Where is Erin?: 1

Summary

48 Hours: NCIS – Episode 1: "Where is Erin?"

Hosted by CBS News Correspondent Natalie Morales

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Introduction

The premiere episode of “48 Hours: NCIS” delves into the harrowing disappearance of Erin Corwin, a 19-year-old Marine's wife, whose life was tragically cut short in California’s Joshua Tree National Park. This collaboration between CBS News’ acclaimed true crime journalism and the popular NCIS franchise offers a gripping exploration of the events leading to Erin’s demise, uncovering themes of infidelity, betrayal, and the relentless pursuit of truth by dedicated investigators.

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Background

Erin Corwin's Early Life and Family Dynamics

Erin Corwin was born on July 15, 1994, and was placed in foster care merely two weeks after birth. Her life took a positive turn when she was adopted by Laura and Bill Heavilin, who became her loving parents. Growing up in Oak Ridge, Tennessee—a city with a rich military history and a tightly-knit community—Erin was described as a sweet, shy, and animal-loving individual.

• Laura Heavilin reflects on Erin’s upbringing:
  “Erin was very petite, very shy, extremely naive” (00:38).

Erin’s sheltered upbringing in Oak Ridge, coupled with homeschooling, fostered a strong attachment to her family and animals. Her involvement with the East Tennessee Riding Club highlighted her passion for horses, serving as a sanctuary away from her controlled environment.

Erin’s Relationship with John Corwin

Erin met John Corwin at the East Tennessee Riding Club when she was ten years old. Their relationship blossomed slowly over the years, culminating in a youthful marriage at 18 years old. Their union was partly motivated by practical considerations, such as securing housing on the Marine base in Twentynine Palms, California, where John was stationed as a Marine Corporal.

• Bill Heavilin shares concerns about the relationship dynamics:
  “She was very trusting and always saw the good in people that she did not see the warning signs that I'm sure were there” (34:00).

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Erin's Disappearance

The Fateful Sunday Morning

On June 29, 2014, Laura Heavilin’s life was shattered by an ominous phone call. Erin had vanished from the Marine base in Twentynine Palms, California, where she and John had recently relocated.

• Laura Heavilin recounts the moment of realization:
  “Erin was missing. And I'm like what do you mean Erin's missing?” (00:24).

Erin had moved to California to support John’s military career and had settled into their new life, albeit alone for extended periods due to John’s deployments.

Initial Investigation and Suspicion

John Corwin reported Erin missing after realizing she hadn’t returned home as expected. His delayed reporting raised suspicions among authorities, particularly given the remote and harsh environment of Joshua Tree National Park where Erin was last seen.

• Bill Heavilin expresses skepticism about John’s delayed report:
  “I never thought that Erin had run away. I didn’t think that was even remotely a possibility.” (03:09).

John's unemotional demeanor and lack of immediate concern were perplexing to Erin’s family, adding to the intrigue and suspicion surrounding her disappearance.

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Investigation by NCIS

Involvement of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS)

Due to the military connection, the NCIS was brought in to assist the local sheriff's department in investigating Erin’s disappearance. NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr. led the investigation, bringing expertise from the real-life federal agency often glamorized in television.

• Clifton Randolph Jr. explains the role of NCIS:
  “From where NCIS office is located on the installation is not far from where Aaron Corwin lived with Corporal Corwin, practically a mile, maybe two.” (08:06).

Team Assembly and Strategies

Special Agent Randolph and his team, including analyst Ashley de Chalfin, employed a multifaceted approach to locate Erin. This involved meticulous social media analysis, database checks, and on-the-ground investigations to piece together Erin’s last known movements and interactions.

• Ashley de Chalfin describes her analytical process:
  “I scrubbed through Erin's social media. It was 2014, and Facebook was all the rage.” (13:15).

Community Engagement and Key Witnesses

Efforts to understand Erin’s social circle led the NCIS team to Isabel Megley, the founder of the White Rock Horse Rescue Ranch. Isabel’s interactions with Erin provided crucial insights into Erin’s state of mind and her relationship with John.

• Isabel Megley shares her observations:
  “And so when she found her horse, Erin was with Cassie. It was like her partner it was.” (28:20).

