The Honeymoon is Over: 2

Summary

48 Hours: NCIS – Episode: "The Honeymoon is Over: 2"

Introduction

In the gripping second episode of the premiere season, "The Honeymoon is Over: 2," CBS News' 48 Hours teams up with the iconic NCIS franchise to delve deeper into the tragic disappearance of 19-year-old Marine wife, Erin Corwin. Hosted by CBS News correspondent Natalie Morales, this episode unpacks the intricate web of infidelity, betrayal, and the unforgiving Mojave Desert that led to Erin's untimely death.

Disappearance of Erin Corwin

On June 30, 2014, just two days after Erin Corwin vanished in California’s Joshua Tree National Park, local water department workers in Twentynine Palms stumbled upon her blue Toyota Corolla abandoned in the middle of the desert.

Natalie Morales [01:05]: "The car Erin Corwin was driving the day she went missing."

Initial Investigation

NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr. and his team immediately took charge, examining the scene where Erin’s car was found two miles from the Marine base's back gate—a location that raised immediate suspicions.

Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr. [01:38]: "Aaron Corwin's car was located approximately two miles from the back gate of the military base, and that's still significantly far from Joshua Tree National Park's entrance. But why is a car located close to base?"

During their initial sweep, investigators discovered a second set of tire tracks, indicating that Erin was not alone during her last known movements.

Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr. [02:18]: "Another vehicle seemed to indicate she didn't go wherever she went alone."

Life in Twentynine Palms

Twentynine Palms, a remote desert city over 100 miles from Los Angeles, presented a unique backdrop for the investigation. The city, once bustling with gold miners in the 1800s, now felt more like a vast, empty expanse with minimal amenities.

Natalie Morales [06:21]: "Twentynine Palms, where Erin was last seen, is a remote desert city over 100 miles outside of LA. And it could not be more different."

The Marine Corps training base, encompassing over 1,000 square miles, was a central hub attracting Marines and their families from across the country, creating a transient yet tightly-knit community.

Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr. [08:38]: "Base like this, you're gonna go to the same movie theater, you're gonna go to the same watering hole."

Social Circles and Relationships

Erin Corwin’s life in Twentynine Palms revolved around the Marine base, where she formed friendships with fellow Marine spouses, including Nicole and Chris Lee. Despite the supportive environment, Erin struggled with loneliness and sought solace in friendships outside her immediate circle.

Natalie Morales [12:30]: "When Erin felt lonely in the close-knit crowd, she'd call back home. It was a big adjustment to live away from home and in such close proximity to other young military couples."

Erin’s marriage to John Corwin faced strains shortly after his return from deployment. The couple grappled with the challenges of young marriage, the aftermath of a miscarriage, and John’s growing emotional distance.

Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore [23:57]: "I think that's kind of when things kind of started spiraling."

Key Leads and Findings

As the investigation progressed, NCIS Analyst Ashley de Chalfin highlighted the critical discovery of tire tracks leading away from Erin’s car, ending at a desolate asphalt road. This led investigators to identify a Jeep involved, linked to Chris Lee, Erin’s neighbor and husband of Nicole Lee.

NCIS Analyst Ashley de Chalfin [25:18]: "From that location, where that vehicle was parked and if anybody else was there."

Further probing into Erin’s digital footprint revealed significant text messages with her close friend Jessica (Jesse) Trenton, indicating plans to meet Chris Lee in Joshua Tree National Park.

Paul LaRosa [29:53]: "Christopher Lee was a Marine. That was the next door neighbor of Aaron Corwin at the time. And there were some text messages that involved him and Aaron Corwin."

Critical Insights

Erin’s descent into the turbulent social life of the Marine base, coupled with personal losses and marital issues, painted a picture of a young woman struggling to find her place. Her deep involvement in community events, babysitting for neighbors, and yearning for a family mirrored her inability to escape the mounting pressures and emotional turmoil.

Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore [20:13]: "She was very tenderhearted, very attentive to people like the younger kids at the barn and at church."

The investigation took a pivotal turn when Special Agent Sean Nash from the NCIS Tennessee office unearthed crucial information from Erin’s friend, Jesse, uncovering the connection to Chris Lee.

