Dateline Missing in America – Ep. 24: The Cold Case of Nancy Snow

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Dateline Missing in America – Ep. 24: The Cold Case of Nancy Snow

Podcast: Dateline Originals
Episode Title: The Cold Case of Nancy Snow
Host/Narrator: Josh Mankiewicz (NBC News)
Date: September 5, 2025

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Main Theme / Purpose

This episode explores the unresolved 1980 disappearance of Nancy Snow, a vibrant mother of three and political operative who vanished after attending a political victory party in Baltimore, Maryland. Through interviews with her daughters, investigators, and archival material, the episode delves into Nancy's life, the timeline of her disappearance, the investigation’s twists, and the primary person of interest, aiming to keep public attention on the case and solicit new leads.

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Episode Structure & Key Discussion Points

I. Nancy Snow’s Background and Disappearance

[00:59–04:34] Introduction to Nancy Snow

• Nancy Snow, 44, disappeared after a political party on Nov 4, 1980.
• Daughters Kimberly, Justine, and Stacy recount vivid, loving memories of their mother.
  • “She was just so full of light. She was so amazing. She always made you feel like you were the most important person in the room.” — Nancy Snow's Daughter [01:48]
• Nancy’s wanderlust and multilinguistic skills stemmed from her life with Bob Snow, an Army intelligence and foreign service officer. The family lived abroad and stateside, immersing themselves in global cultures.

[05:23–06:29] Major Life Transitions

• Nancy's separation from Bob Snow in 1978 led to new independence. She moved to Annapolis, Maryland to further her political ambitions.

[07:12–09:16] New Life and New Relationships

• Worked for the RNC and began a romance with Bobby Goodman, a prominent political TV producer.
• After inheriting money and finalizing her divorce, Nancy considered leaving politics to start a charter boating business.

Memorable Quote:

• “I am deliriously in love with a big-time political TV producer from Baltimore. Probably won’t last, but for the moment, we’re bonkers. Neat.” — Nancy in a letter to daughter Stacy [08:11]

II. Nancy’s Last Known Movements and Early Investigation

[09:55–11:17] Timeline Leading to Disappearance

• On Election Day 1980, Nancy planned to attend an event and call her family the next day. That call never came.
• Paul Collins, her casual boyfriend and house-sitter, claimed she left for a boating trip and would be back by Christmas.

[11:46–12:22] The Search Begins

• Daughter Stacy traveled to Annapolis; Paul resisted relinquishing the apartment keys, insisting Nancy would return.
• An impromptu search for Nancy in Florida yielded no leads.

Memorable Moment:

• “He goes, yeah, I sleep in your mom’s room. And I’m like, what?” — Stacy recounting Paul's behavior [11:46]

[13:12–13:19] Paul’s Friends in Nancy’s Space

• Stacy noted Paul’s friends using Nancy’s belongings, raising red flags about his story and intentions.

[15:47–16:13] Family Doubts

• Daughters doubted Nancy, who stayed in constant touch, would suddenly vanish without word.
• The “boat job” claim never made sense to them.

Quote:

• “She talked me into moving out there and going to college there instead of California. Why would she just then just go poof?” — Nancy’s Daughter [15:57]

[16:41–18:53] Red Flags and Deceptions

• Paul told the family Nancy’s belongings were destroyed in a flood; Stacy discovered no such flood had occurred, and that Paul had not reported Nancy missing promptly.
• Friends of Paul found with Nancy's personal effects, including her nightgown and even her bed.

III. The Investigation Widens

[21:44–23:13] Expanding the Circle

• Host Mankiewicz discusses potential personal connection, underscoring the close-knit nature of 1980s political circles in DC/Baltimore.

[22:22–27:44] Police Interviews and Dead Ends

• Paul Collins told conflicting stories (airport pickup vs. hotel, car details, timeline shifts).
• Nancy’s boyfriend Bobby Goodman confirmed an affair but insisted he last saw her leaving in a car with another man.
• Paul Collins reported Nancy left to work with “Captain J” on a boat, but police found no evidence this person existed or that Nancy left by boat.

Detective Insight:

• “The lack of a footprint for such a busy woman is, in today’s terms, just unthinkable. But it was the norm.” — Detective William Noel [23:13]
• “You don’t think Nancy ever went to sea? You don’t think Nancy ever got on a boat? You don’t think she made it out of Annapolis?” — Mankiewicz
  “No to all.” — Detective Noel [39:39]

IV. Circumstantial Evidence and Paul Collins’ Role

[28:44–30:39] Relationships & Suspicions

• Nancy’s daughters viewed Paul's relationship with Nancy as platonic or convenient, while he claimed intimacy.
• Paul wrote checks from Nancy’s accounts post-disappearance, disposed of her belongings, and provided contradictory statements.