Isabel’s ranch became a focal point, revealing the complexities of Erin’s married life and her attempts to find solace and companionship outside her strained relationship with John.

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Erin’s Personal Life and Relationships

Struggles in Marriage

Despite their young age, Erin and John’s marriage faced challenges exacerbated by John’s frequent deployments and differing interests. Erin’s loneliness and desire for connection led her to seek comfort in the local community and her growing friendship with Nicole Lee.

• Isabel Megley comments on Erin and John’s relationship:
  “Erin was always fighting with John over what John told her to do.” (29:41).

Building Friendships and Seeking Solace

Erin’s involvement with the White Rock Horse Rescue provided her with a sense of purpose and community. Her friendship with Nicole Lee and the activities at the ranch offered Erin a temporary escape from her isolation, highlighting her need for emotional support and stability.

• Isabel Megley explains Erin’s motivations:
  “So Erin was with Cassie. It was like her partner it was.” (28:20).

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Unraveling the Mystery

Search and Rescue Efforts

As the 48-hour mark passed without any trace of Erin, the urgency of the investigation intensified. The NCIS team coordinated with local search and rescue operations, meticulously combing through Joshua Tree National Park’s vast and unforgiving landscape.

• Clifton Randolph Jr. emphasizes the race against time:
  “Time is not on your side.” (13:02).

Key Discoveries and Insights

Investigators uncovered unsettling aspects of Erin’s life, including potential infidelity and betrayal. John Corwin’s lack of cooperation and his contrasting persona raised red flags, prompting deeper scrutiny into his actions and alibis.

• Bill Heavilin reflects on John’s behavior:
  “He started wondering, where's Erin? And tried to get in touch with her, but could not by phone.” (05:51).

Community and Social Media Influence

The tight-knit Marine base community played a significant role in the investigation. Social media buzz and collective effort from friends and neighbors provided leads that were both helpful and convoluted, making it challenging to distinguish fact from speculation.

• Ashley de Chalfin describes the social media landscape:
  “Everybody was talking about it. Everybody was commenting on it on social media.” (31:32).

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Conclusion and Insights

The investigation into Erin Corwin’s disappearance revealed a complex tapestry of personal struggles, strained relationships, and the harsh realities of life on a military base. NCIS agents worked tirelessly, uncovering layers of Erin’s life that painted a picture of a young woman caught between duty, isolation, and the longing for connection.

• Bill Heavilin summarizes Erin’s personality:
  “She was so trusting and always saw the good in people that she did not see the warning signs that I'm sure were there.” (34:00).

The episode concludes by highlighting the relentless pursuit of truth by law enforcement and the profound impact of Erin’s loss on her family and community. As the investigation progresses, “48 Hours: NCIS” promises to unravel deeper secrets and provide a comprehensive understanding of this tragic case.

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Notable Quotes

• Laura Heavilin:
  “Erin was missing. And I'm like what do you mean Erin's missing?” (00:24).

• Bill Heavilin:
  “I never thought that Erin had run away. I didn’t think that was even remotely a possibility.” (03:09).

• Clifton Randolph Jr.:
  “Time is not on your side.” (13:02).

• Ashley de Chalfin:
  “I scrubbed through Erin's social media. It was 2014, and Facebook was all the rage.” (13:15).

• Isabel Megley:
  “And so when she found her horse, Erin was with Cassie. It was like her partner it was.” (28:20).

• Bill Heavilin:
  “She was so trusting and always saw the good in people that she did not see the warning signs that I'm sure were there.” (34:00).

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Final Thoughts

“48 Hours: NCIS” offers a compelling blend of real-life investigative journalism and the fictional prowess of the NCIS franchise. Episode 1, “Where is Erin?”, sets the stage for a six-episode journey through a true crime story marked by emotional depth, procedural complexity, and the relentless quest for justice. Listeners are invited to follow along as the layers of Erin Corwin’s life and disappearance are meticulously peeled back, promising revelations that resonate long after the final minute.

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Subscribe Early and Ad-Free

Listen to “48 Hours: NCIS” ad-free by subscribing to 48 Hours+ on Apple Podcasts.

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This summary captures key discussions, insights, and conclusions from Episode 1 of “48 Hours: NCIS,” providing a comprehensive overview for new listeners.