Special Agent Sean Nash (Paul LaRosa) [27:53]: "Jessica was very concerned about her friend Aaron and was upset. So she was very cooperative and helped us in any way that we needed."

Conclusion and Next Steps

The episode concludes with unanswered questions surrounding Erin’s motives and the nature of her relationship with Chris Lee. The NCIS team remains focused on unraveling the mystery behind Erin's disappearance, setting the stage for deeper investigation in subsequent episodes.

Natalie Morales [30:51]: "About it, you know, because she was a secret. So I could tell her my secrets."

Notable Quotes

• Natalie Morales [01:05]: "The car Erin Corwin was driving the day she went missing."
• Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr. [01:38]: "But why is a car located close to base?"
• NCIS Analyst Ashley de Chalfin [25:18]: "From that location, where that vehicle was parked and if anybody else was there."
• Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore [23:57]: "I think that's kind of when things kind of started spiraling."
• Paul LaRosa [29:53]: "Christopher Lee was a Marine... some text messages involved him and Aaron Corwin."
• Natalie Morales [30:51]: "Because she was a secret. So I could tell her my secrets."

Final Thoughts

"The Honeymoon is Over: 2" masterfully intertwines investigative journalism with dramatic storytelling, offering listeners a comprehensive look into a case filled with emotional depth and procedural complexities. As the NCIS team delves deeper, the layers of Erin Corwin's life and her interactions within the Marine community continue to unfold, promising further revelations in the quest for truth and justice.

Transcript

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[Natalie Morales]

On June 30, 2014, two days after Erin Corwin went missing, workers with the local water department in the desert town of Twentynine Palms showed up to a job by the Marine base. A crew member noticed a car, which was strange. They were in the middle of the Mojave Desert. The car appeared to be abandoned, so they called it in to the police. It was a blue Toyota Corolla, the car Erin Corwin was driving the day she went missing.

[NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr.]

Aaron Corwin's car was located approximately two miles from the back gate of the military base, and that's still significantly far from Joshua Tree National Park's entrance. But why is a car located close to base?

[Natalie Morales]

NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr. And his team tried to make sense of this. Did Erin walk all the way to Joshua Tree to scope out trails for her mom's upcoming visit? They investigated the area, prowled over the sands, and they noticed a second pair of tire tracks.

[NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr.]

Another vehicle seemed to indicate she didn't go wherever she went alone.

[Natalie Morales]

NCIS and San Bernardino authorities followed Erin's shoe prints walking out of her car and into someone else's. And then they followed the tracks of the second vehicle.

[NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr.]

With those tracks ending at the black asphalt road out there, it appeared that.

[Natalie Morales]

The second car drove off into the desert.

[NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr.]

The terrain out there, it's like Mars. I think they did some type of training for the moon mission somewhere in that area.

[Natalie Morales]

NCIS analyst Ashley de Chalfin remembers when they initially Found the car where the.

[NCIS Analyst Ashley de Chalfin]

Vehicle was found was, was a clue because it was not found in an.

[NCIS Analyst]

Area you would think it was a much needed clue.

[NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr.]

But still, it's just a question of where is Erin?

[NCIS Analyst]

In the days after Erin Corwin was reported missing, NCIS and the local police department exhausted all leads. Once they found her car with clear evidence she was with someone else, the search for the 19 year old Marine's wife gathered speed and urgency.

[NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr.]

It was summertime, which gets very hot. It can be very foreboding that there's literally no water available in that area during the day and at night there's nothing to light your way and many dangerous animals that are in that habitat.

[NCIS Analyst]

The harshness of the desert was troubling.

[Natalie Morales]

To say the least.

[NCIS Analyst]

And time was not on NCIS's side.

[NCIS Analyst Ashley de Chalfin]

Between myself, Cliff and our program support, the three of us were back and forth like working long days in and out. And as new leads were developed and information came in, then we just kind of put our heads to the next, the next hurdle or challenge that we needed to overcome.