Detective Analysis:

• “Paul maintained that he had that permission to pay her bills, give himself a quick stipend as needed...The issue is we have nobody to refute it because Nancy’s, you know, missing.” — Detective William Noel [29:50]

[31:13–32:00] The Limits of Circumstantial Evidence

• Despite numerous suspicions, authorities lacked enough evidence to prosecute.

[34:24–36:34] Later Investigations

• Nancy declared legally dead in 1988, and the case reclassified as homicide in 1989.
• DA David Cordle and police re-interviewed witnesses, including Bobby Goodman (who was reserved yet cooperative) and Paul Collins (who was evasive, sometimes invoked the Fifth Amendment, and in later years gave changing stories).

[36:34–41:36] Timeline Shifts and Contradictions

• Collins shifted his story about where he picked Nancy up, and his account of her leaving with Captain J, but none of these details matched what Nancy's daughters knew about their meticulous, communication-loving mother.

Quote about Paul Collins:

• “He was trying to make it sound like my mom went off with friends, not strangers, so that we wouldn't worry...” — Nancy’s Daughter [38:36]

V. The Current Status & Hopes for Closure

[41:36–43:25] Person of Interest & Motives

• Paul Collins remains the only significant person of interest; motives could include jealousy or financial gain.
• Detective Noel is candid about investigative challenges, lacking the probable cause needed for charges.

Quote:

• “Absolutely, but not a suspect—can’t call him a suspect yet. But I will say that he’s a person of interest, nearly a suspect. But I can’t say that he’s a suspect, because right now we’re circumstantial. I don’t have my PC yet.” — Detective William Noel [41:21]

[43:25–46:34] Enduring Grief and Family Resilience

• The family’s emotional journey, with old cassette tapes bringing the sound of Nancy’s voice across decades.
• The daughters, now mothers themselves, carry on Nancy’s spirit and hope for answers.

Memorable Family Reflections:

• “She would sing me to sleep. She would read me stories. And I think maybe most of all, I really miss that voice...when I listen to them talk, when I don’t see them and I listen to them, they sound like my mom.” — Nancy’s Daughter [44:39]
• “She just believed that I was extraordinary and that I was capable of anything...I think the most powerful is how to believe in myself and how to love myself.” — Nancy’s Daughter [46:14]

[46:41] Final Word from Justine

• “I want justice to be served. I want to know the truth. I will never stop looking for our mom.” — Justine [46:41]

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Notable Quotes & Moments With Timestamps

• “She was just so full of light...made you feel like the most important person in the room.” — Nancy's Daughter [01:48]
• “I am deliriously in love with a big-time political TV producer from Baltimore...” — Nancy’s Letter [08:11]
• “He goes, yeah, I sleep in your mom’s room. And I'm like, what?” — Stacy [11:46]
• “She would never not call us.” — Nancy's Daughter [32:00]
• “You don’t think Nancy ever made it out of Annapolis?” “No to all.” — Mankiewicz and Detective Noel [39:39]
• “He chose not to talk with us. Numerous attempts had been made. In 2005, Paul Collins was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury...He took the fifth.” — Detective summary [36:34]
• "I want justice to be served. I want to know the truth. I will never stop looking for our mom." — Justine [46:41]

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Important Segments With Timestamps

• [00:59–04:34] Nancy’s early life and family
• [06:04–09:16] Move to Annapolis, political work, new relationships
• [09:55–12:22] Election night disappearance and initial responses
• [13:12–16:41] Early search, suspicions regarding Paul Collins
• [22:22–27:44] Police efforts, focus on Captain J and interview inconsistencies
• [29:50–31:13] Circumstantial evidence and limitations for prosecution
• [34:24–36:34] Later phase of investigation, shifting witness testimonies
• [41:21–43:25] Paul Collins as person of interest, investigative roadblocks
• [44:39–46:41] Family’s reflections, memory, and hope for justice

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Call to Action

If you have information about Nancy Snow’s disappearance:
Contact Annapolis Police Department at 410-268-9000 (ask for Corporal William Noel).

See photos and learn more at datelinemissinginamerica.com.

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Overall Tone:
Respectful, emotional, and persistent, reflecting both the family’s pain and the podcast’s commitment to keeping cold cases alive in public memory and under investigative scrutiny.