Transcript

[Laura Heavilin]

Our whole life being turned totally upside down began on June 29, 2014.

[Natalie Morales]

On a beautiful summer Sunday morning, Laura Heavilin was in her home in Tennessee with her husband Bill. They were getting ready to go to church when they received an awful call.

[Laura Heavilin]

My son in law called probably around 11:00, 11:30 on Sunday morning and told us that Erin was missing. And I'm like what do you mean Erin's missing?

[Paul La Rosa]

Bill and Laur hadn't seen their daughter Erin in a few months. Erin recently moved out of the Heavlin family home to start a new life in California with her high school sweetheart and now husband John Corwin. They moved to a small city called Twentynine Palms, a blip in the middle of the Mojave. What brought the Corwin's there was the Marine base. John was a Marine Corporal Corwin officially and Erin was a Marine's wife. They lived on the base in a small apartment, their first home together. Bill and Lohr hadn't seen the new place yet when John called. Laura had been planning a trip out west to visit Erin later that week.

[Laura Heavilin]

Erin was 19 years old, almost 20. I was going to go out for.

[Paul La Rosa]

Her 20th birthday but then no one knew where Erin was. On the phone, Erin's husband John Corwin told Lor that the last place he knew Erin had gone was Joshua Tree National Park.

[Laura Heavilin]

And he told me that she had gone out to Joshua Tree national park the day before to look for places for her and I to go to take pictures and stuff. When I came to visit in a few days, my first immediate thought was Aaron got lost. Erin is very directionally challenged.

[Paul La Rosa]

Bill, Erin's father, worried that Erin wouldn't find her way out.

[Bill Heavilin]

I mean Joshua Tree is just the desert. There's nothing there, there's no water. It's not like you're going to find anything. There's no shelter of any type so you're just exposed to the elements.

[Paul La Rosa]

In addition to her lack of hiking experience, Erin was not particularly prepared for the outdoors.

[Laura Heavilin]

She was a very petite 19 year old, 5, 2, maybe 115 pounds. She was very shy, extremely naive.

[Paul La Rosa]

Bill and Lor knew their daughter. This didn't sound like her. She wouldn't go on an overnight hike spontaneously. She probably wouldn't go on an overnight hike at all. Erin was a homebody. She stayed inside her comfort zone. The Heavlins thought through what might have happened and quickly discounted some possibilities.

[Bill Heavilin]

No, I never thought that Erin had run away. I didn't think that was even remotely a possibility.

[Laura Heavilin]

I mean, she just was not a risk taker.

[Paul La Rosa]

Worried? Lohr pressed Erin's husband, John, for more details. The last time John said he saw Erin was early the morning before. He said she kissed him goodbye around 7am and he watched her drive off in their car. He went back to sleep. A while later, he got up and spent the day playing video games. By nightfall, Erin still hadn't come home. She was supposed to be back in time for dinner, but John went to bed the next morning. According to John, it had been 24 hours since Aaron had driven out of sight. John alerted the authorities. Then he called Lore.

[Laura Heavilin]

He sounded concerned. There wasn't a lot of emotion in his voice, but that's typical John. It's hard to read him, to know what his thoughts are.

[Natalie Morales]

I'm CBS News correspondent Natalie Morales. This is 48 Hours NCIS, where we take you inside a case NCIS agents say they will never forget. Episode 1 Where is Erin?

[Ashley de Chalfin]

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[Paul La Rosa]

While his 19 year old wife was missing, John spent most of the day at home.

[Bill Heavilin]

He started wondering, where's Erin? And tried to get in touch with her, but could not by phone. He knows there is not good service in the desert, so he didn't worry too much. But then by nightfall, he was worried.

[Paul La Rosa]

Paul La Rosa is a producer for CBS News. In 48 hours, he reported on Aaron Corwin's disappearance. La Rosa had a lot of experience telling true crime stories. He knew that generally when someone goes missing, the first person investigators turn to when they need answers is the spouse. In this case, that was John Corwin.

[Bill Heavilin]

But he didn't do anything. He didn't call police. He didn't really tell anybody on his base.

[Paul La Rosa]

So to the authorities, it was initially suspicious that John waited to report Erin missing.

