Driven to Death

Summary

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20/20: "Driven to Death" (Oct 18, 2025)

Podcast Host: ABC News
Summary by: Podcast Summarizer AI

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Overview

"Driven to Death" investigates the chilling case of Greg Rice’s disappearance and murder in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina—a crime involving betrayal, an affair, and the manipulation of death’s most trusted professionals. The episode follows the unraveling of the case, from the initial missing person’s report to the shocking revelation of Greg’s murder—ultimately leading to the conviction of his ex-partner Megan Jackson and deputy coroner Christopher Dontel. The story is told through interviews, police interrogation audio, family perspectives, and courtroom moments, highlighting the impact on Rice’s family and the local community.

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Main Themes

• Betrayal Within the “Business of Death”: Examining how two individuals tasked with caring for the dead, Megan Jackson and Chris Dontel, leveraged their access and knowledge to commit and cover up murder.
• Impact on Family:
  • The psychological toll on Greg’s children, especially his daughter Savannah.
• Community Shock: The interwoven nature of small-town relationships and the breach of trust when authority figures become suspects.
• Investigation Tactics: Use of digital evidence, surveillance, and persistent law enforcement efforts in a circumstantial case.
• Manipulation and Lies: The convoluted relationships, secrets, and untruths that ultimately unraveled under scrutiny.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Greg Rice Goes Missing

• Initial Discovery:

  • Family discovers Greg’s car and wallet left behind; his phone is missing, raising suspicion ([10:00]).
  • Savannah Rice: “His car was still there, but he wasn’t in there.” ([00:54])

• Community Search:

  • Immediate search by friends and family.
  • Law enforcement treats it as a serious and newsworthy issue for their small community ([17:29]).

• Suspicion of Drug Use:

  • Megan Jackson suggests Greg may be lost due to drug use—claims not supported by evidence ([08:57]; [19:30]).

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2. The Unusual Relationship Network

• Megan Jackson’s Work in Body Transport:

  • Megan, a well-liked but increasingly erratic figure, works closely with deputy coroner Chris Dontel ([03:12], [06:06]).
  • Savannah describes Megan’s job as sad but potentially noble if done respectfully ([05:36]).

• Family Fallout:

  • Megan’s job leads to family tension and eventual split with Greg ([12:34]).

• Jackson and Dontel’s Affair:

  • Frequent work-related contact leads to a secret affair ([24:23]).
  • Anonymous texts to Dontel’s wife, Erica, reveal the affair and announce Megan’s pregnancy ([24:19], [60:05]).
  • Megan manipulates the narrative, blaming Greg for “causing problems” ([27:53]).

• Lifestyle Red Flags:

  • Megan’s home is revealed to have abusive conditions (doors locked, food restricted, windows nailed), resulting in her children’s removal ([52:18]).

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3. Investigation and Evidence Gathering

• Timeline Reconstruction:

  • Surveillance and license plate records track Megan’s van and Chris’s vehicle entering Greg’s community on the night of his disappearance ([29:02]-[30:42]).
  • Megan and Chris repeatedly deny being in the area despite contrary video evidence ([31:15]-[34:32]).
  • GPS and cell records meticulously piece together their evening ([30:03]).

• Forensic and Physical Clues:

  • Greg’s body is found 37 days later, decomposed, shot 5 times, wrapped in a tarp with cinder blocks and ratchet straps ([37:47]-[39:35]).
  • Purchases at Lowe’s—tarp, cinder block, zip ties—are directly linked to Chris Dontel via surveillance ([42:59]-[43:25]).
  • DNA and dental records confirm Greg’s identity ([39:35]).

• Notable Quote:

  • Investigator/Reporter: “It sounded like a mafia hit.” ([39:09])

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4. Unraveling the Motive and Cover-Up

• Megan’s Manipulations:

  • Megan “frames” Greg for anonymously texting Erica ([76:53]).
  • Both Megan and Chris claim ignorance and point fingers at each other during proffer and polygraph ([66:44]-[67:01]).

• “Business of Death” as a Facilitator:

  • Their professional roles provide access to funeral homes, transport vehicles, and methods for body disposal ([04:13], [31:55]).
  • With their tools and knowledge, they commit the ultimate betrayal ([73:46]).

• Impact on Children:

  • Savannah testifies against her mother; reflects on the trauma and complex feelings ([71:31]; [78:35]).

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5. The Trials & Outcomes

• Chris Dontel’s Plea Deal:

  • Chris pleads guilty to accessory after the fact and conspiracy—not murder ([68:03]-[68:49]).
  • Plans to testify against Megan ([69:20]-[69:30]).

• Megan Jackson’s Trial:

  • Largely circumstantial but compelling case—prosecutors open by having Savannah testify ([71:31]).
  • Chris testifies, describing events in detail:
    “…In one motion, [Megan] spun out of the seat, pulled a gun out and shot him over and over. Didn’t see it coming. Neither did he.” ([72:52])

• Guilty Verdict:

  • Megan is found guilty of murder and sentenced to life in prison ([78:14]-[78:41]).
  • Child abuse charges dismissed due to her life sentence ([78:54]).

• Chris Sentenced:

  • 20 years: 15 for accessory, 5 for conspiracy ([79:54]).

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• Greg’s Warning:
  “If anything ever happens to me, it’s not a suicide.” — Greg, relayed by family and friends ([01:17], [20:06])

• On Death Work:
  “We don’t have people standing in line to get this job.” — Chuck Benjamin ([04:35])

• Chilling Home Life:
  “She would essentially lock them in the room…windows…nailed shut.” — Narrator/Host ([52:27])

• On the Cover-Up:
  “He buys a Pepsi Zero...just nonchalantly pushing his cart with his murder dump kit through the line at Lowe's.” — Narrator/Host ([43:25])

• Savannah’s Testimony:
  “She looked at me and she said, I hope what happened to your dad happens to your sister.” — Savannah Rice ([71:49])

• On the Motive:
  “I was not at any point physically attracted to her, really. I was attracted to the lifestyle she was providing.” — Chris Dontel ([26:30])

• Savannah’s Conclusion:
  “No matter how hard and horrible your environment can be, you can always make it out and you can turn your life around and be the person that you want.” ([82:47])

• Savannah on her mother:
  “I just want her to tell me why she did what she did and to tell her that I hate her.” ([81:25], [81:35])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |------------------------------------------------|-------------------| | Greg last seen, missing | 00:54–11:04 | | Megan’s background and body transport work | 03:12–07:09 | | Community search and initial investigation | 17:29–20:16 | | Affair and secrets revealed | 24:19–27:53 | | Evidence mounting (video, purchases) | 29:02–34:32 | | Discovery of Greg’s body | 37:47–39:35 | | Arrests and home searches | 44:21–53:29 | | Bond violations and continued relationship | 56:20–57:05 | | Proffers and courtroom testimony | 65:07–76:06 | | Verdict and sentencing | 78:14–80:40 | | Family fallout and aftermath | 80:53–83:26 |

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Conclusion

"Driven to Death" exposes how the trusted role of dealing with death became the cover for murder in Myrtle Beach. Through digital forensics, determined policework, and heartbreaking family testimony, investigators exposed the dark partnership and ultimate betrayal committed by Megan Jackson and Chris Dontel. The episode emphasizes both the ripple effect of violent crime on families—especially children—and the tenacity of justice even when evidence is largely circumstantial.

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For listeners seeking a riveting true crime narrative rich in detail and technical investigative work—this episode delivers both a chilling cautionary tale and an emotional family journey toward justice.

Transcript

[Narrator/Host]

When did making plans get this complicated?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

It's time to streamline with WhatsApp, the secure messaging app that brings the whole group together. Use polls to settle dinner plans. Send event invites and pin messages so no one forgets mom, 60th and never miss a meme or milestone. All protected with end to end encryption. It's time for WhatsApp message privately with everyone. Learn [e-mail].

[Investigator/Reporter]

This is the death Mobile. The last and final ride every one of us will take at the end of life's journey.

[Narrator/Host]

If you could write a script, isn't this perfect? You have a body transport person, a deputy coroner, and at least one visit to a funeral home that night.