Transcript

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

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[Detective William Noel]

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[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

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[Detective William Noel]

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[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

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[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

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[Detective William Noel]

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[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

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[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

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[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

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[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

See mintmobile.com November 4, 1980 was an election that changed America. The polls were still open on the West coast when NBC's John Chancellor called the race. Reagan is our projected winner. Ronald Wilson Reagan of California. There he is, the President Elect. Across the country, Republicans were toasting their win. In Baltimore, Maryland, 44 year old Nancy Snow was celebrating at a victory party. Occasions like this were her sweet spot. Kimberly, Justine and Stacy Snow are her daughters.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

She was just so full of light. She was so amazing. She always made you feel like you were the most important person in the room.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Those memories of their mother are vivid. They are also frozen in time because not long after that party ended, Nancy Snow vanished.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

I have been obsessed my entire life with finding my mom. You go down these rabbit holes and you spend years just researching, researching, researching.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

This kind of takes over your life, doesn't it?

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

Oh, absolutely.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Nancy's missing persons case is one of the oldest and maybe the coldest at the Annapolis Police Department. And her daughters cannot understand why.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

It seemed too obvious. If something happened, why couldn't they solve it?

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

They are convinced they know who is responsible for their mother's disappearance. The detective assigned to Nancy's case has his eye on someone, too.

[Detective William Noel]

He's still alive. So to me, no one's gotten away with anything until they're unavailable for prosecution.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

To tell Nancy's story, we had to reach back into the distant past. And that's where things got unexpectedly personal for me. I had a strong sense when I heard her name that I had met your mom.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

Wow.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

People talk a lot about six degrees of separation. It turned out there are fewer than that between Nancy Snow and myself. I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and this is Missing in America, a podcast from Dateline. This episode is the Cold Case of Nancy Snow. Please listen closely because you or someone you know may have information that could help Nancy Snow's family find the answers they're still looking for in her daughter's memories. Nancy Snow is a young and vibrant mother whose energy was boundless.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

She was fearless, and she was really funny.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

That's Kimberly, the baby of the family. And Justine is the middle sister.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

She loved adventures. She loved travel.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Stacy is the oldest.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

My mom not only spoke English and French, but she knew German, she knew Portuguese, Spanish, Greek, Italian, and she knew some Russian because part of my dad's job was to deal with Russian dignitaries back in the day.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Their father, Bob Snow, was an army intelligence officer who also worked in the foreign Service. His career took the family across the globe, and Nancy relished her life abroad. She shared the family's exploits with relatives back in the States. It was the era of letters, postcards, and cassette tapes.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

I thought, rather than try to write you tonight, I'd make you one of these click tapes.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

In the spring of 1973, Nancy sent her father this recording from Berlin.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

I've never seen a big city so full of parks and trees and gardens and flowers, and it is just breathtakingly beautiful.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

By early fall 1974, the snows had moved back to the States and settled in Carmel, California. Nancy got involved in local politics and worked for the March of Dimes. Justine says her mom was always volunteering for something.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

Sandcastle contests, pumpkin carving contests, field trips.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

She was volunteering and she was bringing you along.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

She was bringing us along.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Life was full and busy, but beneath the surface, Nancy was restless. In 1978, she and Bob separated, and Nancy moved into a condo in downtown Carmel.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

It was so devastating for me. It was the first heartbreak of my entire life.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

About a year later, Nancy shook things up once more. She announced she was moving to Annapolis, Maryland. What did she say about moving to the East Coast? Why'd she want to do that?

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

Politics. She wanted to get into politics big time.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

She began working for the Republican National Committee, traveling and making connections in the big leagues of national politics. In June 1980, her divorce became final, and later that summer, Nancy moved to an apartment at 91 East street in downtown Annapolis. It was close to the harbor, and she enlisted a man named Paul Collins to help her with the move. They dated casually and stayed friends. It was a scramble because the RNC was sending Nancy to Missouri to work on candidate Jean McNary's Senate campaign. She would be based in St. Louis for two months and Paul was going to house sit for her.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

She asked him if he could just please, just, you know, watch over the apartment. Just make sure everything's okay, it doesn't get broken into.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Nancy sent a steady stream of letters and postcards to all three of her daughters while she was in St. Louis. Her tone in those dispatches is loving and playful. Her paragraphs are sprinkled with smiley faces and exclamation points. Here's Kimberly describing a postcard she received.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

