The Day Dee Disappeared

Summary

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Dateline NBC: "The Day Dee Disappeared"

Air Date: August 4, 2026
Host: Andrea Canning
Theme: The disappearance and murder of Dee Warner, a Michigan farm owner and businesswoman, and the years-long quest for truth and justice by her family and community.

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Overview

This gripping Dateline episode traces the mysterious 2021 disappearance of Dee Warner, a prominent and determined farmer from Lenawee County, Michigan, who seemed to vanish into thin air. It follows the complex, emotionally charged investigation, the persistent efforts of her loved ones, and the eventual discovery of both her fate and the person responsible. Listeners are taken through twists of suspicion, family conflict, and small-town secrets as the tragic reality unravels.

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Key Points & Timeline

Dee’s Disappearance and Initial Uncertainty

• [01:13] Dee Warner missed a regular Sunday breakfast with her daughter Raquel in April 2021, which immediately concerned her family. Husband Dale claimed she had been stressed and was last seen sleeping on the couch that morning.

  • Andrea Canning recounts Raquel’s worry: “We can’t find her anywhere.”

• [02:44] Dee is described as a hard-charging, independent farm owner with a “fiery” personality.

  • Memorable Quote (Greg Hardy, [02:59]): “Dee drives a Hummer. I mean, do we need to say anything else?”

• [03:37] At first, family wasn't alarmed—Dee sometimes went away to clear her head—but as calls went unanswered and Dee's vehicles sat untouched, concern grew.

  • “She would always answer me... There was always a purpose,” says Greg Hardy ([04:00]).

• [04:43] Odd clues: Dee’s purse was missing, tissues were left neatly around the house.

  • Andrea Canning, [04:44]: “They were just like maybe wiped her nose and put it down. It was just an unusual thing.”

• [05:08] Police respond and find no evidence of a struggle or foul play.

  • “Did you see blood anywhere? Did you see a struggle anywhere?” – Greg Hardy
  • “No, didn’t see anything…” – Deputy Austin Hall ([06:43]).

Early Investigation, Rumors & Theories

• [06:57] Husband Dale maintains Dee had left upset before, but admits he wasn't truly worried at first. He reports her taking an overnight bag.

• [08:09] The family is in turmoil as the mystery deepens. They struggle to understand Dee leaving her young daughter Angelina behind—“She would never leave Angelina” ([11:44]).

• [12:01] Theories considered include suicide, voluntary escape, or foul play. Parker Hardy, Dee’s nephew, says he feared finding her body while searching the land ([12:32]).

• [13:39] Investigators review farm security footage, cooperate with Dale, and search for clues—but nothing concrete emerges at this stage.

• Community splits: Some see Dale as the "nice guy," others recall Dee as the "hothead" ([13:53]).

Emerging Suspects and Community Tension

• [14:05] Drone searches and security review reveal a mysterious late-night visitor: Todd Nurek, a trucking company employee with whom Dee had recently argued.

  • Greg Hardy, [14:29]: "That’s an odd time. Very odd to be showing up to a farm.”

• [19:33] Todd signed the truck log under a false name and was evasive in interviews, sparking suspicion.

• [17:00] Attention shifts to cash: Dale claims Dee may have left with up to $100,000 in cash, suggesting she could be anywhere.

• [18:05] Investigators learn Dee had been in a relationship with a married man, who is eventually ruled out by a rock-solid alibi ([22:52]).

• [21:02] Despite scrutinizing Todd’s story, and intense community speculation (some suggesting a lover might be involved), police find no direct evidence linking anyone to Dee’s disappearance.

Turning Point: Family Advocacy and New Investigation

• [22:07]-[24:05] Dee’s family refuses to give up, launching public awareness campaigns (“Justice for Dee” bracelets, billboards, rallies). Private investigator Billy Little Jr. is brought on board, promising to follow evidence wherever it leads.
  • Billy Little Jr., [22:07]: “If it leads me to you, be careful.”
  • Billy immediately suspects Dale due to lack of participation in searches and odd behavior.

Evidence Mounts Against Dale Warner

• [25:02] Arguments over money and Dee’s intent to sell the trucking company and seek a divorce provoke suspicion Dale’s motive was financial—especially since only Dee’s trucking business was profitable.

  • Prosecutor, [26:09]: “It is my opinion that Dee did not leave her home voluntarily… there were two people in a house on Saturday, Sunday morning there was only one.”

• [27:14] Michigan State Police are called in, and the investigation intensifies, including searches over 3,000 acres ([27:34]).

• [27:45] Forensic analysis uncovers suspicious internet searches on Dale’s devices, including “how to cremate someone using liquid chemicals” ([27:45]).

• [28:03] Dale is caught checking the farm’s security recordings the morning Dee vanished, possibly to erase evidence.

Discovery: Unraveling the Truth

• [30:46] Investigators focus on an old fertilizer tank Dale had been painting at night. With concerns about chemicals, they use Canadian border X-ray equipment and discover a body silhouette ([32:12]).
  • Dee is found inside, wrapped in a tarp. She had died from strangulation and blunt force trauma ([32:46]).
  • Prosecutor or Investigator, [33:01]: “I'm shutting you up forever.”
  • Emotional reactions:
    • Parker Hardy, [32:35]: “I couldn't even breathe. I got in my truck, and I just absolutely lost... five years of emotion just burst out.”