[Investigator/Reporter]

How did you find out your father was missing?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

His car was still there, but he wasn't in there.

[Investigator/Reporter]

His friends and family start searching, right?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yes. Everybody starts to look, trying to find his last known whereabouts.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Police ask for your help in finding the missing man.

[Narrator/Host]

Who you see right here is Gregory Rice.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I think we just all assumed that he was going to be found in a ditch someplace.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

He had a feeling that he was being followed.

[Narrator/Host]

Greg had actually said, if anything ever happens to be me, it's not a suicide.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

It's full of scandalous secret sex. Erica Dontel began to receive anonymous text messages that said, your husband has gotten somebody pregnant.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I'm giving you every opportunity to get yourself out of the situation.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

There's nothing for me to get. I don't know where he is.

[Investigator/Reporter]

What went through your mind?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I was like, this can't be true.

[Narrator/Host]

I dropped the pedal and I started crying.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And you were scared? Yeah, I was scared.

[Narrator/Host]

They were in the business of death.

[Investigator/Reporter]

So you learned how to do autopsies, correct?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Yeah. Took pride in getting all the answers. We don't have people standing in line to get this job. I felt like that was what I was put on this earth to do.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Every year, these shores welcome millions of tourists. They come for the sand, the sun, the surf. But it's not always fun and games. At night, a darker, more sinister side emerges.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

We do have some problems in downtown Myrtle beach after like 10pm that's kind of like a joke about murder. Beach. Myrtle Beach, Myrtle Beach.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

We're dirty Myrtle. You know, after dark, it's own monster.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

It's really become a dangerous place.

[Narrator/Host]

And there are a lot of beachfront and alligator farms and ways to dispose.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Of bodies that people are never going to be found.

[Investigator/Reporter]

When a dead body is found, Megan Jackson is likely to get a phone call. The 35 year old mother of four and her boss, Chuck Benjamin, provide a service everyone will one day need, but nobody really wants.

[Narrator/Host]

My name is Chuck Benjamin. I pick up bodies for the local funeral homes in the coroner's office.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

It is about 3:40 in the morning.

[Narrator/Host]

We are headed to one of my.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Local funeral homes to pick up a body to take it to the airport in Charleston so it can fly out to their final destination.

[Investigator/Reporter]

How long have you been doing this?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Since 2011, whatever that is. 12, 13 years?

[Investigator/Reporter]

14 years.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Okay, yeah, this is the right schedule for today. 8:29 Leaves at 1:00 clock this afternoon. So this has to be there by 11, 10 30. 11.

[Investigator/Reporter]

What do your grandkids call this?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

The death mobile.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And you have it in your driveway ready to go?

[Narrator/Host]

Oh yeah, because all my drivers have one in their driveway.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Because you can get a call at.

[Narrator/Host]

Any moment 24, 7, 365 days a year.

[Investigator/Reporter]

With those hours, not to mention the grim realities of moving the dead, Chuck says it's not easy to find transporters for his business.

[Narrator/Host]

We don't have people standing in line.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

To get this job.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I can assure you we can work one day and leave. Megan was a next door neighbor to Joan and Chuck. She had moved from Ohio with Greg and her kids.

[Narrator/Host]

She wanted to try when I needed somebody. So I said, well, I'll take you on a few calls.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

If you like it, fine.

[Narrator/Host]

If not, it's no big deal.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

She had an interest in science and blood and things like that.

[Narrator/Host]

Very first call we went on was that somebody had been down for a week.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

It was decomposition on the third floor.

[Narrator/Host]

And I mean she'd hold her own. She could pick up a body, you know, which is clearly dead weight by herself and put it on a stretcher or in a car and she's teeny.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And just like that, Megan becomes an Uber driver for the dead.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I looked up to my mom in a lot of ways. She did a lot of work.

[Investigator/Reporter]

How would you describe her job?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

It's a pretty sad and can be an overwhelming type of job, but I think that as long as you're being respectful and caring about what you're doing, then I think it's actually a really good job to have.

[Narrator/Host]

Everyone loved Megan, everybody that she worked.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

With in the business. We worked for a variety of different funeral homes at the time.

[Narrator/Host]

We worked for the coroners.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Megan's job requires her to work hand in hand with the Horry County Deputy coroner, a man named Chris Dontell.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Megan was a great worker. She endeared herself to all of us. At the coroner's office.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Did you ever go with her to work?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Mm.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I've done quite a few calls with her, and it would be something I would actually look into doing in my future.

[Investigator/Reporter]

You would think of doing the same thing.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah. That never really bothered me as a kid because everybody passes at some point.

[Investigator/Reporter]

As Megan thrives at work, her relationship with Gregg Rice, the father of her children, fizzles out. After 15 years together, the couple splits up, but they share custody of their kids.

[Narrator/Host]

Greg moved to the Arrowhead community, where he lived in an apartment. Megan, who had inherited a good deal of money from her parents, purchased the home in river's edge.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

On October 3rd of 2020, Megan went over to Greg Rice's home with the children. He was going to get the children for that day. There was no answer at the door.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I received a phone call from Megan asking if I heard anything from Greg, because he's not answering the door. He's not answering his phone.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Ryan and Greg work together, building patios and are best friends. Ryan tells Megan he last saw Greg when they both left work the night before.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I felt it was kind of fishy. And she ended up putting in a missing persons report.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Megan files the report in person at the police station.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Megan, right? M E A. M E A G A N G A. What's your last name?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Jackson.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Jackson. How long were y' all married for?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

We weren't married.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Weren't married. How many kids you got together?

[Investigator/Reporter]

Just curious.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Four, really.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I was with him for, like, 15 years.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

How long y' all been separated?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Over a year.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Over a year.

[Investigator/Reporter]

So Megan says she last spoke to Greg on Friday, the night before he went missing.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

And you talked to Greg on the phone at about 9. 58?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

You said yes, and I told him that I'm still gonna. Are we so good for taking the kids to your house in the morning? And he said yes. And, I mean, everything was fine.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

That was the last time you spoke with him? Yes. So you never physically saw him Friday?

[Investigator/Reporter]

No.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Megan was pretty much painting the picture that Greg could have possibly overdosed was in a ditch somewhere.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

What kind of drugs did he do?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Like oxy? Roxy? I can't remember what he called.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Did he get hurt or anything? Is that why he started taking them or just. He just started taking them.

[Narrator/Host]

He lived right beside the Intracoastal Waterway, and she was saying he may have wandered off and drowned or just wandered off and OD'd. Police ask for your help in finding Gregory Rice.

[Investigator/Reporter]

It was a mystery that shook this Myrtle beach community. One day. 46 year old father Greg Rice is living his life and the next day he disappears, seemingly without a trace. So this is where he lived, right here?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yes. His children would come visit him for scheduled visits and unscheduled visits. He wanted to see his kids often.

[Investigator/Reporter]

What did you find in the apartment?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

So at the apartment, you know, his wallet was found, his front keys were found stuffed in a cushion on the front porch. His car was here, but not his phone.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Is that suspicious?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

It is suspicious.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Why?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Most people would have left with their wallet. Most people would have left with their keys or why walk down the road? Why not take the car and that kind of stuff. So, yeah, that is suspicious.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

We set up arrangements to go to Greg's apartment and split up in teams and search his apartment and grounds around it for anything, and we didn't find anything.

[Narrator/Host]

Investigators canvassed the Arrowhead community trying to see when he had last been seen, but none of that was really fruitful.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

The investigators talked to neighbors and by all accounts, it appears that Greg Rice was a good father. He had a job, he was a hard worker. He seemed to be just an average guy.

[Narrator/Host]

Greg had some very good friends in the community who just found him funny and caring and really enjoyed spending time with him. The children all loved him unconditionally.

[Investigator/Reporter]

How would you describe your father?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

He was always that person that would be there for you at the end of the day. If you had something you didn't want to say to anybody else, you would go to him.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Greg had the kids almost every single weekend. That's the one thing that mattered the most with him.

[Investigator/Reporter]

You did a lot of fun things with him.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah, I did.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Like what?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

We used to surf together a lot and he used to actually take pictures for the surfing competitions I used to do.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Our favorite hobbies would be definitely surfing and golfing. We would golf three to four times a week. He was absolutely terrible, but a blast to play with. You spent a lot of time in the woods.