[NCIS Analyst]

But some challenges were insurmountable. There was still no trace of Erin after 48 hours. And if she was lost in the desert away from her car, it was hard for lor Erin's mom not to think the worst.

[Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore]

When I found out they found her car without her, that's when I knew something had happened. And I really kind of had that mother gut instinct that maybe she was no longer alive.

[NCIS Analyst]

Now it was not just a question of where is Erin. It was also a question of who had been with Erin in the desert.

[Natalie Morales]

I'm CBS News correspondent Natalie morales. This is 48 hours NCIS episode 2 the honeymoon is over.

[NCIS Analyst]

This new information, finding Aaron's car and the second pair of tire tracks in the sand changed everything.

[Natalie Morales]

The authorities needed to go back over what they knew about Erin's life in Twentynine Palms before she went missing. They needed to look at 29 palms as Erin had and retrace her steps in order to identify where she frequented and who she knew. 29 palms, where Erin was last seen, is a remote desert city over 100 miles outside of LA. And it could not be more different. 29 Palms is sleepy and sparse. Route 62 cuts right through its center. There's a casino, a few hotels, a single Starbucks. For a city, there's a lot of blank empty space across its 58 square miles. That's about the same size as Disney.

[NCIS Analyst]

World, but it used to be bustling a long time ago in the 1800s. The area was teeming with gold miners. Legend has it, after a long day's work, they would make their way to the town's main water source, a spring surrounded by 29 palm trees. So when the miners would describe where they had been, they opted for 29 palms. And it stuck.

[Paul LaRosa]

You could drive through it in, you know, I don't know, 15 minutes and maybe less.

[NCIS Analyst]

Here's 48 Hours producer Paul LaRosa, who reported on Aaron's case.

[Paul LaRosa]

It's the desert, you know, and the desert draws its own unique brand of people.

[Natalie Morales]

There are two sides to Twentynine Palms. The side connected to the Marines, which is the majority of the population. And then there's a fraction of folks who are locals with no connection to the base. The two worlds are starkly different, and yet they are constantly colliding.

[Paul LaRosa]

It's kind of funky in its own way. I mean, you'd probably be surprised, and you'd probably want to visit some of, like, the sort of offbeat shops there.

[NCIS Analyst]

The locals are known to wear cowboy hats and sport turquoise jewelry. After all, Twentynine Palms was once a mining town.

[Paul LaRosa]

There's shops that sell crystals. There's a few places to eat.

[Natalie Morales]

Then there's the Marine base. The Marine base entrance is located in 29 Palms, but the base itself is its own entity that exists just outside of the city limits. Nestled up against a mountain range, the base eclipses the city in size at over 1,000 square miles. Marines come from all over the country.

[NCIS Analyst]

To serve here at the world's largest.

[Natalie Morales]

Marine Corps training base. And they bring their families toward the base entrance. It feels more like a small suburban neighborhood than a military site, with young families living in cul de sacs. The grounds are pristine, surrounded by desert and mountain vistas. There is one main strip of buildings where much of base life takes place.

[NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr.]

Base like this, you're gonna go to the same movie theater, you're gonna go to the same watering hole. A lot of the events that are put on on base, everybody goes to, and you're gonna run into each other.

[Natalie Morales]

Special Agent Randolph knows firsthand the small town feel of 29 palms. He lived in town and commuted to his office on base.

[NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr.]

Every day there are new people always coming in. There are people always leaving. There are people always returning. Even ncis, we don't stay there permanently, but you become a part of the community.

[Natalie Morales]

If they were going to find Erin, they had to start looking at this particular community. Most of the population are transplants, far away from their hometowns. Because the majority of people are connected to the Marine base, which means families are only stationed here for brief periods of time before a Marine is relocated or deployed. Bottom line, military families don't stay in 29 palms for too long. This is also true for NCIS personnel who get bounced around depending on where they're needed. Like analyst D. Chalfin, who transferred from Camp Pendleton, California to Twentynine Palms because her help was needed when it came to finding Erin Corwin.

[NCIS Analyst Ashley de Chalfin]

It was my first time at an NCIS field office because prior to that I had started at our headquarters.