The Trial: Case Against Dale Warner

• [34:00] Prosecution argues Dale killed Dee in a rage over the impending divorce and the prospective loss of the business, then painstakingly hid her in a welded, disguised tank. Key evidence includes:

  • Surveillance of Dale moving the tank in plain sight ([35:53])
  • Dale’s internet searches about chemical cremation
  • A phone call with his son in jail, discussing the tank and X-rays ([36:31])
  • Dale’s fingerprints found on the tank’s new decal ([37:17])

• [38:15] Defense attorney Mary Chartier takes aim at the case:

  • No witnesses, no direct forensic evidence, and an alibi scattered by surveillance.
  • Mary Chartier, [38:30]: “This case is an incredible tragedy… There was absolutely nothing tying Mr. Warner to Ms. Warner going missing or being murdered.”
  • Claims the timeline wouldn’t allow for the crime and cover-up, and that Dale “was a person who was calm and even tempered” ([40:40]).

Verdict and Aftermath

• [41:09] Tense deliberations lead to a guilty verdict of second-degree murder.

  • Andrea Canning, [41:42]: “We did it. We finally got to the point that we wanted to for five years.”
  • Katherine Adams, [42:10]: “Because she wouldn’t have. She would have never given up on any of us.”

• [42:25] Sentencing: Dale receives up to 70 years in prison, eligible for parole at age 91. Family feels bittersweet relief, justice achieved but Dee still gone.

  • Prosecutor, [42:25]: “I only hope that the only way Dale Warner is able to leave prison is in a small, dark box.”
  • Andrea Canning, [42:33]: “We got justice for Dee and I was gonna continue to be her voice.”

• [44:15] Dee's grave is finally marked “Deann,” not Dee Warner—symbolizing a measure of agency and freedom from Dale’s control, even in death.

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Notable Quotes & Standout Moments

• [03:04] “[Dee] drove a Hummer and an Escalade. So her personality would go either ritzy or rugged. Right.” — Prosecutor/Court Witness
• [11:44] “She would never leave Angelina. We couldn’t understand.” — Andrea Canning
• [14:29] “Three in the morning? That’s an odd time. Very odd to be showing up to a farm.” — Greg Hardy
• [26:09] “It is my opinion that Dee did not leave her home voluntarily.” — Prosecutor/Court Witness
• [27:45] “He is searching how to cremate someone using liquid chemicals. And why would you be doing that?” — Prosecutor/Investigator
• [32:12] “The images revealed a clear silhouette of a body, a person lying face down.” — Prosecutor/Court Witness
• [34:22] “I’ve been through one divorce. I sure as hell don’t want to go through another one, no matter what.” — Dale Warner on police video
• [37:56] “Some of your clients have described you as a pit bull in high heels. Mike Tyson in the courtroom.” — Greg Hardy to Mary Chartier
• [41:42] “We did it. We finally got to the point we wanted to for five years.” — Andrea Canning
• [44:15] “That was a big thing. Dale didn’t have control of her anymore, and that was a good feeling. We did. We had her back with us.” — Andrea Canning

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The Tone & Emotional Arcs

• The episode weaves together the heartbreak, frustration, and determination of Dee’s family with the methodical work of investigators. The tone shifts from uncertainty and suspicion to mounting tension, despair, and, finally, bittersweet triumph.
• The voices of Dee’s family and friends paint her as vibrant, fearless, and fiercely loved—making their loss all the more poignant.

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Conclusion

“The Day Dee Disappeared” is a meticulous and emotional true-crime exploration of how a community sought justice for a beloved mother and entrepreneur, how suspicion and loyalty divided families, and how determined advocacy and investigative tenacity finally exposed a hidden crime. Though closure was achieved in court, the family’s longing for Dee—and the joy she brought—remains at the heart of this powerful story.

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Transcript

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[Lester Holt]

Tonight on Dateline.

[Andrea Canning]

Got a knock on my door that changed my whole life that morning. You don't know what to do when somebody goes missing. They didn't want to believe it.

[Greg Hardy]

Dee has just disappeared.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Just disappeared. Drone team with infrared cameras, canines, zero physical evidence.

[Family Friend or Investigator]

She owned a farming company. A strong independent businesswoman.

[Katherine Adams]

They definitely both really wanted to build this big empire.

[Greg Hardy]

You always have to look at the spouse, right?

[Detective Greca]

I hear your wife is missing. I don't know if she's missing or she just left.

[Family Friend or Investigator]

It was not uncommon for her to leave the home.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Both her vehicles were still there. Did somebody come and pick her up?

[Parker Hardy]

There was this rumor of somebody that she might have been having an affair with.

[Greg Hardy]

An employee is seen on the farm in the middle of the night.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

Very suspicious.

[Greg Hardy]

You get word that an X ray has been done.

[Andrea Canning]

Yes, it was starting to become terrifying.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

What the hell is going on here? It's a wholesome farm life in a safe little community where this is not supposed to happen. Right?

[Lester Holt]

Mystery on the farm. A frightening disappearance and fertile ground for secrets. I'm Lester Holt and this is Dateline. Here's Andrea Canning with the day Dee disappeared.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

There's a certain rhythm to farm life in Lenaway County, Michigan. Tilling the soil, planting the crops, tractors crisscrossing the fields at sunrise. Dee Warner knew that cadence by heart.

[Greg Hardy]

She really cared about the farm.

[Parker Hardy]

She did. It was in her blood.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

A sixth generation farmer, 52 year old Dee ran the sprawling farming enterprise with her husband Dale. She was hard charging, fiery.

[Greg Hardy]

Dee drives a Hummer. I mean, do we need to say anything else?

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

Oh, yeah, well, you know, she drove a Hummer in an Escalade. So you can see her personality would go either ritzy or rugged. Right.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dee's brother, Greg Hardy, and his wife Shelly, say she was reliable, too, especially when it came to her five children. So when Dee missed a standing breakfast with her daughter Raquel on a Sunday morning in April 2021, the kids were alarmed.