[Investigator/Reporter]

How did you find out your father was missing?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

My dad always came and picked up the kids and that didn't happen this day.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Savannah says her parents relationship took a bad turn after her mother got that job working in body transport.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

She just kind of acted different, was homeless, could be a lot more mean than before.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

She was never home, would leave at all times of, you know, day and night and just leave the kids at some point.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Were your parents arguing more?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah, they argued a lot. But it definitely did get worse. Once my mom got a job, they stopped just talking things out and everything.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Became an argument, and then they wind up breaking up.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Yes.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

After Megan and Gregg rice part ways, Megan purchases a home in the same neighborhood as Christopher dontell. She moved into our neighborhood, and then a few times, she started kind of like popping up at different places. We would go to the same places to eat, Kind of had the same routine.

[Investigator/Reporter]

So quickly she went from your husband's co worker to a good friend, family friend, very quickly.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

After a while, when Megan moved to Chris neighborhood, he would just call her and say, I've got a coroner call and I need you to, you know, go to this address.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

She would call me, hey, Chris has got a call. You mind if I go on it? You know, I didn't care as long as it gets done. It gets done on the, you know, within the time parameters that I have to do it.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Megan and Chris are constantly in need of each other because the coroner's office needs body transport. And that would involve meeting each other all hours of the night, all days of the week.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And then in 2020, Chris and and Megan's workload explodes because of the COVID pandemic, the alarming surge in cases of coronavirus.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Hospitalizations are up in 21 states. Funeral homes didn't want nothing to do with it. They didn't want to go on the calls. So they would call me because they didn't want nothing to do with COVID We were doing 2,500 calls a year. And Megan volunteered and especially she always did Chris's calls.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Megan and Chris are together for work constantly. And the new neighbors families become Covid bubble buddies during the lockdown.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

After Megan moved into my neighborhood, her kids and my kids virtually had an open door policy at each of our houses. Her kids would come and go from my house. We ate dinner with them several nights a week.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

She was showing up with groceries when everything shut down for Covid and we were struggling financially.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

We were expecting a little boy. Megan had a full load of brand new nursery items and baby boy items.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

We never asked her to do it. She just came in and was gonna be the savior.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And then you hear that Greg is missing.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Chris came home and he was like. Megan reported Greg missing.

[Investigator/Reporter]

It would all become more troublesome when police learned Greg feared for his life.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

He was always worried about driving and being followed.

[Narrator/Host]

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[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Whenever someone goes missing in Horry county, we always write a story about it. We're a small enough community that if somebody's missing, it's absolutely a news story.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Police asked for your help in finding.

[Narrator/Host]

The missing man who you see right here, Gregory Rice.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Police kept on coming by and just questioning us. Have you seen anything out of the normal? And that's when red flags were starting to raise, like something seriously happened to Greg.

[Investigator/Reporter]

When was the last time you had seen him?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

The week prior. And that was the weekend that I promised I was gonna come see him and I didn't get to see him.

[Investigator/Reporter]

What were you going through?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I was in a pretty bad shape. I wasn't handling it very well. And it didn't help that my mom was still going out every night, getting drunk, coming home plastered.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Did she seem worried about your missing dad?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

She seemed worried at first on the phone call and when she originally came home. But after that it was just kind of like nothing.

[Narrator/Host]

From all accounts, they had a somewhat tumultuous relationship. There was a lot of friction between.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Greg and Megan, she never called him by his name. It was just, oh, he's this terrible guy. I'm going to drop the kids off. If I'm not back in an hour, send somebody to look for me. I wasn't surprised at them breaking up, because I know things she said about him. You know, how he would drink and do drugs and things like that. I think we just all assumed that he was going to be found in a ditch someplace from a drug overdose or drunken stupor.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Megan started making stories up about Greg being on drugs. Never once have I seen that out of Greg.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Law enforcement, they did look inside Greg Rice's apartment for evidence, the substance abuse issue. They didn't find evidence to support that.

[Investigator/Reporter]

No evidence of drug abuse. But investigators did find evidence to suggest just Greg was increasingly nervous and suspicious in the days leading up to his disappearance.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Detective Susi called me over the phone, asked me if I would come in for an interview, and I said, absolutely. So I'm Detective Susi. I'm the one that calls you on the phone. So you're a friend of mine? Yeah, I also work with him.

[Narrator/Host]

They had actually worked together that last day. And Greg had actually said to Ryan, if anything ever happens to me, it's not a suicide.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Greg mentioned to me that if something was to happen to him, he didn't offer himself. What do you think could have happened? What were your thoughts? At first, she had something to do with it.

[Investigator/Reporter]

What gave you those suspicions?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Just the way Greg talked. He had a feeling that he was being followed by a silver unmarked car.

[Narrator/Host]

Megan made it known that she hung.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Out with cops, was real friendly with cops. She always made the comments like that. She knew people. Do you think she. She would be capable of doing something? Not by herself.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Not by herself. That statement stood out to detectives.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Walk me through Friday.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I know that I went to Abuelo's on Friday.

[Investigator/Reporter]

What time did you go to Abuelo's?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Not a clue. It was nighttime. I was there with one of the coroners. Initially, when investigators spoke to Megan, she had just gone to dinner with someone from the coroner's office. And then later, when questioned about that, she said it was Christopher Dontale. We ate her boilers.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Who you eat uploads.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Boy lives with the corner. Oh, Chris.

[Narrator/Host]

Downtown.

[Investigator/Reporter]

So you wound up getting closer to Megan. Did you see her as someone you could confide in?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I did. And you did? I did.

[Narrator/Host]

Based on interviews and just other information from the investigation, I certainly think there was a belief that Megan Jackson and Christopher Dontel were romantically involved. But it hadn't been confirmed. So that was one thing that the investigators did want to either confirm or refute, that there was this affair going on.

[Investigator/Reporter]

It's now been 10 days after Greg Rice is last seen, and Megan and Chris are both being questioned by the Horry County PD One thing that we.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Have to do is, like, we know who you are. We work with you, but we have to 100% clear you out as, quote, unquote, a suspect in his disappearance.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Okay.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Okay.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

So some of the questions I'm gonna ask are intrusive. They're uncomfortable questions. How we got. Your name was Megan, said that you guys had gone out to eat on Friday night. And then with Greg going missing, sometime around that. That time frame. We're trying to gather what happened on Friday. We went to, I believe, Abuela's that night. What you do immediately after you got done eating?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

We both got in my car.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Okay.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

That's the uncomfortable part, right?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Yep. So y' all were in your car?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Okay. Drive. Sex in your car?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Possibly.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Okay. I mean, it's not possible you had adult relations. Okay.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Eventually, the naked truth bubbles to the surface.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

What's the relationship with you and Megan? If I'm being honest, it's something I would get divorced over. So you think his intentions are to leave his wife and planning on starting something?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Oh, hell no. I'm never moving a man back in my house ever again.

[Investigator/Reporter]

So this is just the fun.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I don't know what we are.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Your wife doesn't know? She knows a little bit, but not the full extent of it.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I just don't want to wreck, you know, his. He's got kids.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I know. Again, that's my mom.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

What about the. Chris. Do you want me to answer it?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

No, just. He'll be okay. He can wait.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Investigators ask both Megan and Chris for their cell phones, which they voluntarily hand over.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I get this back today, right?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Yes.

[Investigator/Reporter]

But it's someone else's phone. That leads to a shocking revelation.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Erica Dontell began to receive anonymous text messages that said, in essence, hey, your husband has gotten somebody pregnant.

[Investigator/Reporter]

It must have been a hard pill to swallow that your husband had impregnated this family friend. It all turns into a twisted tale. What started out as a missing persons case uncovers a secret affair between a deputy coroner and his partner in body removal.

[Narrator/Host]

They were in the business of death, and I really do think that that was something that drew them together. It takes a certain special kind of personality, I would say, to deal with death on such a regular basis, voluntarily.