[Natalie Morales]

Analyst Dichalfen picked up on the close knit feel of the Twentynine Palms Marine Base as soon as she arrived.

[NCIS Analyst Ashley de Chalfin]

There's not a whole lot there, so you really rely on that base life because if you're a dependent spouse and your husband's deployed, then you're socializing with other dependent spouses and everybody's talking.

[NCIS Analyst]

Erin started making friends with her neighbors like Nicole Lee, who brought Erin to the nearby horse ranch and she was also a Marine's wife.

[NCIS Analyst Ashley de Chalfin]

So I think for a 19 year old in that situation, you're trying to find your social circle, you're trying to find your niche. And I think it's easy to get emotionally invested in things that may not be in your best interest that you realize in hindsight.

[Natalie Morales]

As the NCIS agents prepare their investigation into Erin's whereabouts, they zeroed in on these social circles. On a Marine base where everyone knows everyone, the agents investigation revealed that not everyone is who they say they are.

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[NCIS Analyst]

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[NCIS Analyst]

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[NCIS Analyst]

When Erin felt lonely in the close knit crowd, she'd call back home. It was a big adjustment to live away from home and in such close proximity to other young military couples. She'd tell her mom Lore what her new life was like.

[Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore]

There was maybe six apartments in this little quad. It was a little two bedroom apartment. I mean, didn't need anything bigger. It wasn't fancy but you know, it met your needs.

[NCIS Analyst]

On the base, housing is free. For Aaron and John, this was a no brainer.

[Natalie Morales]

Plus the base would be a secure.

[NCIS Analyst]

Enclosed neighborhood, giving Aaron's family back home much better peace of mind.

[Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore]

You know, he was just starting out in the Marines. He wasn't getting a huge stipend for off base housing. So they probably wouldn't be living in the nicest area of Twentynine Palms. And we just felt they and we felt like she would be safer on base.

[NCIS Analyst]

Their housing was on one of the many cul de sacs in town. All the buildings looked like desert homes, minimalist style with clean lines and neutral colors. Most were equipped with Spanish tile roofs, the ones with clay shingles to manage the internal temperatures during those hot summer.

[Natalie Morales]

Days in the complex. There were two couples in particular who Erin and her husband John connected with. First, Ashleen and Connor, Malachi who lived downstairs. And second, the family who introduced Erin to the White Rock horse rescue. Nicole and Chris Lee.

[Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore]

The Lees, their kitchen's actually touched. She also made friends with the people.

[NCIS Analyst]

That live below them, young husbands and young wives living in the desert with not much to do.

[Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore]

She had a couple other people, but these three couples were tight. They did a lot together, cooked out a lot. Would stay up all night playing board games, whatever, and then would make breakfast together and the guys would hang out together.

[Amazon Music Representative]

Everyone in that complex, it was sort of like a military Melrose Place.

[Natalie Morales]

This is Beth Ford Roth, a public radio reporter who covered Aaron's case. Once news spread that she was missing and it had spread to many local news stations, it seemed like the media could not get enough of Erin's story. The missing Marine's wife, she lives in 29 Palms with her Marine husband Jonathan.

[NCIS Analyst]

And he reported her missing on June.

[Amazon Music Representative]

29, California where her Husband is stationed.

[T-Mobile Representative]

Anyone with information?

[Natalie Morales]

Her Marine corporal husband reported her missing.

[Amazon Music Representative]

The day after she disappeared.

[NCIS Analyst]

As soon as Beth heard about the case, she followed it closely because it was right up her alley.

[Amazon Music Representative]

I am the daughter of a retired lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve and was interested in telling the story that a lot of people don't know, which is military wives serve just as much as their husbands do.

[NCIS Analyst]

She made it her life's work to write about its intricacies and pitfalls.

[Amazon Music Representative]

So I wanted to cover not just the dry black and white stuff that goes on a barbecue or a parade or that kind of thing, but just sort of, what's it like to raise children on your own when your husband's in Afghanistan? What's it like when he comes back? What kind of support network do they have? I was inspired by my mother, who became an army wife, just knowing that how alone she felt and didn't really find a support system that she needed.