[Andrea Canning]

Raquel came and said, have you seen my mom? And I said, no, she hasn't come down. And they said, well, we can't find her anywhere.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dee's husband said he was at a loss as well.

[Andrea Canning]

Raquel had called Dale and asked him if he knew where Dee was, and he said no.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

No idea?

[Andrea Canning]

No. He said she was sleeping on the couch, snoring like a baby when he saw her in the morning.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Greg and Shelly didn't panic at first. Dee would often get away for a day or two when she needed time to think. But when their calls went straight to

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

voicemail, I knew something was wrong because she would always answer me. We weren't the people, brother and sister, who chatted about the weather every day or anything like that. There was a purpose, always a purpose, and I'm sure she saw it sometimes when I called, oh, it's Greg. But we would always answer or immediately call back.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Greg and Shelly offered to help look for her.

[Andrea Canning]

We started searching everywhere, every place we could possibly think of. We searched at our offices. We came to the barns. We went. Went back to Dee's, went through her farm.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

At Dee's farmhouse, a couple of things caught Shelley's eye. She didn't see Dee's purse anywhere. And strewn across the furniture, tissues.

[Andrea Canning]

Tissues like she.

[Greg Hardy]

For a nose. Like you blow your nose.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah, her nose was running, but they weren't rumpled up. They were just like maybe wiped her nose and put it down. Wiped her. It was just an unusual thing. It was very odd.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

And outside, both of Dee's vehicles were still there. So she didn't leave in her.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

She wouldn't go anywhere without driving her car, the Hummer or the Escalade.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Early that evening, Dee's kids called the police. Deputy Austin hall arrived at the farmhouse, body cam rolling.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

When I got there, I knocked on the door, didn't get an answer. I saw Dale out in one of the barns. Are you Dale?

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Excellent. I am Deputy.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

All from Lowell County Sheriff's Office.

[Detective Greca]

How are you, sir? Good. So I hear your wife is missing. Well, I don't know if she's missing or she just left.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dale told the deputy his wife was stressed over a recent argument with two employees. Still upset Saturday night, she Picked a fight with him before going to bed with a migraine.

[Detective Greca]

She's got some migraine pills in there that she takes. She took quite a few of those and then she finally basically passed out on the couch. Went to sleep and got her calmed

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

down the next morning. That Sunday, Dale said she was asleep on the couch when he got up to spray the fields. By the time he returned, he said Dee was gone, along with an overnight bag and some beauty products.

[Greg Hardy]

Does Dale seem concerned?

[Deputy Austin Hall]

No, no, not really.

[Detective Greca]

I mean, I would think something was off, but she took her stuff, so, I mean, it's not like somebody forced her to go anywhere. Sure.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

He explained it that, you know, she does this all the time. This is something that is a routine thing where she gets mad and goes off.

[Detective Greca]

I don't want to get everybody all fired up. The kids are all fired up.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

I'm going to call the police and get her.

[Detective Greca]

This isn't the first time she's done this, guys.

[Greg Hardy]

Was there any sign of foul play? Did you see blood anywhere? Did you see a struggle anywhere?

[Deputy Austin Hall]

No, didn't see anything that remotely made me say, you know, something nefarious had occurred there.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Even so, he took a close look at Dale's hands.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

One of the first things you do and are taught as a deputy is you look at somebody's hands, you know, and if somebody I didn't know that was in a domestic situation, they're going to have some kind of self defense marks that would be left on their hands.

[Greg Hardy]

Did you see anything on Dale?

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Nothing. Yep, nothing.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Deputy hall wasn't sure what to make of the situation.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

I called my supervisor and I said, hey, this is what I got. This is weird, but I don't have really anything to go off of. So they said, you know, file your report. Somebody will follow up at some later point.

[Detective Greca]

You got a card kit?

[Parker Hardy]

Yes, I'll give you that.

[Greg Hardy]

Did you think she was going to be found?

[Deputy Austin Hall]

I thought there was a good chance

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

for sure the deputy was right. Dee would be found, but not for a very long time.

[Greg Hardy]

This was consuming you?

[Andrea Canning]

Oh, he was very consumed.

[Greg Hardy]

This image from the X ray was going to change everything.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

It changed everything.

[Parker Hardy]

I couldn't even breathe. It was like five years of emotion just burst out.

[Greg Hardy]

Shelly, what was it like for you as the sun is coming up the next day and still no one has heard from Dee?

[Andrea Canning]

Just difficult because you don't know what to do. You just keep thinking, where in the world would she have gone? What can we do to find her?

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dee Warner's family couldn't imagine why she would walk away from her life. But her brother Greg says she did have that rebellious streak.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

She wasn't feisty girl, and so she was a lot of work, I've heard. Yeah, yeah, it's true.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah, she had a mind of her own, too.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dee was fun, loud, and just as likely to show up in full makeup as she was in work boots.

[Parker Hardy]

That woman would not go to the gas station without being made up.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Parker Hardy is Dee's nephew.

[Greg Hardy]

I love the thought of her in the middle of farm country, made up

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

at all times, all times.

[Parker Hardy]

Delivering lunches to the tractors, working in the fields.

[Greg Hardy]

And her fashion sense was kind of matched her personality.

[Parker Hardy]

Very much so. Very blingy, very. Lots of cheetah print. Very flashy, Very professional, too.

[Greg Hardy]

Like to shop?

