True Crime Vault: Finding Kelsie

Summary

20/20 True Crime Vault: "Finding Kelsie"

Podcast: 20/20 (ABC News)
Episode Date: December 2, 2025
Episode Length: ~84 minutes

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Main Theme / Purpose

The episode delivers an in-depth, emotional investigation into the disappearance and presumed murder of 21-year-old Kelsey Schelling, who went missing from Pueblo, Colorado in 2013 while eight weeks pregnant. Through first-hand interviews, extensive reporting, and a detailed look at law enforcement’s investigation and subsequent trial, the episode explores how Kelsey’s family—especially her mother, Laura Saxton—pushed for justice over nearly a decade. The search for truth is complicated by false leads, internet scams, and the absence of Kelsey's body, culminating in the trial and conviction of her ex-boyfriend, Dante Lucas.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Kelsey Schelling’s Background and Early Life

• Kelsey grew up in Holyoke, Colorado – a small, safe, agricultural community.
• She was described as feisty, persistent, and loved sports, particularly basketball.
• "She taught me perseverance." (Friend, 07:19)
• Family was shaken when her parents divorced, leading Kelsey to struggle emotionally and become withdrawn. She survived a suicide attempt in her teens, but eventually rebuilt her life to become prom queen and pursued a psychology degree with hopes of working with children. (04:33–07:29)

2. Her Relationship with Dante Lucas

• Kelsey met Dante at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling, Colorado. Dante was a star athlete, quiet but popular in Pueblo.
• Their relationship was tumultuous: Dante was often uninterested and would use Kelsey’s resources (car, money, apartment).
• "She kind of always took attraction to people that needed help..." (Narrator, 12:11)
• Despite the rocky relationship and warnings from friends and family, Kelsey continued to hope Dante would change, especially upon learning she was pregnant.
• "He was not committed to her by any means." (Roommate, 12:01)

3. Disappearance Timeline and Investigation

• February 2013: Kelsey, eight weeks pregnant, drives from Denver to Pueblo to see Dante after he alludes to a "surprise". She texts her arrival at 10:20pm and waits hours. The last confirmed text from Kelsey is at 11:18pm ("where are you? I've been here for over an hour, just waiting." - 20:06).
• The next day, Kelsey’s friends and family receive short, uncharacteristic texts supposedly from her, raising concerns. By Saturday, the family contacts Denver police.
• "Friends and family would get text replies back, but they said that it came in a voice that just didn't quite sound like Kelsey." (21:23)
• Police interrogation of Dante reveals numerous inconsistencies: he denied having a romantic relationship, claimed Kelsey had spent the night in her car, took her to a hospital (which has no record of her), and was caught on video driving and using Kelsey’s bank card after her disappearance. (25:36–32:44)

4. The Search for Kelsey and the Family’s Frustration

• The police initially treated it as a missing person's case, not a criminal one, due to lack of a body and limited evidence, frustrating the family.
• "We just want an effective investigation done into Kelsey's disappearance." (36:21)
• Laura Saxton spearheaded massive search efforts and community events, maintained a high-profile "Help Find Kelsey" Facebook page, and offered a $50,000 reward.
• Despite hundreds of leads and searches, Kelsey’s body was never found.
• "It's becoming harder to come back. I dread the trips, but I know I have to do it. She comes home empty handed. The one thing that she doesn't have is Kelsey." (38:06)

5. Internet Scams and False Hope

• Two years after the disappearance, Laura received an anonymous message claiming Kelsey was alive and sold into sex trafficking. A scammer demanded $50,000 to "rescue her", orchestrated through a McDonald's in Vancouver, WA with a courier in a red hat ("Marcus").
• ABC News and 20/20 set up a sting operation revealing the scam’s ties to a Russian IP address; the supposed ‘Marcus’ was just an unwitting intermediary.
• "Definitely a big scam. I want to know who's behind it." (50:43)

6. Community Undercover Operations and Breakthroughs

• Lauren Shore, a Pueblo local, befriended Dante on Facebook, met him in person, and entered a romantic relationship to gain insights. Dante eventually admitted to her that he was the man in the Walmart surveillance video seen moving Kelsey's car.
• This confession became a crucial piece of evidence when the investigation ramped up in 2016, after Colorado Bureau of Investigation joined and reclassified the case as a homicide.
• "She confirmed for us Dante admitted it was him in the Walmart surveillance video." (57:05)

7. The Arrest, Prosecution, and Trial of Dante Lucas

• Lucas was finally arrested in late 2017 (initially on other charges, as he attempted to flee the state).
• His confession to police and Lauren’s corroborating testimony tied him to moving Kelsey’s car after her disappearance.

