van starts out at Bill's residence,
31:25then it travels up and stops at a location outside of Wisconsin Dells,
31:29and that is Bill Yeblonski's business.
31:32In talking with Bill, he informed us that he was missing a handgun
31:35that had been stored at his business in the Wisconsin Dells area.
31:39So it is a possibility that James went to his dad's business that night to retrieve a gun.
31:44I thought I had it come unglued that morning when he was missing, but that was even worse.
31:49I just couldn't figure out what James was thinking.
31:54Is that why James went to his dad's business?
31:58Was he meeting someone there?
32:00Did James take that gun?
32:02You know, Elizabeth, you spent some good time with the people who worry most.
32:07I mean, I was most touched by his little sister, Natasha.
32:12Beautiful little girl just missing her big brother.
32:15To me, it seemed like they were incredibly close.
32:18There's such a hole that he has left in his family.
32:22That little girl wants to see her big brother again.
32:24Yeah.
32:25Well, the video of James leaving the house must have been so hard for his dad to watch.
32:30So hard for his dad to see.
32:32But it could offer real clues.
32:34Well, it's clear that he's got not only a backpack, but two duffel bags.
32:38In the initial hours of the investigation, it seemed like he had left the home on his own volition.
32:43However, if this is a grooming or luring situation,
32:45that really is a dangerous situation for any child to be in.
32:49I agree.
32:50I've felt sad and scared as a 13-year-old boy before.
32:53And I'm hoping that someone didn't take advantage of James's vulnerability here.
33:00In part two, law enforcement officials weigh in on his case.
33:04Plus, a cryptic video James allegedly posted to social media.
33:09Stay with us.
33:22Welcome back.
33:23James Jablonski has been missing since June 2023.
33:27Our Elizabeth Smart was boots on the ground on this one,
33:30meeting with law enforcement officials to get answers.
33:33In part two of the story, a disturbing Snapchat video,
33:36a missing gun, and a plea from a desperate father.
33:44As law enforcement investigates further, Bill comes to them and says he's missing a gun.
33:51What made it even worse was the Snapchat video that somebody sent to me.
33:57Sorry for everyone who cares about me.
34:02It's not their fault.
34:04It's no one's fault.
34:05It's my fault.
34:05I chose to do it.
34:07I was scared.
34:08I'm sad.
34:10I have no emotions anymore.
34:13I watched it probably four times.
34:17And it bothered me.
34:20But the more I thought about it, it's not the way he talked.
34:24It's like he is reading from something.
34:29I think somebody made him read that to throw everybody off.
34:36This is the spot where the police found James's stuff.
34:40My mind is blown.
34:41Like, we're walking this in the daytime.
34:43You think pitch black at night, two duffel bags, backpack.
34:48It's hard.
34:50He had a bunch of clothes that James had taken from the house.
34:54But it was actually clothes that he never wore.
34:58My phone, a phone charger, some cords, a roll of toilet paper.
35:02And that's what was really weird.
35:05It was like it was set there just to throw everybody off.
35:09If you were going into the woods to harm yourself,
35:12what reason would there be for you should bring toilet paper?
35:18Why do you think he would have taken your gun?
35:20My theory is he knew he was meeting somebody
35:25that he didn't know that he was talking to.
35:28And I think he took it for protection for that.
35:31James played online games.
35:33And I think he met somebody through one of those games.
35:37Unfortunately, predators go onto these gaming platforms
35:42to find vulnerable victims.
35:46Does this place make you emotional being here?
35:50It tears me up inside that he's not here right now.
35:54I just want him home.
35:57I don't think he's out there by himself.
36:01But I think there is someone out there who does know something.
36:04And I think James is alive.
36:09So tell me about this boat.
36:11It's a project boat.
36:12It doesn't need a lot of work.
36:13But it's something that we can do together.
36:16I've always tried to be the best father I can with James.
36:19I just feel like that maybe there's something
36:24that I did wrong to push him to leave.
36:29If he knew about the boat, he would be excited about it.
36:33Oh, yeah, because he loved to fish.
36:37I don't know if it's being hard on him,
36:40wanting him to do better than I did,
36:43not make the same mistakes I did.
36:46James was a strong-willed kid.
36:49If he thought something was wrong, he would tell you.
36:55I think hope is so important.
36:59Like for me, it was knowing that my family loved me
37:03unconditionally and that gave me the hope to survive.
37:07And I'm so grateful that my parents never gave up
37:10because I think if they did, I don't think I would be here.
37:13Him and his brothers and his sister mean the world to me.
37:16And without them, I don't have anything.
37:20I just want to know.
37:22I pray for an answer.
37:26Whatever God gives us, I pray for an answer.
37:30And if someone is holding him,
37:32I hope they find a heart and let him go.
37:36James, I need you here, and everyone else needs you here.
37:41Please just come home.
37:45Elizabeth, it's so interesting to see his dad
37:48talk directly to his son.