[Andrea Canning]

Oh, yeah, she loved to shop, but she worked, she earned the money. So it was more work, the more shopping.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Making money was important to Dee. After raising four kids with her first husband, she fell for Dale, a fellow farmer who shared her ambition.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

She and Dale both were what I

[Greg Hardy]

call empire builders, and they both wanted that. Yeah, so she's a very hard worker

[Andrea Canning]

and they worked together very well.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dale, who was also married with four kids, came from another farming family in town. So when they left their spouses and

[Katherine Adams]

married each other, oh, that was a huge deal.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Katherine Adams is Dee's lifelong friend.

[Katherine Adams]

That was a very big deal because they were, you know, competitive farm families and, you know, they didn't get along.

[Andrea Canning]

And then the real thing that iced the cake was that Dale's ex wife, Mary, Dee's ex husband.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Stop it.

[Andrea Canning]

Yes, it was messy.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

It was very messy. And it was messy for a long time.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Despite the drama, Dee and Dale's partnership paid off. They pooled their resources and built a multimillion dollar farming empire. It included growing crops, seed and fertilizer sales, and a fleet of 18 wheelers. Dale was in charge of farm operations. Dee managed the money, the employees, and her brainchild, the trucking business.

[Greg Hardy]

Dee had to really fit in with men, you know, because like in business, you know, where she's the boss.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Men don't always love that, especially maybe in this business.

[Parker Hardy]

I think that's where she got her a real tough shell and her real fiery personality.

[Katherine Adams]

She wasn't afraid to tell it like it is. She made it happen and by any means necessary. And she didn't care whose toes she

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

stepped on at work and at home. There was one person who was rarely far from Dee's side. Her nine year old daughter, Angelina, the only child she shared with Dale.

[Katherine Adams]

She was a little mini Dee, Just a total diva. Loved makeup, glitter. Cheetah print was a. Yeah, it was

[Greg Hardy]

both of their signatures.

[Katherine Adams]

Yes, definitely.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

Angelina became the love of her life as a little girl. And she drug her everywhere. She's in the office, she's in the car. She's in the truck. She's in whatever.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Which made Dee's sudden disappearance all the more perplexing. Angelina wasn't home when Dee went missing. She was at a sleepover, and she

[Andrea Canning]

would never leave Angelina. We couldn't understand.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dee's relatives expanded their search of the family properties.

[Greg Hardy]

It must have been so daunting. I mean, we're talking about thousands and

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

thousands of acres of land.

[Andrea Canning]

Yeah, we just keep looking, and that's all we could do.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

They began to wonder about Dee's mental health.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

Was she upset enough? Because we knew we'd heard that she was upset the days before, Arguing over some employees, et cetera, that maybe she just had enough. And maybe she did decide to do some self harm.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

As successful as the Warners were, running the business was a lot for Dee. She told her kids she was worn out and wanted a break from it all. Could Dee have taken her own life? As they searched, Parker was afraid of what they might find.

[Parker Hardy]

I thought for sure that I was probably going to see her propped up against a tree. That was what I was bracing myself for.

[Family Member or Listener]

Wow.

[Parker Hardy]

But we saw nothing.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

On that second day, another investigator followed up with Dale at the farm.

[Detective Greca]

I'm detective Greca from the sheriff's department.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

Can we step inside? Talk?

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dale still didn't seem to share the family's anxieties.

[Detective Greca]

What do you think? What's your take? I think she'll be back another day or two.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

But by midweek, after a couple more visits from detectives, Even Dale seemed worried.

[Detective Greca]

And then it started sinking in, like something's off. I mean, I was concerned because she's never left Angelina, ever.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Something else Dee had never done, he said. Leave her wedding ring behind.

[Detective Greca]

When I walk through the office, her ring is on my desk. That's what just something is wrong.

[Greg Hardy]

Did you think that was a sign of trouble in the marriage?

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[Greg Hardy]

That that was her message.

[Billy Little Jr.]

Right.

[Greg Hardy]

You always have to look at the spouse.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Right. And at this point, he had been cooperative with us. He was willing to sit down and have interview with us. More than welcome to invite us inside.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Investigators looked into Dale's story, and the farm's security cameras seemed to back it up. Footage showed Dale heading out to spray the fields the morning Dee disappeared. Just like he said. Employees and friends also told them Dale was a loving husband.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

He's the nicest guy. He wouldn't harm her. She was the hothead.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

I was gonna say he was the calm question.

[Billy Little Jr.]

Cool collection.

[Greg Hardy]

She was like the bad cop.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Yes.

[Greg Hardy]

The good cop.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Right. He's just not capable of it here

[Detective Greca]

with Dale right now.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dale occupied himself with farm chores while investigators worked around him. They searched the property with cadaver dogs and drones with infrared cameras. They watched hours of that security camera footage frame by frame. And that's when they spotted something. A middle of the night visitor who would say soon become a key focus of the investigation.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Three in the morning.

[Greg Hardy]

That's an odd time. Very odd to be showing up to a farm.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Yes.

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[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Lenaway county investigators had a mystery on their hands. Nearly a week had passed and they were no closer to finding mother of five, Dee Warner.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

There was different kind of theories that

[Greg Hardy]

were running right because you have possible suicide.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Absolutely possible.

[Greg Hardy]

Just wants to get away because she can't handle the situation.

[Detective Greca]

Yep.

[Greg Hardy]

Or was there the thought she met with foul play?

[Prosecutor or Investigator]

Absolutely.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

There definitely was the thought that there would be foul play.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dee's cell phone data didn't help narrow it down. Her phone went off the grid around 7am the morning she disappeared. She hadn't used her credit cards or made a withdrawal at a bank either. But Dale said she might not have needed to. The couple routinely kept a lot of money around the house.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

He says, well, she's got cash on her. Oh, well, how much cash are you talking? You know, is it enough to go out to eat a few times, get your nails done? He goes, probably 50 to 100,000. What? I was like, 50 to 100,000. Who

[Greg Hardy]

walks around with cash like that?