[Bill Heavilin]

The sheriff's deputies and the sheriff's office had a lot of questions for him. They were like, tell us where she went, you know, what did she have with her? Why did you wait 24 hours to report her missing? His version of the story is that I thought from watching television shows that you have to wait 24 hours before you can report an adult missing. But that makes you seem suspicious in the eyes of the investigators. Also, he had no alibi per se. I mean, he was in his apartment playing video games. And he's an unemotional guy. I mean, he's not the kind of guy who say, my wife is missing. You know, he's like unemotional and very flat affect.

[Paul La Rosa]

Once John finally did alert the authorities, the local sheriff's department in San Bernardino immediately opened up an investigation. But they needed help for this specific case.

[Bill Heavilin]

The sheriff's department can't just go there and start talking to people. They have to go through protocol, right? They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved.

[Paul La Rosa]

Ncis? The Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Most of us may recognize this name from television.

[Bill Heavilin]

Ncis? Never heard of it. That's embarrassing.

[Paul La Rosa]

The television show NCIS follows a cast of characters, including NCIS special agents, field agents, forensic specialists, and more through 21 seasons of scripted primetime television drama. But the NCIS is a real life federal agency.

[Natalie Morales]

NCIS is sort of like an in house FBI for the Navy. There are only about 1,000 special agents based all over the world in Japan, Singapore, Bahrain, Italy, and yes, at the marine base in 29 Palms, California.

[Bill Heavilin]

They are stationed at the base and they get involved holding the sheriff's department hand to let them know how the military operates.

[Paul La Rosa]

NCIS Special Agent Clifton Randolph Jr. Was.

[Natalie Morales]

Alerted by the sheriff's department that a Marine's wife was missing.

[Clifton Randolph Jr.]

The initial story we received was Erin had gone to Joshua Tree national park to look for nice hiking routes for her and her mother, who was coming out later on that week. That was the last time that Corporal Corwin had seen her driving in their blue Corolla away from the insulation.

[Natalie Morales]

The Marine base, what Special Agent Randolph called the installation, was the largest Marine Corps base in the world. In addition to housing an NCIS office, there were about 900 families who lived on base by 2013. That included the Corwins.

[Paul La Rosa]

However, the base was not exactly busy 48 hours.

[Natalie Morales]

Producer Paula Rosa remembered The first time he ever drove by the base.

[Bill Heavilin]

If you're driving through Twentynine Palms and you make a left somewhere and you just drive for about 30 minutes or less, you'll come to the Marine base, which is huge, but there's a big gate. There's a big gate at the base because there's a lot of security, and we were not allowed out there.

[Paul La Rosa]

If you were a resident of the base like Aaron Corwin was, every time you came home, you passed through a large gated entrance with a security checkpoint. From there, a sort of main street led to a small downtown area of buildings, including offices, a mess hall, a library, a small hospital, and even a bowling alley, housing for the military families branched off this main area into secluded suburban plots and cul de sacs.

[Clifton Randolph Jr.]

From where NCIS office is located on the installation is not far from where Aaron Corwin lived with Corporal Corwin, practically a mile, maybe two.

[Paul La Rosa]

The rest of the base's immense acreage, almost 71,000 acres in total, was taken up by vast military training areas, including airfields and shooting ranges.

[Bill Heavilin]

You know, they fire artillery shells there all the time, and they have, you know, people out in the desert and doing all sorts of things.

[Paul La Rosa]

In the early 2000s, the majority of units in the Marine Corps deploying to Iraq trained here. Not too far from the base's residential area, there was a sandy stretch protected by mountains named Mini Baghdad. But when Erin moved to the base, her entire world shrunk to those few miles right inside the gated entrance.

[Natalie Morales]

In such close quarters, Special Agent Randolph said he got to know his neighbors well.

[Clifton Randolph Jr.]

There could have been a chance that you run into her at the grocery store or you pass her at the gym. I might have come across her and not even know it. But there's that person that needs your help, and you need to do everything you can to help.

[Natalie Morales]

In his office, Special Agent Randolph got to work. His first step was to take what the sheriff's department knew and ask himself, what don't we know?

[Clifton Randolph Jr.]

There was an immediate concern for what could have happened to Erin, that she did not return. As soon as he thought she was going to.