[NCIS Analyst]

So Erin's case felt personal. As Beth covered the story, she came to know the people living in Erin's apartment block. Well, the husbands, all Marines, supported their families financially. The wives were homemakers. The Lees from the horse ranch were older than the other couples by a few years.

[Amazon Music Representative]

Christopher was sort of like the leader of the group.

[NCIS Analyst]

The guys generally got along.

[Amazon Music Representative]

The three Marines would have cookouts every week. They would drink and just, you know, have a good time together. And they could sort of bond over the different aspects of what it's like to be in the military and where they were deployed or if they'd been to Okinawa, if they'd been to Afghanistan. Now, the three women were kind of different.

[NCIS Analyst]

Of the three couples, Erin and John were the only ones without kids. But Ashleen, Malachi from downstairs, was similar to Erin in temperament. Shy and quiet, just trying to be a supportive Marine wife.

[Amazon Music Representative]

I remember Ashleen Maliki saying that her husband had an open door policy which meant anyone could come in and out, and she sort of went along with that.

[Natalie Morales]

Now, Nicole, Chris's wife, was not very popular on base. She was known for being abrasive and maybe even a bit distracted. Neighbors sometimes raised an eyebrow at her parenting of her six year old daughter. According to Beth, Nicole would let her daughter wander around alone in the complex, popping into other people's apartments unannounced. So these three couples may not have seen eye to eye on everything, but in order to avoid total isolation, they.

[NCIS Analyst]

Stuck together in different circumstances. These couples could have been in college in a lot of ways, they still behaved like college kids.

[Natalie Morales]

According to multiple accounts, the couples partied often, drank heavily and made questionable decisions, spending their small stipends on luxuries like new clothes and cars.

[NCIS Analyst]

Erin's days transformed from the quiet routine of church in her hometown horse barn to the rowdy world of young Marines. So instead of dorm life, it was base Life. Unlike most 19 year olds whose lives revolve around themselves, Erin's life revolved around the Marines. It was an easy place to feel lost in.

[Amazon Music Representative]

The women sort of followed the men's lead because it's important for Marines to get along with each other. It reflects well and it might help their chances of getting promoted in the future.

[NCIS Analyst]

Beth Ford Roth says that the women also had a role to play.

[Amazon Music Representative]

So it's kind of up to the wives to make sure they present a good front, even if maybe they're not going to be best friends with someone because it's in their husband's best interest to move up the ranks. In the Marines.

[NCIS Analyst]

Erin did her best to play her role as a Marine wife. She made friends with the other spouses, did all the requisite socializing, and when she was asked, she would happily help out her neighbors.

[Amazon Music Representative]

Erin would babysit when Chris and Nicole would go out on dates. Erin just cared for anyone who was vulnerable or smaller than she was. And she really bonded with that little girl and wanted a child of her own.

[Natalie Morales]

It was only a matter of time before Erin joined her neighbors in motherhood, another duty of a Marine wife. But this she was excited for. Her babysitting on the base struck a chord in her heart. Back home in Tennessee, Laura noticed her daughter nurturing children often.

[Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore]

She was very tenderhearted, very attentive to people like the younger kids at the barn and at church. Absolutely loved Erin because when they talked to her, she made them feel like the most important person there.

[Natalie Morales]

It was in those moments that the true Erin would come out of her shell.

[Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore]

She looked at them, she got up on their level. If they were younger and she wasn't one of those people that looked around to see who else she could talk to while they were talking to her. They were her focal point.

[NCIS Analyst]

Erin missed her own childhood home full of kids. After four months of living in 29 Palms, she couldn't wait to get back home for Christmas in Tennessee and spend some time with her family.

[Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore]

We got to spend, I think, like 10 days with them or so.

[Natalie Morales]

Soon after the visit was over, Laur got a call from Erin.

[Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore]

And right after they got back, she found out she was pregnant.

[NCIS Analyst]

From the very beginning of their relationship, John And Erin both wanted to have children and start a family together.

[Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore]

Erin was very excited to be pregnant. I mean, they wanted. And they're both great with kids.