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Right, Right. So later, Dale explains that, you know, they had a shared safe.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

With money like that, they thought Dee could be anywhere.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Maybe she's out of the country. Maybe she went to her favorite vacation destination. At this point, we had started contacting the FAA and finding out if there was any sight of her going through an airport, because, I mean, they have records of all that.

[Greg Hardy]

Yeah, nothing.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Nothing. Nothing at all.

[Greg Hardy]

What about international?

[Deputy Austin Hall]

International passport run through the system? No, she had a passport, but it had not been used at all.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Since Both of Dee's SUV's were at the farm, investigators wondered if someone picked her up, maybe another man. Greg says Dee had no shortage of admirers.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

Dee is an attractive woman. She has a flirtatious type personality. I. For everybody, I asked Dale, is there

[Deputy Austin Hall]

a history of affairs?

[Greg Hardy]

What does Dale say?

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Dale says, no, I'm not concerned at all that she'd be having an affair.

[Katherine Adams]

Okay.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Okay. Well, it would be far from the first gentleman to have no idea that his wife is having an affair.

[Greg Hardy]

He might not know.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Absolutely.

[Katherine Adams]

Yeah.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Sure enough, through their interviews, investigators discovered that Dee had been seeing someone, a married builder from town.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

So that goes back to, okay, if she either ran away with him or maybe she wouldn't run away with him, and he came in and did something bad.

[Greg Hardy]

When you have a married lover, it could be the lover. It could be the lover's wife.

[Prosecutor or Investigator]

Right.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

So we chased that lead down as well and contacted him.

[Greg Hardy]

Did he have any reason to be angry with Dee, that she broken up

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

with him and he was resentful?

[Deputy Austin Hall]

He said it was more just a fling kind of a thing.

[Detective Greca]

Thing.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

So just a casual fling or something more complicated? While investigators pursued that lead, they were also hearing about Dee's tell It like it is personality. Had she angered someone to the point of wanting revenge? There were a lot of people who did not like Dee.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Yeah, definitely. Everybody knew Dee, you know, and they all either hated her or loved her or they hated her, but still said she was a nice lady.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Maybe someone had come to the farm looking for her. Investigators took a close look at that security footage. That's when they noticed something. Someone driving onto the property in the middle of the night shortly before Dee disappeared.

[Greg Hardy]

How early?

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Like three in the morning.

[Greg Hardy]

That's an odd time. Very odd to be showing up to a farm.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Yeah. So that immediately red flags were going off everywhere.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Turned out it was Dee's right hand man from her trucking company, Todd Nurek. He was one of the employees Dee fought with right before she went missing. Now here he was in the pre dawn hours picking up a truck and driving it off Dee's farm. Not only that, he signed in on

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

the electronic truck log with a different person's name and driver ID number.

[Greg Hardy]

This is very suspicious.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

Mm, it's very suspicious.

[Greg Hardy]

Was he interviewed? I'm assuming?

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Absolutely.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

And what does he say he's doing

[Greg Hardy]

there in the middle of the night?

[Deputy Austin Hall]

On the first interview, it was very, very cold. He didn't want to give out a whole lot of information. He explained, you know, I had nothing to do with this. I didn't hurt her. I don't know where she is.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Detectives talked to Todd again. Pressed him harder this time. Deputy hall says he admitted to lying, but said it had nothing to do with Dee's disappearance.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

He was just taking a load out of state somewhere and he was driving longer than he was supposed to. And so that's why he was kind of being cold about it, because he was bending the rules to take a load further than he should.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Deputy hall says Todd told detectives if he'd been evasive, it was because of that and nothing else. But Dee's friend Katherine wasn't so sure.

[Katherine Adams]

I thought Dee might have been in that truck.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Despite those leads, there were no immediate arrests. Weeks turned into months. Dee's story went national. Dateline featured it in our Missing in America series. Catherine organized rallies, put up billboards, and formed a Facebook group called justice for Dee.

[Katherine Adams]

We had justice for Dee bracelets we would hand out. We had flyers that went up.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Shelley put a bracelet on her wrist too, and made a vow.

[Greg Hardy]

You were never gonna take it off until you got justice.

[Andrea Canning]

Until I got justice.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dale told Parker he was struggling, so he threw himself into mundane tasks around the farm.

[Parker Hardy]

He said, I'm Worried about where Dee Dee's at. So I told the guys to bring in some tanks, and I would paint them at night when I can't sleep.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

The lack of progress with the investigation was driving Dee's brother crazy.

[Greg Hardy]

This was consuming you?

[Andrea Canning]

Oh, he was very consumed, I can tell you every day. There wasn't a day that Greg didn't work on him.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Luckily, help would soon be on the way. But it came with a warning.

[Billy Little Jr.]

I said, hey, I'll go wherever the evidence leads me. So if it leads me to you, be careful.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Almost a year after Dee's disappearance, investigators had no answers or suspects. Dale had been cooperative, sitting through interviews and searches of his property. But he'd grown tired of people poking around the farm. By now, police had cleared that employee, Todd, who took the truck. And as for the married man Dee

[Deputy Austin Hall]

was seeing, he was out of the state on a family vacation.

[Greg Hardy]

Was this a rock solid alibi?

[Deputy Austin Hall]

Rock solid.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Shelly and Greg had lost hope of ever seeing Dee again.

[Andrea Canning]

Greg said, shelly, you've gotta come to reality that Dee's gone. And that was really hard for me that day because it was such a final. Like, I knew he was right, but I didn't want to believe it.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Now, convinced Dee met with foul play one night, something caught Shelley's attention.