Trial Highlights

• Circumstantial Evidence: Heavily reliant on text messages, surveillance, Dante’s lies/inconsistencies, phone pings, and critical witness testimony, as no body or murder weapon was found.
• "This is not a missing person's case, this is a homicide case." (Prosecution Opening, 61:20)
• Defense: Argued it was still a missing person case, emphasized lack of direct evidence.
• Witnesses: Included Kelsey’s family and friends (highlighting her desire to be a mom and relationship abuse), a jailhouse informant ("they're never going to find Kelsey Schelling's body." – 64:09), and Dante’s own mother.
• Tragedy struck when another key witness, Roxanne Martinez, was shot and killed before she could testify—though police ultimately found no connection to the trial. (68:21–70:10)

Jury Deliberation & Verdict

• After just three hours, the jury returned a rapid verdict of guilty on first-degree murder. Lucas was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
• The Schelling family experienced some relief at justice, but sorrow at not recovering Kelsey’s remains.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Kelsey’s Disappearance:
  • "I knew once her car was found that something horrible had happened because there's just no way that she would have gone somewhere and left her car." (Narrator, 30:02)
• On Community Support and the Family’s Perseverance:
  • "We appreciate you all so much. Your support keeps us going to put pressure on our system to do something here. We're gonna keep going." (41:51)
• On Investigative Frustration:
  • "The investigation really isn't being handled properly. Laura Saxton always been a fierce advocate for her daughter, and I don't think she'll rest until Kelsey is found." (37:19)
• On the Internet Scam:
  • "The emailer says he needs money to help Kelsey escape. $50,000 in cash...I just thought, what if she's been out there and I could have found her and we haven't?" (45:09)
• On Dante’s Arrest and Confession:
  • "Dante finally breaks down and comes clean, confirming Lauren Shore's account that he was the one seen in that Walmart video." (58:49)
• On Trial & Verdict:
  • "The words came out way too slow. Like, I feel like the judge was talking in slow mo, even though he wasn't...And then he finally got to, you know, guilty of first degree. And I think that was the first breath like, I had taken in a long time." (75:47)
• On Aftermath and Lingering Loss:
  • "But in the end, I didn't get Kelsey back, and that's what I wanted more than anything. So I feel like I didn't do some. I didn't push hard enough..." (79:36)
  • "Without getting her back and so I still have nowhere to go to take her flowers, to go sit and talk with her, take her balloons on her birthday, you know, go to see her on the holiday." (82:37)
• Remembering Kelsey:
  • "A little girl with a really big heart, a really big smile, a really big laugh, beautiful eyes. Silly. She was so silly. I miss being silly with her." (83:04)

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Timestamps of Important Segments

• Kelsey’s Early Life and Character: 03:27–07:29
• Meeting Dante Lucas and Relationship Troubles: 08:09–15:35
• Timeline and Oddities Around Disappearance: 16:41–22:30
• Police Interrogation of Dante and Investigation: 25:36–34:23
• Family-Led Search, Frustration with Police Response: 36:21–41:30
• Online Scam/Sting Operation: 44:09–51:06
• Undercover Undercover Girlfriend (Lauren Shore): 52:24–55:45
• Break in Case, Reclassification as Homicide: 56:07–58:41
• Arrest and Critical Confession by Dante: 58:49–59:45
• Trial (Testimony, Evidence, Key Witness Death): 60:02–70:33
• Jury Verdict, Emotional Aftermath: 74:13–80:02
• Speculation on Remains and Final Reflections: 81:19–83:55

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Tone and Atmosphere

The episode maintains a respectful, empathetic, and often deeply emotional tone. The voices of family, friends, and reporters convey mourning, frustration, determination, and occasional hope. The reporting blends meticulous investigative detail with the raw humanity of loss, advocating for both justice and healing.

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Summary

"Finding Kelsie" chronicles the eight-year fight for answers undertaken by a bereaved mother, an entire community, and dedicated investigators. Kelsey Schelling’s disappearance is reconstructed moment by moment, with the podcast unraveling relationship dynamics, investigative pitfalls, false hopes, and incremental breakthroughs. Ultimately, despite no physical remains being found, relentless pressure and key evidence led to a conviction. Yet, the episode closes with a poignant reminder: for families like the Schellings, true closure remains elusive as long as their loved one's final resting place is unknown.