She complimented my 9th grade photo from school. She said it was merely fantastic, all in caps and noted that I was smiling in it and said a first. I think.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Her daughters, who were by then 14, 15 and 19 years old, were happy. And so was she. Because right around then is when some kind of romantic lightning struck. Nancy Snow. In a letter Nancy wrote to Stacy in September 1980, she shared this piece of news. I must tell you, I am deliriously in love with a big time political TV producer from Baltimore. Probably won't last, but for the moment, we're bonkers. Neat. Election Day 1980 drew closer, meaning Nancy would soon face some choices. When the McNary for Senate campaign ended, she would be out of a job. What would she do next? What would become of her relationship with that new man? And would she stay in Annapolis? Nancy told her daughters she was sure about this. She wanted to get out of politics and try something different, like working and living on the water.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

She said, I'm just gonna start a charter business. I'm gonna run the show. I'm gonna take people to the islands and I'm gonna live a peaceful life.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

She actually told me that financially, Nancy was in a position to make some big choices. Her father's recent death had given her an inheritance, plus she had money from the divorce. Nancy seemed serious about this change of course. In a letter to Kimberly, she mentioned a job prospect on a boat as a cook. Kimberly read me an excerpt.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

Paul seems to think I have the boat cook job in my pocket. It's a 52 foot swan, a big boat. It's supposed to go between Fort Lauderdale and the islands. I don't know if I'll take it or not.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Part of her hesitation may have involved Stacy, who was set on going to the University of Maryland College and she was going to live with Nancy. She planned to come to Annapolis after Nancy returned from St. Louis. Let's recap the Senate races, which we've been able to project so far tonight. First of all, on November 4th, election day, Nancy's candidate, Jean McNary, was losing his Senate race, but Republicans were on the verge of a big win nationally. Nancy's family says she called them in Carmel before she left St. Louis and told them she was going to a political event that night in Baltimore and would call again when she came home to Annapolis the next day. On November 5, Nancy did not call again, as she had promised. A couple more days went by, and there was still no word from her. Now, in 1980, cell phones barely existed, and it was not unusual for people to go days without calling unless you were Nancy Snow. Justine urged her father to check with Nancy's house sitter, Paul Collins. Maybe he knew where she was.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

So my dad did call and talk to Paul Collins, and he said that my mom had gone on this boat trip and she'll be home by Christmas.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Justine says Paul told her father not to worry because Nancy was sailing with friends of a friend. Christmas came and went, and Nancy had not returned. Stacy went ahead with her plans to fly to Maryland. She arrived two days after Christmas, and Paul picked her up from the airport. When they got to Nancy's apartment, Stacy expected him to hand over the keys, but she says he did not.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

He goes, no, no, I stay here. I'm watching the house. And I'm like, what? He goes, yeah, I sleep in your mom's room. And I'm like, what?

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Stacy had just met Paul for the first time at the airport. She was not happy with the arrangement, but felt she did not really have a choice. A few more days went by with no sign of Nancy, and by now Stacy was really worried. So Paul said he'd alert the Coast Guard to keep an eye out for Nancy, and then he suggested they take a road trip to look for Nancy themselves.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

He heard that if we go down to Fort Lauderdale, where he thinks mom got on a boat, we could talk to the Fort Lauderdale police. He goes, so let's drive down there and let's check it out.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Paul and Stacy piled into Nancy's turquoise Volkswagen Beetle and drove through the night down I95 to Fort Lauderdale. When they got there more than 16 hours later, Paul went to the police station to file a missing persons report. Stacy walked around town showing people photos of Nancy and asking if they'd seen her. No one had. A few days later, they drove back to Maryland. Stacy says a few of Paul's friends were hanging around the apartment apartment, and that made her uncomfortable.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

They would come over and they would be smoking pot, they would be doing stuff. And that, that's not my thing.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Stacy decided to go back to California. She says Paul told her he had also filed a missing persons report with the Annapolis police, which meant two police departments in two states would be on the lookout for Nancy. Soon, the search for Nancy Snow would shift to international waters and become a quest to find another person, a mysterious character known as Captain J. Let's talk about the Captain J Story, okay? Anybody ever speak with him? The answer to that question is complicated foreign.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

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[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

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[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

If we made $15 bills, but it.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

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[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

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[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

April 1981. Nancy Snow's family had not heard from her for more than five months. By then, her daughters were certain she was not on a boat trip in the Caribbean because deep in their bones, they knew their mother would absolutely have told them all about it.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

She would let us know. She always kept us informed.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

All three daughters knew how much Nancy was looking forward to Stacy coming to live with her in Annapolis.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

She talked me into moving out there and going to college there instead of California. Why would she just then just go poof?