[Investigator/Reporter]

So how did it Go from you two being co workers to something more than that.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

She said, have you ever cheated on your wife? And I said, no. And she climbed over the console and got on top of me and started to kiss me.

[Investigator/Reporter]

How were you able to carry on the affair? Where would you go?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Because of our job, you know, it was. I would get phone calls at all hours of the day and night, and it was easy to leave one night.

[Investigator/Reporter]

You realize that Chris and your mom might be more than just co workers or friends.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Well, I just had friends over one day, and they were just being wild in the bedroom. And the next day I was like, wait, were you guys, like, sleeping together? And she told me, yeah, I thought you knew. And I was just like, no, I didn't know, but thanks for telling me.

[Investigator/Reporter]

You had a great wife at home, Erica.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

The most amazing wife.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Why did you continue the relationship with Megan?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

She made our lives easy. She was going to be the answer to everything.

[Investigator/Reporter]

You did it for the money?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

It sounds terrible to put it that way, but yes. I was not at any point physically attracted to her, really. I was attracted to the lifestyle she was providing.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Did you suspect at all that she and your husband might be having an affair?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

No. Because the way they acted, she treated him almost like brother and sister type. Erica Dontel began to receive anonymous text messages. And it just said, I think you should know that your husband is having an affair and got somebody pregnant. Oh, and I think you should know it's Megan Jackson.

[Investigator/Reporter]

It must have been a hard pill to swallow that your husband had impregnated this family friend.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah. It was so far out of character for Chris. He told me it wasn't happening. He was like, who would say that? Like, what? That's ridiculous. Like, somebody's messing with us.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Your wife receives some texts from an anonymous account. What's going through your head, do you think about coming clean to your wife?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I didn't. I downplayed it. I didn't even know that I believed Megan was actually pregnant. I didn't know what to believe at that point.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

They end up calling Megan right then, per Erica's request, and it's all on speaker. And Megan dismisses them. And, you know, basically, well, it must be Greg Rice. This is what Greg does. Greg causes problems. This is what he does. He just tries to come in between any relationship that she tries to have.

[Investigator/Reporter]

So you sort of let it go for the time.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah. She said she was going to take care of it and get him to leave us alone.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Kris Dontel is having an affair with Megan Jackson.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Greg Rice may have been leaking information to Erica, Chris's wife.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Authorities believe that if Greg was sending those messages, Chris and Megan would have a reason to silence him. They know, thanks to their interviews, that the pair was together the night Greg disappeared.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Chris was in here the entire night?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah.

[Investigator/Reporter]

So you have to drill down exactly where Chris and Megan were that night, right?

[Narrator/Host]

Yes.

[Investigator/Reporter]

When Greg did disappears, where did Megan and Chris start off that afternoon?

[Narrator/Host]

They both lived in the same sort of residential community. This is Megan Jackson leaving in her car at 6:16. There was another still showing Christopher Dontel leaving just about the same time.

[Investigator/Reporter]

In separate vehicles.

[Narrator/Host]

In separate vehicles. So this is the van that she was known to drive to transport bodies. And Christopher Dontel is always seen driving a county Explorer.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Minutes later, both vehicles are seen entering a nature preserve where they stay for several minutes. The two work vehicles then leave and head to Abuelo's restaurant.

[Narrator/Host]

Abuelo's is not that far from the preserve. They went there. We had surveillance video of them coming in. This is surveillance video for them.

[Investigator/Reporter]

That's them sitting at the counter, sitting at the bar.

[Narrator/Host]

And one of the reasons why this photograph was important is because it helped us corroborate phone records. Because you can see Megan Jackson on the phone there. And that's one way that we say, look, the phone records are correct.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Looking at the forensic results of their phones, they started to get GPS locations. Then they could go back. And there's license plate readers.

[Investigator/Reporter]

This is the entrance to the community where Greg Rice lives. And right there on that pole is a silent watchman on duty 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It's called a license plate reader or lpr. And people drive past them all the time, all over Horry County. On the night Greg disappeared, Chris Dontel and Megan Jackson drove by this one not once but twice.

[Narrator/Host]

So in this photograph we see this is the license plate that was assigned to Megan Jackson's transport van entering into Gregg Rice's community. This was right around 10 o'. Clock. And then just about six minutes later, you see the same van with the same license plate leaving the community. And one of the things that this helped us with is that Megan Jackson swore up and down Chris, Christopher Dontell swore up and down that they had never been to that community. Did you ever go to his apartment that Friday night? No.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Have you ever been to Greg's apartment? No, I never went there. I've never been in.

[Narrator/Host]

So this was clear evidence that they were hiding something.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

On the night of October 2, of 2020. Gregg Rice's phone records indicate that he was at home most of that night until he got two calls from Megan Jackson and that was just shortly before 10 o'. Clock. Shortly after that it did show his phone leave the area of his apartment which would have been going in the same direction as Megan's phone as well.

[Investigator/Reporter]

It's a short ride to the next stop of the night and where Megan's body transport van ends up. Couldn't be more on brand if you.

[Narrator/Host]

Could write a script. You have a body transport person, a deputy coroner and at least one visit to a funeral home that night. It's the business of death. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try [e-mail], progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states. By October 23, the investigators had done a fabulous job job of gathering different pieces of electronic evidence.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Investigators say Megan's body transport van is seen leaving Greg's community the night he disappears. They also say Greg's phone is with Megan according to the evidence. Where do they go next?

[Narrator/Host]

Their phone records place them at the Myrtle Beach Funeral Home.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Chris and Megan have access to to that funeral home because of their jobs, right?

[Narrator/Host]

Yes. Just based on his position as a deputy coroner and hers as a body transport person, they pretty much had free access to funeral homes.

[Investigator/Reporter]

What about surveillance video from the funeral home?

[Narrator/Host]

That would have been wonderful. But life is rarely that easy.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

It wasn't working.

[Investigator/Reporter]

The cameras at the funeral home weren't working.

[Narrator/Host]

They were not working.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Megan and Chris are racking up the funeral frequent flyer miles in interrogation rooms. Now the regulars are back in the hot seat.

[Narrator/Host]

I knew that her van had driven into Greg's community and that's certainly information that they used in their interviews.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Did you ever go to Greg's house?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

No.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Then can you explain why the van you were driving that night hits on a license plate reader going in there and it from click.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Well, it shouldn't have.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I have pictures of it.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I mean that's fine, but it shouldn't have.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

But it did.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Okay, but I can't explain it cuz I.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

You were driving the van.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Well, I can't explain it.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

You and Megan were together the whole night. Megan's van drives into arrowhead at 10 o' clock that night. We could have been by Aram. Do you remember anywhere you would have gone? And I'll be totally honest with you if I'm sure you know already. She was giving me a while I was driving the car.

[Narrator/Host]

Dontel used this sort of oral sex while driving as his reason for not being able to tell exactly where they went and when they went.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I tell you about parody, about pulling into Arrow.

[Investigator/Reporter]

He's so.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I don't remember that.

[Investigator/Reporter]

I don't know about that.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

All I can tell you is that I don't have anything to do with Greg being missing. It's all I'm guilty of getting. You know who has the motive is Chris. He has a lot to lose. He's got the motive now. I think you're covering something up for him.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I'm not.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

And we're giving you every opportunity to get yourself out of this situation.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

There's nothing for me to get. I don't know where he is.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I feel like I'm being investigated for something. Investigated for something that I didn't do. Chris, you are being investigated. You are absolutely, 1,000%. I hope it's worth it Megan, I really do. I don't have anything to charge you with, but there's no doubt I didn't do anything. Well Chris, I'm going to tell you this. If someone asked me to put a bet on it, I would say that you did.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Without more direct evidence, police let Megan and Chris go. Meanwhile, the search for Greg continues retracing Chris and Megan's steps.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Maybe that body has been cremated.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Let's go check the gas and see if an amount of gas was used that would have represented the burning of a body.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

And there, there was nothing to see there.

[Investigator/Reporter]

No extra gas had been used. And then weeks go by with no sign of your dad. It must have been agonizing for you.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I just wanted him to come back. I just wanted him to be found and be okay so that I could go to his house. It was just a lot of begging and pleading waiting for him to come back.