Transcript

[Narrator/Host]

This show is supported by Hot and Deadly, a podcast from I. D. Hot and Deadly brings you American true crime that is often stranger than fiction. Every week, dive into shocking stories of murder and betrayal. From IRS impersonators in Kentucky to a South Carolina businessman deceived by those closest to him. You'll hear firsthand accounts from investigators, witnesses, and family members, and as they share.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

The chilling details behind each case.

[Narrator/Host]

If you love true crime with a southern twist, you're going to want to check this one out. Follow Hot and Deadly so you never miss an episode. This is the 2020 True Crime Vault.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

It was like, maybe she'll call. Maybe she was out there, you know, A pregnant woman who vanished.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

I did have a sinking feeling in my stomach.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

Almost two years after Kelsey's disappearance, a mysterious message giving everyone hope comes through that help find Kelsey Facebook page.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Holyoke is around two and a half to three hours away from Denver.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

In the early 90s, Kelsey's parents, Doug and Laura, owned the local grocery store in Holyoke. Kelsey and her brother Colby seemed to be living out the American dream. I first met Laura saxton back in 2016, when 2020 was first looking into Kelsey's story.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

You know, she's just always been a little firecracker. Hi, Kel. Hi, Cocoa Bean.

[Narrator/Host]

Kelsey. Kel.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

I was her coach. Yeah, here she is right here. Wow. She's a point guard. Mm.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Going through a divorce is really hard as a kid.

[Narrator/Host]

Yeah. The split of our parents certainly had an impact on both of us.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Colby.

[Narrator/Host]

Colby lived with me and Kelsey lived with her mom. It was a real dark time for the whole family.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

She was in a coma.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

You know, Kelsey taught me. She taught me perseverance.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

I refuse to brag. Push your foe to win no matter what it takes.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

He had dreams of making it big in the anti.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

When did you first meet him?

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Mostly it was financial reasons.

[Narrator/Host]

Where did she go from there?

[Interviewer/Reporter]

That's when she moved back to Colorado. Was living in Denver in her dad's apartment, and she had started working at floor and decor.

[Narrator/Host]

When did she start going out with Dante again?

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

How in the world did they get back together?

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

Did she tell you anything about Dante's reaction?

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

For her. Kelsey texts Dante. You were my best friend. The only thing I lived for day after day, what happened to us, it wasn't supposed to be like this one.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Kelsey gets a text from Dante, and he says that he has something for her. He alludes to a surprise and he wants her to come to Pueblo. Kelsey had come home. When she was here, she slept a lot. I knew it was hard on her working full time in Denver now with the new pregnancy, she was really tired. I said, I will support you whether Dante is in the picture or not in the picture. It's going to be okay. She was happy. She wanted that baby. She wanted to be a mom.

[Narrator/Host]

She was in a good yes.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

So I'm thankful for those couple of days that we got before she went missing.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

What did you think when you saw the baby?

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Kelsey decides to go down to Pueblo after work.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

So Denver to Pueblo blow. Drive right down I25. It's about two hours long. It's just one straight path. Not a lot of people are out on the roads. It is a lonely, quiet drive. While she's driving down to Pueblo, Dante sends her a text saying, let's meet at the south side Walmart. She parks her car there.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

At 11:10pm he still hadn't shown up to the Walmart.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

The last confirmed message from Kelsey was sent at 11.18pm she was asking Dante, where are you? I've been here for over an hour, just waiting.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Then on that Saturday morning, it's like the whole world just unraveled. All of her friends, like, started contacting us, saying, you know, we been trying to reach Kelsey, and we can't reach her. I called Doug, her dad, and said, you know, something is wrong. And so then we all drove up to Denver that day, went into the apartment. There was no sign of her in the apartment. And that's when we called the Denver police.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Nothing? No, not worked up, not, you know, just.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

No, he just says, if I hear from her, I'll let you know. And then a little bit later, he got back with me. He said, I heard from Kelsey. She called from a private number. She said she doesn't have her phone. And she said, she'll be getting ahold.