[Greg Hardy]

You're up in the middle of the night watching some type of true crime show, and you see a private investigator, right?

[Andrea Canning]

All the time. We had been told, you know, no body homicides are never proven. You can never prove them without a body. And I saw this guy on there, and all I can remember is him saying, just because you're good at hiding a body doesn't mean you're not a murderer.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Shelly tracked the PI down. Billy Little Jr. Did you think that

[Greg Hardy]

this was something that you could help with?

[Billy Little Jr.]

I did. And so after talking it through with them, I gave them the standard warning. I said, hey, you know, I'll go wherever the evidence leads me. So if it leads me to you, be careful.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Billy, also a successful attorney, occasionally took on cases pro bono. This would be one of them. He drove 10 hours from Missouri with his sleeping bag and a whiteboard and moved on to Greg and Shelley's family farm.

[Billy Little Jr.]

I'm old school, so I'd start laying out the steps. Some of the people I need to interview, some of the places I need to look.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

He sent up drones looking for Dee, spoke with dozens of people in her circle, and walked acres of the family property with Greg. One day, Dale pulled up. He wasn't happy.

[Greg Hardy]

So now you're face to face with Dale.

[Billy Little Jr.]

Yep. And Dale goes 0 to 100. In a split second, he has words with Greg. Then he turns on his heel, gets in his truck, and leaves.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

To Billy, it seemed an odd reaction. Greg had his own growing suspicions. Dale never joined a single search seemed detached. And as for that diamond ring Dee supposedly left behind, the wedding ring thing

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

didn't make sense at all because Dee would never leave him anything.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Billy took a closer look at their relationship. He learned there were frequent fights over money.

[Billy Little Jr.]

There were people who witnessed aggressive arguments.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

That argument the night before Dee went missing. Dee's friends believed it was bigger than Dale let on. Dee planned to tell him she was selling the trunking company and wanted a divorce. Billy could only come to one conclusion. Dale killed Dee. Dee's family agreed. Parker, who lived next door to Dale, was on pins and needles.

[Greg Hardy]

What was that like living so close to him?

[Parker Hardy]

It was treacherous. It was terrible. It put a lot of stress on

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

me, his fear that Dale might target him to derail his father Greg's campaign for justice.

[Greg Hardy]

You say you slept kind of with one eye open?

[Parker Hardy]

Always. You know, I never thought that I would have to sleep with a gun on my nightstand, but I did.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Greg couldn't keep quiet any longer. At a vigil for Dee, with the community listening publicly, he announced that he

[Andrea Canning]

thought Dale was the one that murdered Dee.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

The intensity of this domestic dispute between Dee and Dale got elevated to a point which seemed of no return. It is my opinion that Dee did not leave her home voluntarily. Okay, let's call it like it is. On Saturday night, April 24, 2020, when there are two people in a house on Saturday, Sunday morning, there was only one.

[Greg Hardy]

Greg is now publicly calling out Dale.

[Katherine Adams]

It kind of put the pressure on because we all thought it, but now we're saying it publicly.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

While others around town, like Dale's children, customers and employees supported him, the tight knit community split in two.

[Parker Hardy]

It was truly more than it ever had been. The Hatfields and McCoys, there was no mixing. You were either a justice for Dee warrior, as people refer to it, or you were team Dale.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dee's family and friends pressured the sheriff with rallies and impromptu visits. Finally, 15 months after Dee disappeared, he handed the case over to Michigan State Police.

[Katherine Adams]

That was a huge relief. That was probably one of the best moments in the entire case because that was when we finally felt heard.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Investigators came in with fresh eyes and big resources. Teaming up with prosecutors Jackie wise and David McCready, they set out to rebuild the case from the ground up.

[Family Friend or Investigator]

I think they searched over 3,000 acres of land looking for Dee's body.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

They didn't find her, but searches on Dale's devices turned up some troubling digital clues.

[Prosecutor or Investigator]

He is searching how to cremate someone using liquid chemicals. And why would you be doing that?

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

And the morning Dee vanished, Dale logged onto the farm's security camera system. Investigators suspected he was checking the footage for anything that could implicate him.

[Greg Hardy]

When does this really turn in your eyes? From missing woman to murdered woman.

[Family Friend or Investigator]

Early in 2023, Michigan State Head Police sat me down and they went over the case from top to bottom. And by the time that they were done, I was fully convinced.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

But trying an entirely circumstantial case wouldn't be easy.

[Family Friend or Investigator]

Without the body, you've got a mountain to climb over.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

So prosecutors consulted the family before moving forward.

[Greg Hardy]

What did the family say to you?

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Let's do it. How's it going? Two and a half years after Dee disappeared, Dale Warner was arrested and charged with her murder. You're under arrest for the murder of you, Warner. With Dale behind bars, investigators continued to look for evidence. And the break they'd been waiting for was closer than they knew.

[Greg Hardy]

This image from the X ray was going to change everything.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

It changed everything.

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[Parker Hardy]

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[Narrator / Dateline Host]

The case against Dale Warner headed for trial. Even as the search for Dee continued, her brother Greg kept coming back to something he'd noticed right after she disappeared.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

Day or two after she went missing, we were down getting fertilizer, and I went in the sprayer barn. I saw a rusty, old anhydrous tank sitting in that building. And Dale was working on it.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Remember, Dale told Parker he would paint tanks at night when he couldn't sleep.

[Parker Hardy]

I said, dale, what the hell are you doing with this tank?