[Natalie Morales]

Special Agent Randolph had questions. What if Erin didn't go where she.

[Paul La Rosa]

Said she was headed?

[Natalie Morales]

What if she just got on the highway and drove? But what if she actually was at Joshua Tree National Park? The park is larger than the state of Rhode Island.

[Paul La Rosa]

How could they ever comb through nearly a million acres of land?

[Natalie Morales]

Special Agent Randolph thought through all the possibilities with one main focus.

[Clifton Randolph Jr.]

Where is Erin? You want to find where Erin is from the moment someone is reported missing, and the last person to see that person being Corporal Corwin, Erin's husband. You're racing the clock because you don't know the circumstances that are involved in this person's disappearance.

[Paul La Rosa]

There was one big problem working against the NCIS agents and Aaron. Time.

[Clifton Randolph Jr.]

You gotta get on it quick because that person might need you sooner than later. And time is not on your side.

[Natalie Morales]

So Special Agent Randolph dispatched a team of NCIS experts.

[Ashley de Chalfin]

I provided analytical support to Cliff Randolph in the Erin Corwin investigation.

[Natalie Morales]

Analyst Ashley de Chelfin was sent to the Twentynine Palms Marine Base from another NCIS office on the Camp Pendleton Marine Base, only a few hours away. When she arrived in Twentynine Palms, she met her colleagues, got up to speed on the investigation, and dove right into work.

[Ashley de Chalfin]

I do database checks, regularly, review social media, open source information, so whatever's in the news and outlets, and looking for.

[Paul La Rosa]

Information, she scrubbed through Erin's social media. It was 2014, and Facebook was all the rage. What was the last thing Erin posted on her profile? When was she last active online?

[Ashley de Chalfin]

Basically going onto the Internet and searching for all potential information that could be of interest in your investigation.

[Natalie Morales]

Like Special Agent Randolph, analyst De Chalfen.

[Paul La Rosa]

Understood what was at risk if she missed any detail that could prove vital.

[Ashley de Chalfin]

I absolutely felt the pressure and the stress surrounding Erin's disappearance because, as Cliff mentioned, we had limited time and we wanted to find her as soon as possible. So I got to work right away.

[Paul La Rosa]

In order to find Erin, the agents needed to learn who Erin was. They needed to understand her. Her personality, her temperament, what she liked and disliked. And they needed to understand her relationships, her marriage, and her family. So they picked up from California and headed to Erin's hometown, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

[Natalie Morales]

Where Erin's life began.

[Paul La Rosa]

Erin was born on July 15, 1994. When she was two weeks old, her.

[Natalie Morales]

Birth mother placed her in foster care.

[Paul La Rosa]

But very soon, Erin found her home.

[Laura Heavilin]

Erin came to the house when she.

[Bill Heavilin]

Was 17 days old.

[Laura Heavilin]

She was an incredible, sweet baby. We were blessed to be chosen to be her parents.

[Paul La Rosa]

By the time Erin turned three, the Heavlin family officially adopted her. She joined a house full of siblings.

[Bill Heavilin]

We fostered several children. We adopted five of them, and Erin was the fourth adopted child.

[Paul La Rosa]

Bill and Lohr also had two biological children. They all lived together in a nice house and the small city of oak Ridge, about 25 miles west of Knoxville, Tennessee. It's a hidden city tucked along the Black Oak Ridge Mountains. And for much of its history, it was kept a Secret. One of its nicknames is the city behind a fence.

[Bill Heavilin]

Oak Ridge, Tennessee, if you don't know anything about it, was an atomic city. Oak Ridge, Tennessee, did not exist before World War II, and the military built Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for people to develop the atomic bomb.

[Natalie Morales]

Paula Rosa visited Erin's hometown, and he noticed a through line from Erin's childhood in Oak Ridge to her future on.

[Paul La Rosa]

The Marine base in California.

[Bill Heavilin]

You couldn't just leave Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and go for a drive out into the country. Everything there was a gate. Everything was controlled. It was sort of a sheltered, closed town.

[Paul La Rosa]

And Erin herself was very sheltered. She was homeschooled. So much of her life took place in the family home.

[Natalie Morales]

On Sundays, the family went to the local church.