[Narrator/Host]

Of you, intimating that she's alive. She's out there.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

During the course of the interrogation with Dante Lucas, he reveals some pretty shocking things about Kelsey and about the baby. Think your lashes have hit their limit? Discover limitless length and full volume with Maybelline's Sky High mascara. The Flex Tower brush bends to volumize and extend every single lash from root to tip. And the lightweight bamboo infused formula makes lashes feel weightless. Now in eight bold shades so you can take your lashes to new heights every day. Visit maybelline.com to shop Sky High mascara now. Havlas Espanol Sprito. Joyce, come to NoSQ. If you used Babbel, you would. Babble's conversation based techniques teaches you useful words and phrases to get you speaking quickly about the things you actually talk.

[Narrator/Host]

About in the real world.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

With lessons handcrafted by over 200 language experts and voiced by real native speakers, Babbel is like having a private tutor in your pocket. Start speaking with Babbel today. Get up to 55% off your Babbel subscription right now at Babbel.com Spotify spelled B A B-B-E-L.com Spotify rules and restrictions may apply.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Kelsey was eight weeks pregnant, last seen in Pueblo visiting her boyfriend Dante Lucas, who.

[Narrator/Host]

So when do you start talking to Dante Lucas? We start talking to him fairly quickly as far as what is going on. Police bring Dante in for questioning and immediately he denies a romantic relationship with Kelsey. Now, she your girlfriend or. No, we never were actually in a relationship. Can you kind of tell me just briefly what, what happened? She came down to Pueblo and we're talking whatever. No, we ended up. She ended up, you know, getting mad at me or whatever. Dante tells Officer Robinson that Kelsey slept in her car in Pueblo. He said that they met up again the following morning and that he brought Kelsey Schelling to Parkview Medical center where she went inside. So went to Parkview and she went in, say, for about almost two hours out of 45, too.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

The car sat there overnight.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

She had, like, bad anxiety. She was anxiety type. So she had clothes for that. Okay, tell me about that. She's told me before that, like, she's ended up in, like, the hospital a few times from, like, overdosing.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

I guess.

[Narrator/Host]

Dante cast her to police as someone who had troubles with drugs.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

No, no, I don't believe that. No.

[Narrator/Host]

Just one time, she's talking about suicide in the hospital.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Died like multiple times when she was 15 years old. She did. So, yes, she has had that in her past. But if she committed suicide, you would find her body. I mean, she was happy. She wanted that baby. She wanted to be a mom. So at this point, Kelsey has been missing for more than a week. But on Valentine's Day, February 14, 2013. Her car is discovered. The car of a missing Denver woman has been found in. Detectives will be examining Kelsey's car. It was big news when Kelsey's car was found at St. Mary Corwin Medical Center. How did it get there? What happened to Kelsey? I knew once her car was found that something horrible had happened because there's just no way that she would have gone somewhere and left her car.

[Narrator/Host]

You find a car and no Kelsey and no Kelsey. We did not have any good security footage that could tell us who dropped off the car, how the car got there. Normally, if someone was going to go away for a few days, they take their car with them. So we are now leaning towards foul play. So we accelerate the case.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

But is it suspicious for you that he uses that card after the date where you pinpoint Kelsey was missing? It is part of the suspicious activity, yes. Because Dante withdraws money from Kelsey's account without her in the car. Dante is brought in for a second time by Pueblo police. This is the second time I talked to you. These detectives had a wealth of information to go at him. Why'd you get the money? The money? 11:39 at the bank. You're on video, dude. In her car with her credit card. You're on tape. The 400. What are you talking about? This is for my phone bill. Why didn't she go with you to the interview? It's not in the car. It's on the vehicle. It may have been while she was in the hospital. I'm honestly, I'm not sure about the. Like I said, look, my time frame has been messed up. The detective moves on to another topic, talking about why there's no record of Kelsey ever showing up at the hospital. There's no record of her ever being at Parkview. That's, like, all I have to say. Now. Here's the thing. Instead of pressing Dante on these contradictions, they move on to an unrelated topic. When you dropped her off, when she dropped you off at Walmart, where were you parked at? I mean, like, apparently you guys know. So, like, I don't understand why you. Like, I told him on time. Like, I don't. That's all I can say about it. She dropped you off. What was that? Again, can I speak to a lawyer, please? He does keep asking the same questions over and over. Like speaks over once he requests a lawyer, all questions come to a halt. Unfortunately, this is a very poorly executed interview. I think it's a tremendous missed opportunity. Once he shut down, our avenues of trying to talk to him. End. How did you read that as the possibility that he knows something.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

Do we suspect foul play? Yes. Have we come up with a body? No. Dante is a person of interest in the fact that she's missing. Hoping to get Dante to talk, police bring in the person who knows him better than anyone. Mysterious disappearance and the disappearance of Kelsey Schelling missing pregnant woman and her unborn baby.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

I will relay that to his lawyer. And I know my son wants nothing more than to find out what happened to her.