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Greg says he mentioned it to the sheriff's department right away. Now he brought it up again with the state police. And a few days later, a detective called him.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

He said, I want you to know that we are doing some more investigation about that tank thing. They came to this location. They found a tank that actually was freshly painted.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

It was found on another of Dale's properties about three miles from his house. Investigators worried if they cut the tank open, whatever chemicals were inside could be dangerous.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

They said, listen, do you know anywhere we could get a tank like this? And I remember that when we crossed the Canadian border, they have an X ray of trucks.

[Greg Hardy]

Wow. Okay. So they took the tank to customs at the Canadian border.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

Yeah, they loaded it right here in this driveway.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

One look at the X ray, and the lead detective immediately called the prosecution team.

[Prosecutor or Investigator]

And as he's telling me this, I can feel the hair on the back of my neck rising.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

The images revealed a clear silhouette of a body, a person lying face down. They opened the tank, and there was Dee, still in her pajamas, wrapped in a tarp.

[Andrea Canning]

You're so happy that you have her, but it's sad that, you know, that she's in there.

[Parker Hardy]

I couldn't even breathe. I got in my truck, and I just absolutely lost was like five years of emotion just burst out.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

The medical examiner concluded Dee died of strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head.

[Prosecutor or Investigator]

There's some amount of vindictiveness, too, because not only did he kill her, then he wrapped her mouth and nose in duct Tape before he put her in the tarp.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

I'm shutting you up forever.

[Prosecutor or Investigator]

Shutting you up for good.

[Greg Hardy]

Yes. If he did this.

[Katherine Adams]

Yes.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Prosecutors had the final piece they'd been hoping for. In February 2023, Dale Warner's trial began. It had been nearly five years since Dee's disappearance.

[Prosecutor or Investigator]

This is Dee Warner. April 24, 2021. She went home to tell her husband, the defendant, that the marriage was over.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dee's close friend testified that she'd seen her that afternoon.

[Andrea Canning]

I could tell she had been crying. She had, like,

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

red, blotchy spots on

[Andrea Canning]

her, on her neck.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

She said she was done. Dee's son told jurors his mom was ready to confront Dale.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

She was done with everything.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

She didn't want to do the trucking company anymore.

[Deputy Austin Hall]

She didn't want to be with dale anymore. She wanted to sell everything and be done.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Prosecutors theorized Dale snapped, strangled Dee, then staged an elaborate cover up. The motive, money. They suggested that selling the farm operation would especially hurt Dale because only the trucking business was profitable and Dee controlled that. They showed the court a video of Dale telling police how costly another divorce would be.

[Detective Greca]

I've been through one divorce. I sure as hell don't want to go through another one, no matter what. It's not.

[Family Friend or Investigator]

When you go back and look at his first divorce, he lost his farm. He had to pay hundreds of dollars for in child support every month.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

After killing Dee at their farmhouse, prosecutors said Dale worked fast to hide her body.

[Prosecutor or Investigator]

We're pretty confident that at that point, he put her body into that front end loader and moved her to the spray barn. We also know that there is a humongous safe that had been in that spray barn for months, and there's not a place in there that you could safely stow a body other than the safe that was in there.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Then they said he moved her from the safe to that tank, tank number 34, welded it shut, painted it, and applied inspection decals. Now all that footage deputies collected on the farm took on a new meaning. What looked like routine work, they argued, that was actually Dale covering up a murder.

[Detective Greca]

Here with Dale right now, you know, you do. You know several things.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Here he is speaking with investigators in the barn just a few feet from the tank. Later, he warned them about chemicals in the barn, A ploy, prosecutor said, to keep cadaver dogs away from the body.

[Detective Greca]

I just didn't want you to take the dogs in there because the floor is still covered with it and they'll soak up through the feet. We lost one of Our shepherds from that one time.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Prosecutors believe from there, Dale only became more brazen. They played footage of him on the front loader moving the tank around the farm right in front of them.

[Prosecutor or Investigator]

Those men on the pad are part of the search team. They're running a drone. Here comes the jcb. It was Dale behind the wheel of that jcb. And here it comes with the tank.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Hearing the court testimony, Parker realized there had been clues all along.

[Parker Hardy]

Looking back all these years now, I have such an untrained eye, because all I was looking for was d. And now that we know everything that we know, There was so much more.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

There were so many clues.

[Detective Greca]

So much.

[Greg Hardy]

The surveillance footage from all those cameras. Like little easter eggs.

[Parker Hardy]

Exactly.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Prosecutors played a call Dale made from jail to his son Jaren shortly after the tank was seized.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

So they took that tank, and now they're x ray or something.

[Detective Greca]

Then if they don't get any x

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

rays, they're cutting it open. I was like, what a waste of time.

[Detective Greca]

Time.

[Prosecutor or Investigator]

Yeah.

[Detective Greca]

Wow. That's not good.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Investigators wondered if Jiren was involved. We got a warrant for your arrest, buddy.

[Progressive Insurance Narrator]

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[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Even arresting him as an accessory before dropping the charges. They said that jailhouse call proved Dale knew Dee was in the tank.

[Family Member or Listener]

Okay.

[Billy Little Jr.]

Can I see?

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

At trial, a forensic scientist testified that Dale's fingerprint was found on a decal.

[Prosecutor or Investigator]

What was the result of your comparison?

[Family Friend or Investigator]

My result was that it was Dale Warner's left middle finger.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Another expert took the jury through those Internet searches Dale made in the days after Dee disappeared. This is on gizmodo for what is liquid cremation and why is it illegal? This is from google. What to do with 1000 gallon propane tank. After 12 days, the prosecution rested. The defense had its work cut out for it. But in Dale's camp, one of the best defense attorneys in the state. Some of your clients have described you

[Greg Hardy]

as a pit bull in high heels. Mike Tyson in the courtroom.