[Bill Heavilin]

It was the family and it was the church, and it was the horse.

[Paul La Rosa]

Ranch, and that's it now, the horse ranch. The East Tennessee Riding Club was Aaron's favorite place in the world as a child. According to Lore, it was like her second home.

[Bill Heavilin]

Erin spent all her time at the stables, you know, in Tennessee, I mean, you know, her mother famously said she would sleep there if she could.

[Paul La Rosa]

Erin's mother, Lore said she was a quiet and shy girl, and sometimes she seemed to be more comfortable around animals than people.

[Laura Heavilin]

Erin loved the animals. Horses, cats, dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs. But they all loved her, too. She was like a calming force, and they knew they could trust her, and they knew that she was the one to respect and listen to.

[Natalie Morales]

Good boy. Shake.

[Paul La Rosa]

Erin could even train cats. This was her leading her cat through tricks.

[Isabel Megley]

And lay down one more time.

[Ashley de Chalfin]

Good boy.

[Laura Heavilin]

Erin was an animal whisperer. She could get them to do things that the average person would not be able to.

[Paul La Rosa]

So when Erin discovered the East Tennessee Riding Club and began to experience working with horses, she excelled.

[Laura Heavilin]

When she first started, I assured her we would never get a horse, and we ended up with two. We spent many, many, many, many hours here.

[Paul La Rosa]

Another local family, the Corwin's, were also frequent visitors.

[Laura Heavilin]

Erin and John met at the barn.

[Paul La Rosa]

They met when erin was in fifth grade. She was 10. John was just a year older.

[Laura Heavilin]

John's younger sister had a horse there also, and Erin went to their house a couple different times.

[Paul La Rosa]

In a small city with a sheltered life, Erin found the Corwin family house exciting. She would go and play, but she was always especially shy around John. John seemed shy around Erin, too.

[Laura Heavilin]

John Corwin was a very quiet young man.

[Paul La Rosa]

They grew up together slowly and patiently at first.

[Laura Heavilin]

And then once she turned, I think she was 15, and they kind of reconnected and you know, did a lot of texting and messaging on Facebook and that kind of stuff. And they started dating on her 16th birthday. And John actually asked me if it was okay if he took her out on a date.

[Natalie Morales]

John was a serious and stoic teenager. His aspirations were always clear to him.

[Laura Heavilin]

When they first started dating, he already knew he was going to be a Marine.

[Paul La Rosa]

At 17, John began the process to join the Marine Corps. He took tests for aptitude and strength, and he planned to go to basic training in boot camp the summer after he graduated high school. And meanwhile, despite their young age, Erin and John became serious fast. They started talking about marriage. Erin, full of excitement, told her mom.

[Laura Heavilin]

We knew how young and naive she was, and we had hoped that they would wait a couple years so that she could get a little bit more maturity under her belt.

[Paul La Rosa]

The couple went to John's senior prom together. Aaron was barely 18 when he proposed. This may sound a bit early for marriage, but it isn't that uncommon for a military couple. Young Marines who choose to enlist right.

[Natalie Morales]

After high school will move to whatever location the military assigns them. And for many young Marines, the path ahead includes marriage. Married couples get preference when it comes to securing housing on base.

[Laura Heavilin]

The reason why they wanted to get married was to get on the base housing list, and you had to be married. And they knew John was getting ready to be deployed.

[Paul La Rosa]

So John, like many Marines before him, wanted to start this journey with his high school sweetheart. But Lohr wasn't sure Erin understood the reality of marrying a Marine.

[Laura Heavilin]

We had quite a few conversations on what life as a military wife would be. I tried my hardest to prepare her mentally, emotionally, for what was in her future.

[Paul La Rosa]

At 18 years old, John chose the.

[Natalie Morales]

Marines and Erin chose John.

[Laura Heavilin]

She went to Las Vegas for the Marine ball and they got married while.

[Paul La Rosa]

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[Ashley de Chalfin]

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[Paul La Rosa]

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[Ashley de Chalfin]

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[Paul La Rosa]

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[Paul La Rosa]

We got you baby. On a beautiful fall afternoon in 2013, Erin was stuck inside unpacking boxes. The tree lined view from her childhood bedroom in Tennessee was replaced with the sandy expanses and cacti of 29 Palms, California. By all accounts, she was still a newlywed. She and John had not yet celebrated a year of marriage. Despite a condo full of boxes, Erin.