[Narrator/Host]

Detectives ask her about February 5th. That's the day that Dante was seen on surveillance camera parking Kelsey's car at Walmart. Did you impact Dante up? I did pick my son out at that time. Did you see Kelsey? Was she with him or no, she wasn't with him. Do you know where she was? Sarah gives Dante an alibi for his whereabouts on February 6th. When that unknown man is seen moving Kelsey's car from the Walmart on the 6th. Dante or somebody that looks remarkably similar to Dante. I'm not gonna say 100%, but went back and picked it up. There's no way that was him. There was no way he was at home.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

But it's been three years since this case happened. No one's been charged. That's right. You have inconsistencies, lies. But without a body or any direct evidence that tells us something happened to her, to a homicide, you know, it may happen one day. But right now, we haven't had any evidence to reclassify it.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

Her family is pleading for your help.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

We're doing everything in our power to.

[Narrator/Host]

Find our missing loved one.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

We tried to push pueblo police for answers. We were there for every press conference, every event. We just weren't getting any new information from them at all. And to me, that was so frustrating. The investigation really isn't being handled properly. Laura saxton always been a fierce advocate for her daughter, and I don't think she'll rest until Kelsey is found.

[Narrator/Host]

Many in pueblo are not giving up on finding clues that could help find Kelsey schelling. Why do you think people feel so strongly about Kelsey's case?

[Interviewer/Reporter]

You know, they can't believe it. You know, they try and imagine, what if it was their child?

[Narrator/Host]

We're gonna break up again over here.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

Come on, kid.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

That turned into justice walks. What do we want around the Pueblo police department and the district attorney's office? We appreciate you all so much. Your support keeps us going to put pressure on our system to do something here. We're gonna keep going. We're gonna keep coming up with ideas. I mean, we're trying everything.

[Narrator/Host]

Kelsey's family offers a $50,000 reward for information. So you feel like you're doing everything you can, even to this day, to find out what happened with Kelsey.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Yes.

[Narrator/Host]

There is no lead. We don't follow up. We followed up leads from sites. Well, they've had a vision on where Kelsey is. And we followed up those leads in.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

You get a Facebook message.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

We were on the ground to investigate, and I couldn't believe what happened. Right when they're at the trunk. Get ready. It's Ryan Smith, ABC News.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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[Narrator/Host]

When it falls. They were meeting in a parking lot.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Dante sends her a text saying, let's meet at the south side Walmart. And she parks her car there. The car sat There overnight, this unknown man is seen walking to Kelsey Schelling's car and is seen driving away with the car.

[Narrator/Host]

And Kelsey's just gone.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Kelsey had taken three home pregnancy tests.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

These are the stories that keep us up at night.

[Narrator/Host]

But an undercover volunteer befriends him.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

Okay, they're both raw now there's a stink operation right when they're at the trunk. Get ready. We're about 10 seconds away. Marcus. Ryan Smith, ABC News. How you doing?

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

The anxiety level was high. The tension was high.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

The witness in the Dante Lucas trial.

[Narrator/Host]

Was found shot to death. Another moment where your jaw hit the floor.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

Her mother simply, I won't give up on finding Kelsey. For nearly 22 years, Laura Saxton had been on a desperate search for answers about her daughter Kelsey, who suddenly disappeared in February of 2013. There will be a renewed search for clues in the case of Kelsey Schelling. Just through seeing Laura Saxton, the tears, the sadness, the frustration, it all came, you know, rolling out. Many of Pueblo are not giving up on finding clues that could help find Kelsey Schelling. The relentlessness of this mother's search really struck a chord with so many people in Pueblo. Scores of locals turned out to help Laura search all around the Pueblo area for any trace of Kelsey. Over here on this other hike and two more groups.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

Is it hard to keep hope as.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Far as the hope of actually finding her? That dwindles, you know, every day.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

What?