[Mary Chartier]

They have, they have. And a lot more. And a lot more than that.

[Greg Hardy]

You may be seated Inside the packed Lenaway county courthouse.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dale Warner faced the fight of his life. Charged with murder and evidence tampering at his side. High profile defense attorney Mary Chartier. Some of your clients have described you

[Greg Hardy]

as a pit bull in high heels. Mike Tyson in the courtroom.

[Mary Chartier]

They have, they have. And a lot more. And a lot more than that. This case is an incredible tragedy, and there's no doubt about that. There was no witness. There was absolutely nothing tying Mr. Warner to Ms. Warner going missing or Being murdered.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Her strategy convinced the jury of reasonable doubt. Chartier argued the state presented an entirely circumstantial case.

[Mary Chartier]

The lack of any sort of forensic evidence that Mr. Warner committed this crime at all. So no DNA, nothing like that, as well as the timeline of the day where she is missing.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

She told jurors there just wasn't time for her client to commit murder, move the body, and weld the tank shut. And the surveillance cameras prove it.

[Mary Chartier]

When you really look at the surveillance video footage from that day, he is both on the property and off the the property all day long. He's on camera dozens and dozens and dozens of time throughout the day doing his farm chores.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

The defense also said Dale didn't limit where family members could search. When Dee first vanished.

[Mary Chartier]

You would think that he would want to put some restrictions on people and be like, well, don't go in there because there's a body in there or there's a tank in there. He puts no restrictions on anyone at all.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Then Chartier poked holes in some of the state's most compelling evidence. That jail call about tank number 34. She said it wasn't a confession, just a farmer reacting to news that investigators were back on his property.

[Mary Chartier]

Of course, someone would be annoyed or frustrated by property being searched yet again that had already been searched.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

And Dale's fingerprint on the tank. That was hardly surprising. It was his farm. Chartier also pointed out to jurors that investigators could couldn't prove the tank Dale was seen moving in front of them was the same one that held Dee's remains.

[Mary Chartier]

If he had a concern about that, he wouldn't have just gone to farm. He would have moved the tank that everyone is saying he's trying to hide.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Then the defense tackled the question at the heart of the prosecution's case, the

[Greg Hardy]

why Dale just snapped. Dee was going to leave him.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

He's controlling.

[Greg Hardy]

He was not going to let that happen.

[Mary Chartier]

That's just not the reality of their relationship, that he would snap. He was a person who was calm and even tempered.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

After calling only three witnesses, the defense rested and the jurors went to work.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

It all hangs in the jury, right?

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

They would decide if Dale was guilty of first degree murder, meaning premeditation, second degree or not guilty.

[Katherine Adams]

It was very tense. It was very, very tense. A lot of anxiety.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Then the verdict. Guilty of second degree murder. For the family who had pushed so hard for answers, justice had finally come.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

We can almost change this from justice for D, for victory for D. Right.

[Detective Greca]

So.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

She would be very thrilled.

[Greg Hardy]

What is Your emotion. What's your feeling in the courtroom when you hear that guilty verdict?

[Andrea Canning]

We did it. We finally got to the point that we wanted to for five years. We would have liked first degree, but we were satisfied.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

Well, that thing would be out of character if I said I was satisfied. Okay. As I told you, prosecutors, good news. You don't have to put up with me anymore. The bad news is he should have been convicted of first degree. First degree murder.

[Greg Hardy]

So many of you never gave up.

[Andrea Canning]

Mm.

[Katherine Adams]

Because she wouldn't have. She would have never given up on any of us. She would have burned the whole town down until she found us.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Two months after the verdict, Dale Warner walked into the courtroom for his sentencing wearing shackles and bright orange.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

I only hope that the only way Dale Warner is able to leave prison is in a small, dark box.

[Andrea Canning]

Here we are. Finally. The day of judgment for Dale Warner. After I got my statement done, I thought, this is a good time to take my bracelet off that we got justice for Dee and I was gonna continue to be her voice. We got justice.

[Greg Hardy]

That's a real bittersweet moment. Doesn't bring Dee back.

[Andrea Canning]

No, because you do get justice and you're happy. But we still don't have Dee.

[Mary Chartier]

Yes, you, Honor. Thank you.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dale Warner's attorney read a statement on his behalf.

[Mary Chartier]

He loved his wife. He maintains his innocence, and he did not kill his wife.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

The judge gave Dale a sentence of up to 70 years in prison. He will be eligible for parole when he turns 91.

[Greg Hardy]

He will be an old man by the time he's even eligible for parole.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

Well, hopefully he's extremely old and extremely dead when he has to come out of there.

[Parker Hardy]

He should go as far away as possible, and that way, the family can't visit him because there are no visitation rites for us in heaven.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

For the mother of five, the grandmother of seven, her legacy is the joy she brought to all those around her.

[Andrea Canning]

She was the life of the party in a spitfire. And that she'll never stop speaking because I'm gonna be her voice.

[Narrator / Dateline Host]

Dee was finally laid to rest. Her grave marked not as Dee Warner, but simply deann.

[Andrea Canning]

That was a big thing. Dale didn't have control of her anymore, and that was a good feeling. We did. We had her back with us.

[Greg Hardy]

Heart of gold.

[Prosecutor or Court Witness]

Yeah. Big heart. Very big heart.

[Andrea Canning]

Very big heart.

[Lester Holt]

And that's all for this edition of Dateline. Don't forget to check out our talking Dateline podcast, in which we'll go behind the scenes of tonight's episode, available Wednesday in the Dateline feed wherever you get your podcasts. We'll see you again next Friday at 10, 9 Central. I'm Lester Holt. For all of us at NBC News, good night.

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