[Laura Heavilin]

Was alone and she moved out there, got their apartment all set up before John got home from his deployment.

[Paul La Rosa]

John's deployment in Okinawa, Japan continued on for another few months and Erin's new life as a 19 year old Marine's wife began. If she ever felt isolated in Oak Ridge, life on the Marine base challenged her even more. Erin went from living in a house full of siblings to an empty apartment. All she could do was wait for John to come home.

[Laura Heavilin]

I think Erin was enjoying some aspects of being a Marine wife. In other aspects, I think it was harder than what she anticipated.

[Paul La Rosa]

Erin tried to develop a routine. She went to the commissary a few times a week to pick up groceries. Otherwise she spent her time watching TV and scrolling Facebook. She texted her friends back in Tennessee often. After a few months, John came home, but not much changed for Erin.

[Laura Heavilin]

John was not deployed again after she moved out there, but being in artillery, he went out in the field every month for at least five days, sometimes more. And so she would be home alone. During those times that he was out in the field.

[Paul La Rosa]

She was lonely. But one day, according to her mother lore, things started to improve when Erin made her first friend on base. Erin was busy unloading her saddle out of her car when she bumped into her next door neighbor.

[Laura Heavilin]

Nicole and Erin clicked Because of the horses.

[Paul La Rosa]

Nicole Lee lived right next door to Erin and John. She was a fellow Marine's wife and when Nicole saw Erin carrying a saddle.

[Natalie Morales]

She invited Erin to come by the ranch where she kept her horse. The White Rock Horse rescue It was just a 40 minute drive from the marine base. And with Nicole's invitation, Erin was immediately reminded of her favorite place on earth, the riding club in Tennessee. She probably felt a pang of homesickness and excitement.

[Isabel Megley]

Erin first came here with Nicole to look at horses. Introduced me and said, I want to find a horse. I need a horse. I rode when I was back home. She had a horse and she had to leave it. And so now she was homesick. And so she decided that getting a horse, riding it would give her some pleasure, some happiness.

[Paul La Rosa]

Isabel Megley is the founder and CEO of this desert rescue ranch. But she was never tucked away in an office somewhere. Isabel preferred to be outside with the horses and the people who volunteered to take care of them.

[Isabel Megley]

I rehabilitate rescued horses that have been abused, and then I also take in horses that aren't abused and find them homes. And then I always invite any individual who would like to come and volunteer at the ranch to help me because we have no paid employees.

[Paul La Rosa]

48 Hours producer Paula Rosa met Isabel while he was covering Aaron's story. He reached out to her for an interview, but she never got back to him. He figured they'd visit the horse ranch anyway.

[Bill Heavilin]

So we go there, and the horses are everywhere, right off the public road. And the ranch itself is absolutely not fancy. I mean, it's very rugged. It's, you know, in a desert community. It's out in the open and, you know, you just see horses running back and forth. There's a few structures that look like they're down on their luck.

[Natalie Morales]

While LaRosa was videotaping the sites on the ranch, he noticed a small group of people approaching him.

[Bill Heavilin]

It's sort of a ragtag bunch of young children and young people and this older woman. And I said, are you Isabel Megley? I said, we're from CBS News, blah, blah, blah. I sent you an email. I called you and she said, oh, yeah, I meant to call you back. I just never got around to it. And I said, well, we're here now and we want to talk to you. So once we were face to face, she was happy to talk to us. Isabel is a very weathered person. I mean, she's been outside a lot during her life. You can tell.

[Paul La Rosa]

Isabel was exactly the sort of person Erin knew well, a fellow animal whisperer with a menagerie of pets following her around the land. And when Nicole introduced the two of them, Erin knew exactly how Isabel could help her.

[Isabel Megley]

And so when she found her horse, Erin was with Cassie. It was like her partner it was.

[Paul La Rosa]

Decided Erin would volunteer on the ranch. She would pay to adopt a horse and take care of it, and then she'd be able to ride. Many military families from the 29 Palms base enjoyed the ranch. For Nicole, it was a family affair. She'd spend the day at the ranch with her Marine husband, Christopher Lee. Now, that included Erin.