[Investigator/Reporter]

This is the Little Pee Dee River. Miles of slow moving water surrounded by natural wildlife. And that makes it a very popular recreational spot for swimming, canoeing and catfishing. For Donna Sue Sols, it's the the relaxation and family tradition of catfishing that has brought her here for decades. You said you called this your happy place.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yes.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Why?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

She's peaceful.

[Narrator/Host]

It takes all my worries away.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And then 37 days after Greg Rice's disappearance, a discovery. So, November 7, 2020, how did that day start?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Well, we come and set up.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

We set about eight hooks that night.

[Narrator/Host]

And then when we would turn around and come back through, then that's when.

[Investigator/Reporter]

I mean, you could smell the smell. All right, tell me about the smelling.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

It was really bad. It was horrible.

[Investigator/Reporter]

On a closer look, what do you see?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah.

[Narrator/Host]

Well, it looked like the tarp was.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Just laid up there.

[Narrator/Host]

And then once you got the paddle and we lifted it, that's when we seen the ratchet straps tied around the.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Bottom parts of the legs.

[Narrator/Host]

It was like, around both, and then.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Around the head on the other side.

[Investigator/Reporter]

What went through your mind?

[Narrator/Host]

Well, I dropped a paddle. It scared me, and I started crying.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I was like, this can't be true.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And you were scared?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah, I was scared.

[Investigator/Reporter]

The Marion County Sheriff's office gets a 911 call. Tell me about that.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

We get a call for some people fishing, found what they thought was a body. They found a tarp, and they knew something was in the tarp.

[Narrator/Host]

The tarp had black zip ties on either end and. And then also ratchet straps with cinder blocks securing it, obviously trying to keep the body submerged.

[Investigator/Reporter]

It sounded like a mafia hit.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

It would seem that way. It would seem that way. They didn't take into account that when the decomposition starts, the gases fill up and it'll actually float.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Big mistake.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Big mistake.

[Narrator/Host]

This body was extremely decomposed. There's always this thought, okay, here's a body. Maybe this is Greg Rice.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Things had to be done. DNA and dental records to positively ID this person. Unfortunately, as Gregg Rice, the medical examiner determined that there were positively five gunshot wounds on Greg Rice. Investigators start to look at the tarp that Gregg's body had been wrapped in and in fact, discovered that the Lowe's Home Improvement here in Conway, South Carolina, actually sold that particular name brand. And they go to that store and they start to inquire, has anybody purchased these items? And lo and behold, someone had.

[Investigator/Reporter]

But what really blows up this investigation is a piece of evidence that that's literally full of hot air.

[Narrator/Host]

Why would you use a plastic glove doll?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Sex and scandal and then murder. Let me ask you, have you seen anything like this?

[Investigator/Reporter]

This is a new one for me.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Put a mind or right now that I'm being murdered. Murder.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I just was like, oh, my gosh.

[Investigator/Reporter]

You'Ve transported hundreds of bodies in your life, and now here you are involved in a real life murder.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Has Megan ever told you that she killed Greg? Asked her how she knows he's dead. She said, why doesn't matter.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

And I asked her, what do you mean? And she just weren't saying things.

[Narrator/Host]

They both claim to be not really knowing how Greg was killed.

[Investigator/Reporter]

This was a high profile case with a lot of twists and turns. They had a blow up doll.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

There was a blow up Betty doll in the front passenger seat. My mom could be an evil woman.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

She had threatened to kill me. Felt like for the last five years that I'd been looking in the barrel of Megan Jackson's gun.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

He made this big cry.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Oh, I'm afraid of her.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Sounds like a horror movie.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Never seen anything like it in my life, ever.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Weeks go by with no sign of your dad.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I just wanted him to come back.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Did your mom seem worried about your missing dad?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Not really.

[Investigator/Reporter]

The former partner of Megan Jackson is now missing, and we've got the idea that there's this affair going on.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I mean, it's scandalous. Somebody from the coroner's office and somebody from a body transport having an affair. Over a month later, Greg's body was found along the Little Pee Dee River.

[Narrator/Host]

Once Greg's remains were recovered, there were very specific items found used to wrap his body. Ding, ding, ding.

[Investigator/Reporter]

How did detectives wind up at this store?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

They wound up at this store because after the murder of Greg Rice, they found Greg Rice's body and he was wrapped in a tarp. And investigators later looked that tarp up, and it happened to be a name brand that was sold here. And so they did a follow up on that to see if there was a tarp sold anytime recently.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Police are able to get a receipt from Lowe's for a tarp, cinder block, zip ties, and a diet soda. And that's not all. As most of us know, in stores like these, there are security cameras everywhere.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

When you go back to October 3rd, the video surveillance showed the person buying those items. And that person was Christopher Dantale. He's very relaxed.

[Narrator/Host]

He's very well dressed. In the video, he's wearing khaki pants and some nice shoes. He buys a Pepsi Zero. He's just nonchalantly pushing his cart with his murder dump kit through the line at Lowe's.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

But now, you know without a shadow.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Of a doubt that he is involved. He bought all of these things that are used.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

There's more work to be done, but we were certainly on the right path.

[Narrator/Host]

As you drive out to the little Pee Dee river, you pass the Pedy Exchange, just a little gas station convenience store, and you can actually see what we know as Christopher Dontell's vehicle. Driving past it one way and then returning the other way. And that, coupled with LPR hits for Dontel's county vehicle, really kind of cemented the fact that Christopher Dontell had driven Greg's body out there.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Convinced that the coroner did a lot more than just sign a death certificate, investigators rush over to the Dontel home.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Greg, is Chris on?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yes.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Hey, Curly.

[Narrator/Host]

But he was just sleeping in bed, sound asleep, not a care in the world.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Your wife and children. It's probably better that you just come off and stop.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Over the past month, Chris has not provided detectives with much.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Chris, I know you got some questions and probably some things to say. I mean, I like to have my.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Lawyer present, but in this case, a picture is worth a thousand words.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Chris, I'm not going to ask you any questions. What I do want to do, though, and I'll leave these here with some shopping at Lowe's. There's the body you threw over the bridge. Well, you understand you're not leaving the building today. You're going to be going to county jail here short. Okay, what am I under arrest for right now? That I'm murdered? Not up here. Murdered. At what point can I speak with.

[Investigator/Reporter]

My lawyer at the same time Megan Jackson is taken in?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Well, all I want.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Okay, I don't have anything else to tell you other than what I told you.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Okay, well, I can tell you that's not true. Nobody here thinks you're a bad person. Nobody thinks anything to happen to Greg. You have no motive to kill Greg, but Chris does. So the night of the second, you guys were together all night long?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Everything that I remember yet.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Okay, so I know you weren't with him on the third between 2:30 and three because he called you. But I know where Chris was between 2:30 and 3 on that Saturday.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

We were at a call.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

No, you weren't.

[Investigator/Reporter]

The detectives then confront Megan with some very powerful images.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

You mean show you where Chris was at 255 on Saturday. Blocks of tarp, zip tie, rattus trap. I'm going to show you where I was sa glass this past Saturday. You.

[Narrator/Host]

That.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Is.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

That Greg?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

That's Greg. And guess what? He was wrapped in and conquered in the river. The C ball at on the third. You got two. Two choices. Explain to us what happened. I looked like the horrible person who killed their father with two choices. You know what happened that night? Yes, you do, Megan.

[Narrator/Host]

At that point, they had enough probable cause and they were able to make those arrests.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Chris, stand up. Turn around. Chris.

[Narrator/Host]

Murder.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Murder.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Greg Rice.

[Narrator/Host]

I'll see you.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And after your father's body is found, the police come to your house.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

They told us that my dad was found and my mom and Chris would be being charged.

[Investigator/Reporter]

That must have been so hard for you to lose your father and then to find out that your mother might be involved.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah, it was a lot because I just never believed that my mom could do something like that. We start with breaking news.

[Narrator/Host]

Two people have been charged with the.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Murder of a missing man.