[NCIS Analyst]

It was the beginning of 2014. John and Erin couldn't be happier. Gushing about the pregnancy, Erin took to Facebook. Guess what? I'm pregnant. With images of a stork flying through the clouds. Her Facebook friends, people from Tennessee and Twentynine Palms congratulated her. So excited for her new chapter, she was in her first trimester around eight weeks.

[Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore]

And by the end of January, maybe the first part of February, she miscarried. Erin wasn't sure how to deal with something like that. I mean, she was a baby.

[NCIS Analyst]

For anyone. A miscarriage is a painful experience, but for such a young couple, it was devastating territory they were not equipped to navigate.

[Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore]

And I don't think either one of them knew how to handle that grief process. To lose the baby and the hormones doing crazy things to you.

[Natalie Morales]

The miscarriage took its toll on John and Erin, but it was not the first issue they had in their marriage. When John finally arrived to 29 Palms after his deployment, Erin said she sensed a shift in him. He wasn't the sweet boy she came to love in Tennessee anymore. He started to harden and became distant. The two started fighting more and more. Here's reporter Beth Ford Roth again.

[Amazon Music Representative]

They went from having sort of a sweet romantic dating relationship where they'd go out for french fries and a soda to a full on marriage with the possibility of being parents or not being parents. What it's like to have to pay bills. What it's like to have to get along with people who aren't from Tennessee. And so that the change would be difficult, I think, for anyone. But they were 18, 19 years old.

[Natalie Morales]

Beth thinks that at 19, Erin and John were still trying to figure out who they were.

[Amazon Music Representative]

John as I think any teenage husband would have difficulty communicating his sorrow, his grief, or understanding how his wife felt. And there was a split there.

[NCIS Analyst]

From afar, Aaron's mother, Lore noticed the couple was struggling.

[Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore]

I think that's kind of when things kind of started spiraling.

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[NCIS Analyst]

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[NCIS Analyst Ashley de Chalfin]

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[NCIS Analyst]

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[Natalie Morales]

Just over 48 hours after Erin's disappearance, in the rolling sands of the Mojave Desert, the authorities gathered around Erin's blue Corolla. NCIS Special Agent Randolph needed to keep track of all the evidence found by Aaron's car.

[NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr.]

Looking around that vehicle, trying to find any clue that would have led to where she went to next. From that location, where that vehicle was parked and if anybody else was there.

[NCIS Analyst]

With her, the car was found just a stone's throw away from the Marine base. It was clear she was not alone when she left for the desert. Specialists were called in to look at the tire tracks. The desert sand held the tread well, and the specialists were able to create three dimensional impressions of the tracks. The design of the tread and its dimensions can help positively match the tire to a type of vehicle. Investigators determined that the car that had pulled up next to Aaron was a Jeep. Now, this was something the NCIS agents could work with.

[Natalie Morales]

But first they had to question Erin's husband, John. Again, the last known person to have seen her.

[NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr.]

When was the last time you saw her? Where did she say she was going to go? Does she have any friends? And that's where Jessica comes in.

[NCIS Analyst]

Jessica, known as Jesse, was Erin's closest friend back home in Tennessee. Erin and Jesse texted daily, often hourly, ever since Erin moved to Twentynine Palms.

[NCIS Analyst Ashley de Chalfin]

Jessica Trenton reached out to John Corwin the day after Erin disappeared. She disclosed information related to those messages that she had with Erin because she was concerned that Erin didn't return.

[Natalie Morales]

Analyst D'Chalfin knew it was time for NCIS to use its network and reach to locate Jesse and learn everything she may know.

[NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr.]

We contacted our agent out there close to Jessica, asked him to get all that information from Jessica.

[Paul LaRosa]

My name is Sean Nash. I'm a special agent with ncis, assigned to the Memphis, Tennessee office. And I was asked to run some leads on the Aaron Corman investigation.

[Natalie Morales]

The NCIS Tennessee office was small. Only two agents ran it, including Special Agent Sean Nash.