[Isabel Megley]

So it was like a threesome. So when they would come, they would all take their horses and play with them, and then they would leave together and they would have a good time, the three of them. It was very rarely the four.

[Paul La Rosa]

So where was John?

[Isabel Megley]

Aaron was not supported by John for this activity because he was not interested in it. He would come here with his motorcycles or his things to play in the dirt, and that's what he would do while she would ride. And she'd say, please come over and watch me ride my horse. He said, I'm not interested. So they were never cozy together. I kept waiting. But he was very difficult to interact with.

[Paul La Rosa]

Isabel felt she came to know their relationship well.

[Isabel Megley]

Erin was always fighting with John over what John told her to do. And so she would come here and say, at least I'm free. And she was a different person. The only one he couldn't control was her relationship with the horse.

[Paul La Rosa]

Erin would pile in with the Lee.

[Natalie Morales]

Family the ride to and from the horse ranch.

[Paul La Rosa]

Thanks to them, she could see her horse whenever she wanted. Her relationship with the local community grew while her marriage strained.

[Isabel Megley]

I'm a very good judge of animals, and people go right along. Hand in hand with that, Isabel welcomed.

[Paul La Rosa]

The Marine families onto her ranch. And she observed later, she became a valuable Source for the NCIS agents working to find Erin Corwin. On Monday, June 30, 2014, Erin had been missing for 48 hours. News spread across the Marine base quickly.

[Ashley de Chalfin]

It was big news for such a small area.

[Natalie Morales]

Analyst Ashley De Chalfin had her eye on Erin's social media. She made note of the people who seemed to be close to Erin, who had recently tagged her in a post, who had commented. She searched through Erin's Facebook friends and looked through their friends to figure out how people knew each other. There was a lot of useful information publicly available. Analyst De Chalfin just had to determine.

[Paul La Rosa]

Which leads were worth following.

[Natalie Morales]

What was real and what was speculation in such a small community, this proved difficult early on.

[Ashley de Chalfin]

Everybody was talking about it. Everybody was commenting on it on social media. People were looking for her. There was buzz on base, and at certain points, it even became like a bad game of telephone.

[Paul La Rosa]

Before long, the news about Aaron reached Isabel's horse rescue.

[Isabel Megley]

The phone rings and Erin Coren's girlfriend called me and said, have you seen Erin? And I said, no, but she went missing. I said, missing? She said, yeah. And then the detectives started coming with. That was an awareness of all the things I had been watching that happened was a key part of the investigation.

[Ashley de Chalfin]

With any missing person, you want to return that person to their family and their loved ones because they care about that person. And from working a case like this, you develop a care for the livelihood of that person. You don't want to see anything bad happen, but in the back of your mind, it's a race against time and you know that you're running out of it.

[Paul La Rosa]

For a concerned mother, the waiting game was misery.

[Laura Heavilin]

We really had no clue what happened. It was almost like we were walking in a different world, kind of numb.

[Natalie Morales]

After the 48 hour mark with no sign of Erin, it was all hands on deck for the NCIS agents.

[Ashley de Chalfin]

As the days go by, it's becoming more and more likely that you're not going to find her alive.

[Natalie Morales]

NCIS paired up with San Bernardino's search and rescue team. They had three main to determine a safe plan of action to locate Erin Corwin and to bring her to safety. First, they had to assess the situation based on the story John told They needed to look for clues. Special Agent Randolph and his team knocked on doors on base asking if anyone had any information about Erin. Any other story to corroborate or contradict her husband's. Was John Corwin telling the truth? This season on 48 Hours NCIS, the search for a missing Marine's wife uncovers secrets that nobody expected.

[Laura Heavilin]

She was so trusting and always saw the good in people that she did not see the warning signs that I'm sure were there.

[Natalie Morales]

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.

[Ashley de Chalfin]

Listen to the 48 Hours podcast for.

[Paul La Rosa]

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[Ashley de Chalfin]

Dramas from one of television's most watched true crime shows. And then go behind the scenes with post mortem, a weekly deep dive from the team at 48 hours. Listen to 48 hours early and ad.

[Paul La Rosa]

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