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Yes.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

But just before the appointed time, the Vancouver police back out, believing it to be an internal scam and not an actual human trafficking plot. But 2020 had the McDonald's under surveillance to see if anyone would show up. Our cameras are rolling as a man with a red hat comes in. That's him. He sits quietly, but after no one shows up, he takes off. Okay, Don, move. Cut the engine.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Weird. Eerie to see that they actually were, you know, going through with this.

[Narrator/Host]

He's gone.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

It was just all a matter of trying to get down to the truth of this.

[Narrator/Host]

As I was investigating this mysterious email, a contact of mine told me about another missing woman's case that proved to be the key to unraveling this mystery. In Portsmouth, Ohio, 1200 miles away from Colorado, Megan Lancaster, 25 years old, has also suddenly disappeared. Katie Lancaster is on a mission to help find her sister in law.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

And then, out of nowhere, he pops up.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

What if he really does have a. And I can bring her home.

[Narrator/Host]

You should stick with the crew behind the camera. With the crew to unravel just what's going on with this mystery. Katie agreed to work with 2020 to set up a sting operation. Katie and I are going to be in one vehicle, just like Laura did two weeks earlier. She arranges a meeting to drop off the money in vancouver at that McDonald's. There are booths over here. Katie, you said this morning that they sent you a text message.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

They will be sending Marcus.

[Narrator/Host]

Okay, they're both rolling now. I would be going to this rendezvous with Katie, but wearing a hidden camera. As we walk into the McDonald's at the appointed me time, we quickly spot Marcus, the man in the red hat, and walk over to him. Katie was instructed not to ask any questions, so I told Marcus, hey, the money is in the trunk of a car parked outside. Right. When they're at the trunk, get ready. We're about 10 seconds away. Meanwhile, I was waiting outside with our camera team and a security guard in case this thing went sideways. Okay, let's get ready. As they head out to the parking lot, before the trunk is open, I walk over to Marcus. I want to get some answers. Marcus. Ryan Smith, ABC News. How you doing? Pretty good. Good. Why'd you come here? To take $25,000 from Katie? I don't know. You don't know why you're here? To take $25,000 from Katie?

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Nope.

[Narrator/Host]

What are you here for? Oh, cause to collect some money. You see, Marcus claims he was suckered, too. Lured online into a supposed jewelry venture. He says he was supposed to pick up the money and then wire it to someone he's never met. So a random guy tells you to go to McDonald's twice in less than two weeks to meet people to pick up money, and you don't think anything of it? I didn't think none of it. We were told that you were gonna deliver Megan to Katie today. Is that true? I have no idea about no Megan or no kidnapping or anything like that. This would be a scheme to extort money from families who have family members that are missing. I didn't know nothing of this. I had no clue anybody was supposed to be exchanging nothing for a Human being. If I did know, I would not have been involved in this situation. So you've been here twice coming to pick up money at a McDonald's. Your name is attached to this.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

I just feel shaky inside.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

But an FBI analysis of the emailer's face Facebook page showed it used an IP address traced all the way to Russia. In most scams, they're compartmentalized, so the.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Person you may send to pick up.

[Narrator/Host]

The cash at a particular location may know nothing about what the scam is.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

I knew that I was potentially putting myself into danger.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

Yes, Dante Lucas. I'm with ABC News, 2020. The family of Kelsey says you're responsible for her disappearance. Is that true? Who's Kelsey?

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

I wasn't happy at all with how things were going. And, I mean, that's one big reason why I wanted to do the first story with you guys was I was hoping that that would somehow Bring something out into the light. Tonight on 2021. When do you stop looking for a.

[Narrator/Host]

Pregnant daughter who's vanished? In May of 2016, our first 2020 program on the Kelsey Schelling case hits the airwaves. The very day of our broadcast, there's a big announcement regarding the investigation into Kelsey's disappearance. The Colorado bureau of investigation was going to join the case.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

That was news to me. So I was kind of like, oh, my God, this is awesome. I think once that 2020 special aired, it really turned up the heat on Pueblo police and on this case.

[Narrator/Host]

Taking over the case, Pueblo police department commander Eric Bravo and CBI agent Kevin Torres. Working together, they move fast, turning it from a missing person's case into a full blown criminal investigation. It was a homicide investigation in our eyes. So I immediately started working on. On setting a plan into motion, how we wanted to proceed. Police got a tip that led them.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

To believe Schelling's body might be in Dante's backyard.