[Paul LaRosa]

We cover all of Tennessee and all of Arkansas. So if there's anybody that needs to be interviewed, anybody needs to be interrogated, evidence needs to be collected, that kind of thing. If an NCIS office across the world needs something done in those two states, they Call us and ask us to do it for them.

[Natalie Morales]

Special Agent Nash made his way to Jesse as soon as he got the call. Luckily, Jesse was ready to tell all. She told him that initially she was nervous to share information, but now her fear for Erin's well being overcame her loyalty.

[Paul LaRosa]

Jessica was very concerned about her friend Aaron and was upset. So she was very cooperative and helped us in any way that we needed.

[Natalie Morales]

Special Agent Nash's main objective was to copy everything off Jesse's phone, especially her text messages with Erin.

[Paul LaRosa]

The text messages explaining the locations she might have gone would be important. Timelines would be important. The 29 palms NCIS office was very eager to get these because this would explain who she was with prior to her disappearance.

[NCIS Analyst]

The NCIS has a digital system for things like this. The software itself can extract a variety of data from devices, including call logs, texts, photos, browsing history and more.

[Paul LaRosa]

We tried to download her information from her cell phone.

[Natalie Morales]

The system should duplicate all the info and data from Jesse's cell phone onto the NCIS database. Special Agent Nash linked Jessie's phone to it using a laptop and tried to begin the download. Unfortunately, there was a problem. An error message popped up.

[Paul LaRosa]

She had just gotten a new phone, brand new phone. Her other one had broken. And so the system did not have the updates for her brand new phone.

[NCIS Analyst]

Even with some of the best available tech, it was no match for an updated smartphone. They'd have to do it the old fashioned way.

[Natalie Morales]

Special Agent Nash looked through all her messages, catalogued them manually by taking pictures of Jesse's phone with his phone.

[Paul LaRosa]

And during the manual search, we identified several text messages that were important to the investigation.

[Natalie Morales]

As he combed through Jesse's texts with Aaron, Special Agent Nash found a name.

[Paul LaRosa]

Christopher Lee was a Marine. That was the next door neighbor of Aaron Corwin at the time. And there were some text messages that involved him and Aaron Corwin.

[NCIS Analyst]

According to the text between Erin and Jesse, Erin was planning on meeting Chris Lee in Joshua Tree national park the day she went missing. Chris Lee, Nicole Lee's husband and Aaron's neighbor.

[Paul LaRosa]

The day before Aaron went missing, she had texted her friend Jessica. Apparently, this surprise trip is super important.

[Erin Corwin's Mother, Lore]

You know, I had heard of Chris Lee before. I knew that they had hung out together. It seemed kind of odd to me that she'd be going out there with, you know, just Chris.

[Natalie Morales]

That's the question on everyone's mind. Why would Aaron go into the desert alone with her neighbor, Chris Lee? What surprise could he possibly have for her? And why didn't she tell her husband.

[NCIS Analyst]

About it, you know, because she was a secret. So I could tell her my secrets.

[Natalie Morales]

That's next episode on 48 Hours NCIS. From CBS News and CBS Studios, this is 48 Hours NCIS original reporting by 48 Hours producer Paula Rosa. Anthony Batson is the senior producer for 48 Hours. Jamie Benson is the senior producer for Paramount Audio. Special thanks to 48 Hours executive producer Judy Tygard, CBS Studios Senior Vice President Rob Luchow and Paramount Audio Vice President Megan Marcus. Our podcast was written and produced by Jay venables, Isabel Kirby McGowan, Kara Shillin, Max Johnston, Megan Adolski and Ian Enright. Additional reporting and recording by Isabel Kirby McGowan, Jay Venables and Megan Adolski. Our executive producers are Megan Adolski and Ian Enright. Theme and music by Epidemic Sound. Original music from Goat Rodeo with additional music from Paramount Final Mix by Rebecca Seidel. Ian Enright is our fact checker. Our production manager is Megan Adolski. I'm Natalie Morales. If you're enjoying this show, be sure to give it a rating and review. It helps more people find it and hear our reporting. If you liked 48 Hours NCIS, check out the rest of our 48 Hours podcasts by searching 48 Hours on your favorite podcast app. Thanks. Thanks for listening.

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