37:50There was so much confidence around the story that he's alive.
37:53I truly do believe he's alive.
37:55And I think making sure that his father doesn't lose hope
37:58is really going to be one of the key factors
38:00in helping to bring James home
38:02because his father is the one keeping his story alive.
38:06He was playing online games.
38:08We know that.
38:09How can that help us find him?
38:11What happens in gaming is you're dealing with strangers,
38:14and so many different things can be put
38:15in a young person's head to leave their family.
38:18You play this game, I play this game.
38:20Okay, cool, we're friends now, right?
38:22We have something in common.
38:24That invites and opens the door for someone
38:26who might not have the best of intentions
38:28to already gain that trust with James.
38:32So I'm a mom of two teenage girls,
38:34and you hope your kids are doing well.
38:36You're a mom of two teenage girls,
38:38and you hope your kids are telling you everything.
38:41You think you know them and where they might go online,
38:43but the truth of the matter
38:44is you have to stay locked in on them.
38:46What's unfortunate is Romney's right.
38:48At the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children,
38:50we operate the cyber tip line.
38:52We had over 400,000 reports
38:54of online enticement last year alone.
38:56And that's just what's reported.
38:58That's just what's reported.
38:59If this is a case that he was lured from the home,
39:01the person that lured him might have come up
39:04with a plan with him and shared that plan
39:06that they were gonna go hide out in the woods.
39:08And James might've found out very quickly
39:10that that wasn't the plan at all.
39:12The campsite where his clothes were found,
39:15it looks like the end of the story.
39:17But I wonder if that was actually just the first stop.
39:20I mean, I think that the police were very, very thorough.
39:24They had the drones in,
39:26and then they came back again a couple months later
39:28with cadaver dogs just in case they missed
39:32and nothing was ever found.
39:35You know, in my own case,
39:36they brought dogs to track me down
39:38and they then thought that a car came and picked me up.
39:41No car ever picked me up.
39:43They had just lost my scent.
39:45So like, where do you go from there?
39:48I don't want anybody believing
39:50that this whole case is germane towards Wisconsin.
39:52This is something that might've taken them
39:54across the country.
39:55So there's gotta be work done locally,
39:57but yet at the same time,
39:58we have to do a lot more outreach nationwide
40:01to see if we can bring James home.
40:03Absolutely.
40:04At this point, he could be anywhere in the United States.
40:07Enough time has gone by that he could be in any state.
40:10So if you're a parent out there,
40:12I know this can be scary,
40:14but parents should talk to their kids
40:15about situations like this.
40:17They should show this to their children.
40:18No, I agree.
40:19I mean, my mom made me watch America's Most Wanted
40:22and your dad was one of my heroes.
40:25Your dad's training videos,
40:27they're burned into my brain.
40:28So I think it's important that other young kids,
40:32that they're exposed to this.
40:34We can learn from these things
40:35and we can also rally together to bring him back.
40:38Absolutely.
40:39I mean, there is a young boy out there who needs our help.
40:42His family desperately wants him to come home.
40:46Parents, show your kids this show.
40:49Let's bring James Yablonski home.
40:53All right, we need your help to solve this case.
40:55Remember, if you have any information,
40:57please call 1-866-AMW-TIPS
41:01or go to our website, amwtips.com.
41:18Welcome back.
41:19Take a look once again at these faces
41:21and some of their unique traits.
41:23It's up to us to keep searching for them.
41:26There is good reason to believe they are all still alive.
41:29Dane Elkins has been missing since 2020.
41:32He is about five feet 11 inches tall
41:35with brown hair and green eyes.
41:36His family is heartbroken without him
41:39and they are counting on us to not give up the search.
41:43Ariana Fitz vanished in 2016
41:45when she was just two and a half years old.
41:48Thanks to age progression photo technology,
41:51we believe this is what she would look like now.
41:53Authorities are honing in on Las Vegas,
41:55the Bay Area and Southern California.
41:59James Jablonski has light brown hair.
42:01He's about five feet 11 inches.
42:04Investigators say they are so close
42:06to changing the course of his case.
42:09Study their faces, go online, ask questions.
42:14You can bring them home.
42:16I wanna thank this incredible team,
42:19Callahan Walsh, Rodney Harrison,
42:21Elizabeth Smart and Payne Lindsay.
42:23Remember, our mission to bring loved ones home
42:26is just getting started.
42:28I'm Harris Faulkner and I wanna thank you
42:29for being with us.
42:30Stay close because we will make a difference together.
42:35Next week on America's Most Wanted, missing persons.
42:39I found it very odd that she had two flat tires.
42:42Chelsea did run into a lot of people.
42:43Maybe she ran into one that wasn't good.
42:46He started screaming, stop Terrence.
42:49Next thing I know, he's running off the side of the mountain.
42:51This guy's long gone.
42:53Savannah Hale's case, there are numerous possibilities
42:56whether it's suicide, whether it's foul play,
42:59she just vanished.