[Narrator/Host]

It's not long before police dig up the yard of the house where Dante and his family have been staying. So we thought, man, you know, we really have something. But it went from elation to dissatisfaction. You know, that day it just seemed like we were there, and then it slipped away. During the investigation, Agent Torres finds out about Dante's relationship with Lawrence Shore. When he interviews Shore, she reveals that Dante had made a key admission to her about Kelsey's disappearance. And it's about that Walmart surveillance video of the mystery man walking over to her car and then driving off with it. She confirmed for us Dante admitting it was him in the Walmart surveillance video. She also informed us that Dante admitted to her her dropping Kelsey's car off at St. Mary Corpsman Hospital. The piece of information that Lauren provided to us was a pretty crucial piece at that point. Then in late 2017, there's a huge development that will totally transform the case. A Pueblo man tells police that Dante and other family members had attacked him in front of their home and stolen 1,000 bucks from him. Now that gives police a reason to arrest Dante. I had information that Dante was leaving Pueblo and was heading to DIA, where he seemingly intended to board a flight to Tucson. And the concern was that he may take other efforts to meet friends in Mexico. Boy, the anxiety level was high. The tension was high. The time was ticking away, and the tires were turning on the road. And Dante was within 20 minutes of getting on a plane for Tucson, Arizona, when he was arrested.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

The ex boyfriend of a pregnant Denver woman who went missing four years ago. He now faces charges of first degree murder.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

The prosecution simply started out and they said, this is not a missing person's case. This is a homicide case.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

The prosecution painted a picture of a troubled relationship.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

I know that my testimony could potentially.

[Narrator/Host]

Help take him down and the ones who didn't. Witness 31 year old Roxanne Martinez was found shot to death. That was a completely unforeseen development in this case.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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Breaking on Denver.

[Narrator/Host]

7, a key witness in the Kelsey Schelling murder trial found dead. That witness, 31 year old Roxanne Martinez, was found shot to death in Denver last week.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

That was just an absolutely, completely unforeseen development in this case. People were reeling when that news broke. Denver police officers were called to a residential area in southeast Denver on a report of an unresponsive demon who was lying in the roadway. We determined that that individual had been shot one time and died from that injury. Her dad is in shock, her mom, her stepmom. It's just tragic all the way around. I think when a witness in any major case turns up dead directly before they're set to testify, I think of course people are going to think was she killed because she was going to test Denver police arrested a suspect in Martinez's killing, 29 year old Emmanuel Chandler. Chandler has been charged with first degree murder, but he hasn't entered a plea yet. We don't have any connection between Mr. Chandler and Mr. Lucas or anybody associated with that trial. Our concern was to make sure that people understood that while she was an endorsed witness, I couldn't comment on her testimony. Testimony, nobody knows what Roxanne Martinez was going to say on the stand for sure, with the exception of maybe the investigators who talked to her. But while prosecutors say they can't discuss what Roxanne Martinez would have said on the stand, 2020 has uncovered some revealing details about her. You see, back In March of 2016, a woman named Roxanne had reached out to Laura Saxton through that Help Find Kelsey Facebook page. Roxanne messaged that she used to date the guy Kelsey was pregnant with. And he told me what had happened and started crying.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

I think everybody was just, like, holding their breath.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

People were wondering, does that mean Dante Lucas is going to walk? I think everybody was just, like, holding their breath almost.

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Ideas where she may rest if that's where she is. That's just, like, the worst possibility to me.

[Narrator/Host]

That very first day that we met In September of 2016, I'll never forget it like it was yesterday. And it was just a special bond that we. Kelsey's mom just battled and battled and battled eight years. I was hoping that it would never take this long. I grabbed my mother very tight and held her very close, hold onto my dad's hands.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

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

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

No one. We want to bring her justice and bring her home with us. Her and Kadri both. Kadri, that was the name that she was going to give the child. I'm never going to recover.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

Without getting her back and so I still have nowhere to go to take her flowers, to go sit and talk with her, take her balloons on her birthday, you know, go to see her on the holiday.

[Narrator/Host]

How do you want her to be remembered?

[Interviewer/Reporter]

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

[Narrator/Host]

We've been covering this story for more than five years now. And as you can see, the heartbreak never really stops for Kelsey's mom and the entire Schelling family. Thanks for listening to the 2020 True Crime Vault. We hope you'll join us Friday nights at 9 on ABC for all new broadcast episodes.

[Interviewer/Reporter]

See you then.

[Narrator/Host]

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