[Narrator/Host]

Police say Dontel and Megan Jackson are connected to Rice's death. Both are charged with murder.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

And I was like, oh, my gosh, what the heck? I had no idea. I was shocked when we got this information. It was beyond a shocker because Chris Dantel was a man who we would reach out to for homicide investigations. And now you have a deputy coroner who is arrested in a murder case.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And you had no idea from his behavior that he might be involved?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Mm.

[Narrator/Host]

Mm.

[Investigator/Reporter]

No.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

No.

[Narrator/Host]

Erica. I really think at that point, she still did not want to believe that her husband was having an affair with Megan Jackson. She did not want to believe that he had anything to do with the murder.

[Investigator/Reporter]

With Chris and Megan now booked in jail, investigators continue to search their homes for any items that may be connected to Greg's death. That is spooky. The police say they saw some very concerning things.

[Narrator/Host]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. You chose to hit play on this podcast today. Smart choice. Make another smart choice with Auto Quote Explorer to compare rates from multiple car insurance companies all at once. Try [e-mail] Progressive Capital Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Not available in all states or situations. Prices vary based on how you buy. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever think about switching insurance companies to see if you could save some cash? Progressive makes it easy to see if you could save when you bundle your home and auto policies. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. Potential savings will vary. Not available in all states.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

The power button's the top right.

[Investigator/Reporter]

This is us.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

When investigators with Horry County PD did a search warrant at Megan Jackson's home, she had multiple guns in the home. Strangely enough, all of them were accounted for. But they found an empty gun box that was a.22 long rifle pistol. That is consistent with the murder weapon in this case.

[Investigator/Reporter]

As investigators look through the home for evidence, their Search takes a drastic new turn.

[Narrator/Host]

She's got bottles in every crevice you can find.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

She drank a lot.

[Narrator/Host]

It was just very clear that she was not a good mother.

[Investigator/Reporter]

It's like a doomsday room. Got a towed lock.

[Narrator/Host]

There was a lock on the pantry door, so the children did not have free access to food.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And then investigators head up the stairs to Megan's 13 year old daughter's bedroom. What did the police find out about that?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Well, they found out that she had an alarm on her door.

[Investigator/Reporter]

An alarm?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

If she was to open the door, it would beep. Eventually, it just got worse.

[Narrator/Host]

Their doors had locks that were turned to the outside so that they would not be able to open their doors from the inside. The windows, they were nailed shut. And then spray foam insulation was sprayed around the windows.

[Investigator/Reporter]

It was like a prison.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah. Yes, pretty much.

[Narrator/Host]

She would essentially lock them in the room so that she could go and she would go to work or do whatever she was going to do.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

She was busy doing this job and obviously involved with Chris. I felt bad for Savannah that she always had to be in charge. I was the parent of the house while living with my mom because she was never home. And on the weekends would be the times I would go to my dad's, but it would be also the only times I could actually have free time and hang out with my friends.

[Investigator/Reporter]

So you didn't go to your dad's?

[Narrator/Host]

No.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

It's one of the things that I regret most of my life because I should have and I could have, but I didn't. And I really regret that. The situation in Megan's home, besides murder, was so concerning that Megan's children were placed into emergency protective custody.

[Narrator/Host]

As a result of what investigators saw. She was charged with four counts of unlawful conduct toward a child. Nothing at all to do with the murder or the arrest for the murder. It was totally separate.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Days after Greg's body is discovered, a bartender at this restaurant sees Chris and Megan's mug shots on the local news. And she remembers serving them rum drinks one night at the bar and overhearing a conversation Chris and Megan were having with a fellow patron.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

So the conversation they were having, they.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Were normal conversation, like, what do you do? They explained.

[Narrator/Host]

Well, he explained that he was a coroner and she transports bodies. And he was like, that's got to be a weird job.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Small talk like that. Later on, it got into conversations about their families. She started going into great details about.

[Narrator/Host]

About how much she hates her kids.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

How she never wanted them.

[Narrator/Host]

She said, I think about Killing them all the time.

[Investigator/Reporter]

The bartender says she overhears Megan making some disturbing comments about her family.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I had heard Megan say the same things, but I didn't believe Megan would actually do that. I chalked it up to the alcohol.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And a week after their arrests, Megan and Chris have their bond hearings. Prosecutors decide to try Megan first on the more serious murder charges.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Megan and Chris were ultimately let out on bond, but they were on house arrest.

[Narrator/Host]

One of the standard conditions is no contact with the co defendants, no contact with the victim. In this case, for Megan Jackson, it would have been her children.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Chris loses his job with a coroner's office. And now, armed with an ankle monitor, he returns back home where his wife is waiting.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

At his bond hearing, they said, you know, we've got Mr. Dontel on footage at Lowe's buying, you know, the things that Greg was found in.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Now, are you a little more.

[Narrator/Host]

Yeah.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

So then I was like, that doesn't sound good.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Do you confront him then?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Oh, yeah.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Were you angry?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Oh, yeah.

[Investigator/Reporter]

How did he explain it?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Just that it was a perfect storm of just bad decisions and bad situations. And then, you know, it crossed the.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Line for the affair and essentially their job. The circumstances of their job made it easy to hide the affair. So now Chris and Megan are back home, living just a few blocks away from each other, but they're barred from having any contact.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I was fielding calls weekly from people in the community.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Both of them continuously broke those bonds.

[Narrator/Host]

Their ankle monitors were appearing at the same place at the same time. They said they were getting together to exchange Christmas presents.

[Investigator/Reporter]

At one point, he's out on bail, but he's still communicating with Megan.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah, I found a cell phone. The only contact in it was a nickname, but I knew it was Megan, and I was like, after all this, you're still talking to her.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Personal drama aside, as investigators prepare to bring these cozy co defendants to trial, they discover a silent witness.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Megan calls it blow up. Betty, let me ask you, have you seen anything like this?

[Investigator/Reporter]

Not with a coroner and body transport, people. This is a new one for me.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

So I get involved as an investigator here at the solicitor's office after their arrest, and we start looking at the evidence we have, clearing things up and making a timeline a little more crispy.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Where are we driving into now?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

We're in Lewis Ocean Bay Heritage Preserve. It's a recreational area. Hours before Greg Rice went missing, Megan and Chris drive into the preserve.

[Narrator/Host]

They had them on camera going in and out of that area.

[Investigator/Reporter]

What happened at the preserve.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Prior to anything happening with Greg, Megan had a interest in guns and shooting. She would shoot in the woods. And on this particular day, we went to the nature preserve. Megan wanted to go shoot.

[Investigator/Reporter]

What was she shooting at?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

She would shoot at everything from tree stumps to pieces of paper that she would fold up. Just random things.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

So there's a still image on a license plate reader that you can see Megan leaving with this object in the front passenger seat of her vehicle. It was revealed that it was a blow up doll. And the doll had a name. Blow up Betty.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Betty. What was it used for?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

At the moment, we don't know.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Your guess?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

My guess is for target practice on this day.

[Investigator/Reporter]

So blow up Betty is no more.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I would surmise she probably isn't.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Was there a blow up doll involved in all this?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Not that is relevant to the case. Megan was a unique individual. And you don't know why? No, she. That was just one of many eccentricities about her.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And investigators uncover more shocking details about Megan's personal life.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Before Greg Weiss went missing, Erica Dontel began to receive anonymous text messages that said, hey, your husband has gotten somebody pregnant.

[Investigator/Reporter]

It turns out what was said in those mysterious text messages was actually true.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Megan, she goes, before anyone else tells you, I want to let you know that I'm pregnant.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Oh, Megan, you're just getting in deeper.

[Narrator/Host]

She told Christopher Dontel that she was pregnant, and then she had told people that she had a miscarriage. She did have a baby eventually. There has never been a paternity test. Chris, of course, just accepted paternity test.

[Investigator/Reporter]

The baby was eventually placed in the care of a family friend. Our office is no stranger to really.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

High profile cases throughout the state.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And this was a high profile case with a lot of twists and turns.

[Narrator/Host]

This was a incredibly circumstantial evidence case.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Against both of them.

[Narrator/Host]

The problem was what they were missing and what they didn't know because of the lack of physical evidence, the lack of a crime scene. One of the things that as prosecutors, we always knew we needed was for one of these co defendants to tell us what happened to testify against the other one. We signed what we call a proffer letter saying if you cooperate, if you testify truthfully, there may be either a reduction in charges or perhaps a reduction in sentence.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Y' all sure you don't know anything? Yeah, sure you do.

[Investigator/Reporter]

With a lawyer present, Chris Dontell meets with investigators and vows to tell the truth about what happened.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

So Chris says that on this night, when they went to the Myrtle beach funeral home after they'd had dinner, that Megan had Left some reading glasses.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

She said, I need to go see Greg. So she leaves. I stayed at Myrtle Beach Funeral Home. I did not leave.

[Narrator/Host]

Dontell tells us Megan Jackson left for a bit, came back.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

She said, we have to go. I said, is Greg here? She said, no, but we have to go. She was shaking. I never saw Greg that night. We left.

[Narrator/Host]

And the next day, it's like, you have to go get rid of the body.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I asked her how she knows he's dead. She said, why? Because it matter. Has Megan ever told you that she killed Greg? I've asked her so many times because I wanted answers myself, because I've had to answer to this in my life.

[Narrator/Host]

Because of this, he was not really knowing how Greg was killed or when he was killed.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Prosecutors don't believe Chris is telling the truth. And when he refuses to take a polygraph, they turn to plan B. Megan Jackson. What does she have to say?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

This is the part that I didn't tell the truth on.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Chris had a favorite song, a Keith.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Urban song, Only you can love me this way. Because only you can love me in this way. One night that Chris asked me to be his girlfriend, it was at the Keith Urban concert, and that song was playing. There's only you can love me this way.

[Investigator/Reporter]

You still hear that song? Still listen to it?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Chris Dontell has been in jail for violating the terms of his bond on numerous occasions for having contact with Megan Jackson.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I remember that.

[Investigator/Reporter]

But his. His wife, Erica, has continued to stick by his side.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

So this is a photo from Charlie's preschool graduation. And that was our last family photo altogether before his bond was revoked. So just how little they were. I mean, I feel like they're different people now. They're so big.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And the children. Do they know that something's not right in the house?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah. They do not know where he is or the situation.

[Investigator/Reporter]

You were trying to protect your kid.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

And I never thought that he'd be gone as long as he has been gone.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Megan Jackson was in and out of jail as well for breaking bond conditions. And as pressure mounts, prosecutors offer Megan a chance to tell her side of the the story through her own proffer.

[Narrator/Host]

Some people call it queen for a day like this is your opportunity. You tell us everything, and we'll see if it's worthwhile.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

We're here today because you, through your attorney, have requested to come talk to us today. Okay. You are to provide us any and all information in a truthful manner.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Should I start from the beginning?

[Narrator/Host]

Megan Jackson says that Dontel had badgered her into luring Greg to the funeral home so that Dontel could confront Greg over spilling news of the affair.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

This is the part that I didn't tell the truth on. I went to pick up Greg. He got out of the car, went into Myrtle Beach Funeral Home, and I gave him a couple minutes. As I got out of the car, Chris started coming out the door. And then I said, well, where's Greg? And he said he wouldn't talk to me. He went out the front.

[Narrator/Host]

She says that when she brings Greg back to the funeral home, she just sort of sends him in on his own and then never sees him again. That Dontel told her he had simply walked off in anger, and that was it.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

When did you learn that Greg was dead?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

After you showed me the body.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Chris never told you?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Not until several weeks after.

[Narrator/Host]

They both claim to be not really knowing how Greg was killed or when he was killed. They're both saying I didn't have anything to do with it. But there's enough that maybe you should think the other person did it.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Did you shoot Greg, Russ?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

No.

[Investigator/Reporter]

No.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Were you present when Greg Rice was killed?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

No.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Part of your agreement that you have is that you're consenting to a polygraph.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Mm. What this case, I think eventually just.

[Narrator/Host]

Turned into is finger pointing. And, you know, she failed the polygraph. We were trying to get one of the defendants to testify against the other. We met with Megan Jackson, and it never got to the point where we believed we could ethically put her on the stand. We are putting up someone who is going to lie. And we said, okay. Well, we listed them both for trial.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

A judge decided that the two trials.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Had to be split.

[Narrator/Host]

Megan Jackson's attorney's got a continuance. So we said, fine. We'll go forward with Christopher Dontel. We had a pretty rock solid case for accessory after the. He was on the tape at Lowe's buying the body dump kit. So we made the decision to go forward on both charges of murder and the accessory after the fact to murder.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Chris did not go to trial until about four years after the crimes were committed.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

We're gonna go ahead and end this trial.

[Narrator/Host]

We had picked a jury. I was actually doing the opening statement, and I was halfway out of my chair when Christopher Dontell's attorney stood up.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

And the defense attorney says, judge, we've.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Got a matter we need to approach.

[Narrator/Host]

Christopher Dontel's attorney said he'd like to plead guilty. We immediately hit pause for the trial. What in the world is going on? What's he trying to do here.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

The major turn of events just two.

[Narrator/Host]

Days into the murder trial for former horry county deputy coroner Chris Dontel.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

It was a really big deal. I mean, reporters were ready for a week of trial. All right, hold on.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

We're just gonna put a microphone on you.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

And then all of a sudden, he just pleads guilty. For him to do that was quite shocking. But at the same time, he did not plead guilty to murder. He pled to accessory after the fact and conspiracy to commit murder.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Hello, Chris.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Hello.

[Investigator/Reporter]

I'm John. I'm getting you on this. Why is it so important for you to speak with me today?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

The most important reason is so that the Rice family can get closure. The first day I met with my lawyer, when I told her that I would plead to whatever I'm guilty of if I can help bring closure to those kids. And I've never even hurt someone, let alone murdered someone.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

As soon as he entered the plea.

[Narrator/Host]

We sat down with the prosecutors and told them the story with the actual.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Missing people that he was able to fill in for them after he took the plea. Chris says that he will testify against Megan Jackson in her trial.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I'm afraid of her because I watched her kill the father of her kid.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I actually found out about Chris's plea, and that's when I called and I said that I wanted to testify against my mom. I asked her, what do you mean?

[Investigator/Reporter]

And she just wouldn't say anything. June 2025. All eyes are now on the Horry county courthouse, where Megan Jackson's trial begins five years after the murder of the father of Greg Rice.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

This case was a big deal. There was a lot of media buzz. A trial is currently underway for a woman charged in the 2020 murder of a 46 year old man. Mary Ellen Walter and Lee Waller are the prosecutors in the case. Mary Ellen is known to be a bulldog trial attorney.

[Narrator/Host]

I don't see how it's not relevant, quite frankly.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

And Lee is also a very hardworking prosecutor.

[Narrator/Host]

It's the story of an affair, a pregnancy, and a murder. There's one person at the center of everything, and that person is Megan Judd. She may look meek and mild, but she is a master manipulator. She was literally in the business of death. Megan Jackson was represented by the Britton family. Tommy Britton, the father and then case, and Preston Britton, his sons. I'd like to see a murder weapon.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Don't have it.

[Narrator/Host]

Don't have any eyewitness testimony.

[Investigator/Reporter]

I don't have any of that direct evidence. The stuff that A murder case should have the very first witness for the prosecution, Megan Jackson's own teenaged daughter, Savannah Rice.

[Narrator/Host]

We felt it important to open with Savannah, because anytime you have a child testifying against their parent, that sends a strong message. And, Savannah, I know you're nervous. I get it.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And how much time had passed since you saw your mom that day in the courtroom?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Almost five years.

[Investigator/Reporter]

What did she look like?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

She just looked hollow. And just having her sit in front of me, it made me uneasy. She had come home drunk one night, and I was in the kitchen, and my sister wasn't. She was. She wasn't behaving. And I told my mom, and she started screaming, and my sister was upstairs. But then she looked at me and she said, I hope what happened to your dad happens to your sister. And I asked Esther, what do you mean?

[Investigator/Reporter]

And she just wouldn't say anything. What would drive a mom to say that about a daughter?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

My mom could be an evil woman.

[Investigator/Reporter]

This is your mother. And then the prosecution's star witness.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Yes.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Chris Dontell, takes the stand to tell the gentleman jury his version of what happened that night.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I drove her van. We drove toward Greg's apartment. I saw Greg on the road, walking. I pulled up a few feet, stopped, and she opened the door, and in one motion, spun out of the seat, pulled a gun out and shot him over and over. Didn't see it coming. Neither did he. We picked him up out of the road and put him on the stretcher that was in the back of her van.

[Investigator/Reporter]

You've transported hundreds of bodies in your life, and now here you are involved in a real life murder.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Correct.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And you drove to the funeral home as if this was just another corpse.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Yeah. My emotions were high, but they handled the body just like would any other body.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

They had all the tools in the world to assist them in this. You know, they had a body transport van. They had a funeral home. They had a cooler.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I made a cremation container, and I put it into the cooler and pushed the stretcher up next to it and started to push Greg in. I went to Lowe's sometime during the day.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Did you realize there were security cameras there?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I did.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Tracking you behind the tire, the cinder block, ratchet straps.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Yeah. Gotta remember, this is not something that I've ever been involved with. I had no plan.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Chris tells the jury that the following night, he heads back here to a place he knows very well, the Myrtle Beach Funeral Home, to dispose of Greg Rice's body.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I waited till it was dark. I unfolded the tarp that I had purchased. I put him in my Explorer. I started out toward the river. I went back to the middle of the bridge, popped the back gate of the explorer. Took about 10 seconds, put them in the water.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Mega's lawyers try to discredit Chris Dontell as dishonest and admitted you have lied.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

To the police throughout this process. Correct.

[Investigator/Reporter]

So what stopped you from going to one of your acquaintances and telling them what happened?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

The fact that your client told me that if I did that, she would kill me. And I had watched her kill the father of her kids, so I believed her.

[Investigator/Reporter]

You were still having sex with Megan Jackson after.

[Narrator/Host]

Correct. For a period.

[Investigator/Reporter]

You could have said what happened, and you didn't. That family suffered for more than four years.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

She had threatened to kill me.

[Investigator/Reporter]

But after she was jailed. She couldn't kill you.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

She kept getting out on bond. I felt like for the last five years that I'd been looking in the barrel of Megan Jackson's gun.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

He made this big cry. Oh, I'm so. I'm afraid of her. Why did he continue to communicate with her? That's a bunch of baloney. That's crazy.

[Narrator/Host]

You know, there's the danger that the jury does not believe everything that Dontel says. So how can we show them that the investigation has corroborated everything he said? And that's where Lieutenant Wells came in.

[Investigator/Reporter]

My name is Benjamin Wells. I do digital forensics and digital extractions on mobile devices.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Erica learns in a really shocking way. Way. That her husband is having an affair through anonymous text messages.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Erica Dontell believe that these anonymous texts were coming from Greg Rice. Through the analysis of her cell phone.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

It was able to be proved that.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Megan Jackson was the actual one sending these to Erica Dantel.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

They were created on her phone. They were all sent by her.

[Investigator/Reporter]

That was the aha moment. Like, wow, she really is trying to, you know, frame Greg. And this is it. Why would she tell you that she's pregnant by your husband?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I think she thought, oh, I'll tell you this. You'll leave him, and then she'd have him. And then that didn't work because I stayed.

[Investigator/Reporter]

When it's the defense's turn, they call no witnesses. Instead, Megan's lawyers point the finger directly at Chris Dontell. In closing arguments.

[Narrator/Host]

The only person that actually has a.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Motive to get rid of Greg Rice is Chris Dante.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

And can you trust him?

[Investigator/Reporter]

Two fates will be sealed as to.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

The charge of murder.

[Investigator/Reporter]

We the jury, and a young woman confronts the demons.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

We will never be able to live a normal life.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Of her past. Is there anything you want to tell your mother? Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back. I understand the jury's reached verdict, is that correct?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Every time a jury deliberates, you wonder how long it's going to take. But I don't think they deliberated that long on this case, truly. As to the charge of murder, we the jury, by unanimous consent, find this defendant guilty.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And then you hear the word guilty. Relief.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah. Also a little bit of heartbreak. It is my mom.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

The woman charged in the 2020 murder.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Of 46 year old Gregory Rice will.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Now spend the rest of her life in prison.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And as for Megan's outstanding charges of child neglect, those charges were dismissed.

[Narrator/Host]

She's doing life in prison. So why put the children through that if we're not going to gain anything?

[Investigator/Reporter]

A month later, it's now Chris Dontell's turn to be sentenced.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

How are you feeling?

[Investigator/Reporter]

What do you think will happen?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I just hope that he gets the time. I need a deserves. He hugged me as I cried and begged for my dad to come back. He told me it would be okay and that we would find my dad. He didn't tell me that we would find him dead.

[Investigator/Reporter]

His wife hoping Chris will walk out free on time served.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Megan Jackson infiltrated all areas of our lives and became the literal Antichrist to our family.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

To simply keep saying I'm sorry just doesn't feel right. And I don't know that I can effectively articulate the depth of the combination of love, pain, regret, and compassion I feel for those kids and for everyone who loved Greg.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Christopher Dontell ended up being sentenced to 15 years for accessory after the fact and another five years for conspiracy. And for those to run consecutive, your.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Reaction to what happened in court?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Obviously, I'm not happy about it. I was sentenced to the maximum.

[Investigator/Reporter]

If you could talk to Megan, what would you say to her?

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

I have nothing to say to her. There's a lot of victims in this case. Gregory Rice and his family, my family.

[Investigator/Reporter]

And you, I believe. So with that 20 year sentence, Chris wife Erica needs to have a long delayed conversation with her two young children.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

They thought that he was away for work and so I told them that he was in fact in jail. That's where he had been. And then just kind of explained the story the best I could.

[Investigator/Reporter]

I spoke with Megan on the phone and she told me that she did not shoot Greg Rice, the father of her children. She denies those child abuse allegations, saying that she loves her children very much. And in a letter to 2020, Megan writes, Chris Dontell is A liar. What he said on the stand is a lie. Is there anything you would want to tell your mother or ask your mom?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

I just want her to tell me why she did what she did and to tell her that I hate her.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Because that's a strong word. Hate.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Yeah. I hate that woman. I hate her.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Greg and megan's youngest children are now being raised by their older half brother zach, Greg's son from a previous relationship, while savannah lives on her own in Ohio. But recently, savannah found herself back on the shores of myrtle beach where she still has her fond memories of surfing with her dad and his best friend ryan.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

This was a board that I had designed to surf with Greg, and I'd like to give it to Sam so she can at least use it and enjoy it.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Your dad, what would you tell him?

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

That I love him. And that I want him to know that, like, I'm okay. There was a point in time living in that house where I thought I was never gonna get out. No matter how hard and horrible your environment can be, you can always make it out and you can turn your life around and be the person that you want.

[Investigator/Reporter]

I think he would be very proud of you.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

Thank you.

[Narrator/Host]

Such a brave young woman. Savannah's brother has filed a civil wrongful death suit against those responsible for killing their father, Greg rice.

[Investigator/Reporter]

Greg rice's ex, Megan jackson, is appealing her murder conviction.

[Narrator/Host]

That's our program for tonight.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Thanks for watching. I'm david yore.

[Narrator/Host]

And I'm deborah Roberts. From all of us here at 2020 and ABC News, good night.

[Investigator/Reporter]

I'm john quinones. Vanessa Guillen, a 20 year old soldier vanishes while on duty at an army base in texas. Her family demands answers.

[Savannah Rice (Daughter of Greg Rice)]

How can she go missing on a military base? That's too ridiculous.

[Investigator/Reporter]

The search goes on for months.

[Detective/Chris Dontel]

Where is vanessa?

[Investigator/Reporter]

And a dark story starts to unfold.

[Narrator/Host]

She told her family that she was being sexually harassed and wasn't reporting it out of fear of retribution and retaliation.

[Investigator/Reporter]

What investigators finally uncover is horrifying. Find out how one soldier, a beloved sister and daughter ignited a movie movement and sparked a reckoning in the u. S. Military. Listen to vanished what happened to vanessa? A new series from ABC Audio in 2020. Listen now, wherever you get your podcast.