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

You know, at the very least, Stacy, she would have said to you, hey, plans have changed. I've taken this boat job.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

Exactly.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

With her mother missing, Stacy scrapped her plans to attend the University of Maryland. Now she faced the task of moving Nancy's belongings back to California. Stacy's godfather, a family friend who lived in Washington, D.C. was going to help her pack up the apartment. As they were making their plans, Nancy's house sitter, Paul Collins, phoned with some bad news.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

Paul called my father and me and said, you don't need to come out because I hate to tell you this. It was a terrible flood and your mom lost everything.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

To Stacy, that made zero sense. Nancy's apartment was on the third floor of a brownstone, and there were no reports of a biblical level flood in Annapolis. Of course, it was possible a water pipe had burst, but Paul had not said that. And to Stacy and her father, the timing of the call seemed suspicious. So Stacy called the Annapolis police. And that is when she learned something that stunned her. It turned out Paul Collins had not reported Nancy missing to local police back in January, after they'd returned from Fort Lauderdale. You took his word for it?

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

Yeah. I mean, you're 18, you know, you're expecting adults to do the right thing.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Stacy had barely absorbed this news when she got a call that set off more alarm bells. A friend in Annapolis said she'd seen someone driving Nancy's car and had spotted friends of Paul Collins wearing Nancy's clothes. Stacy got on a plane and headed to Maryland. By then, Paul Collins had filed a missing persons report with Annapolis police, but only two days before Stacy arrived on the east coast and five and a half months after Nancy's disappearance. In that document, Collins told police he had reported Nancy missing in Fort Lauderdale in January and did not know he needed to file another report with Annapolis authorities. By that time, Paul had moved out of Nancy's apartment on East Street. Stacy says when she and her godfather went there to check on Nancy's belongings, police came with them. The landlord unlocked the door, so the.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

Police had me stand in the hallway, and they came in first.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

After the officers checked out the apartment, Stacy walked in and her heart sank.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

There was nothing. Nothing there.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Stacy says her mother's clothes and furniture were gone. So were the belongings Stacy had shipped from California for college. Other than a small amount of food in the refrigerator, the apartment was empty. There was no sign of that flood Paul had mentioned either. So why were Nancy's belongings missing, and where were they? Stacy says she and her godfather, along with police, tracked down some of the people who had her mother's possessions, which Paul Collins had apparently given away. At one point, they visited a woman who was a friend of Paul's and who, when she opened the door to Stacy, was wearing Nancy's nightgown.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

She was wearing my mother's nightgown, My mother's nightgown. And we go upstairs and they're eating off my mother's plates. They're watching TV on my mother's tv. They're sleeping on my mother's bed.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

None of that supported the story that Nancy had left on a boat adventure and was planning to return in late December. It was quite the opposite. Everything Stacy had seen and heard only deepened her gut feeling that something terrible had happened to her mother. Police wanted to ask Paul Collins more questions, but according to the case file, they had trouble locating him in the months after he filed that report in Annapolis. WJLA, Washington that station ID was part of the soundtrack of my life. In April 1981, right around when Annapolis police were first learning that Nancy Snow was missing, I was a very green TV reporter at WJLA Channel 7 in Washington, D.C. about 35 miles from Annapolis. I don't remember if I did stories about Nancy's case, but it is the kind of thing we covered. Which could explain why all these years later when we at Dateline decided to feature Nancy's story in Missing in America, Nancy's name and face seemed familiar to me. There is another possible explanation. Before I went to wjla, I was an off air reporter for ABC News, assigned to national politics. I very closely covered the 1980 campaign, especially the congressional and Senate races. As I told Nancy's daughters, given their mother's work in politics, it is quite possible, maybe even likely, that Nancy Snowe and I crossed paths. I had a strong sense when I heard her name that I had met your mom at some point.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

Wow.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Now, I'm not telling you that I remember meeting her or that I. That we were friends or that I can tell you what the interaction was. But we were absolutely in the same circles that year. Someone I definitely did not encounter back then is Corporal William Noel. When Nancy Snow went missing, he was three years old. Today he's the Annapolis police detective working to solve her case. He's gone through the case file, including the missing persons report Paul Collins made in April 1981, so early part of.

[Detective William Noel]

November 1980, we have Nancy returning, from all accounts, a pretty grueling stretch of campaign work.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

You're convinced that was her on the plane she flew from St. Louis to Baltimore?

[Detective William Noel]

Yes, I'm convinced.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Piecing together Nancy's movements after she left the airport was a challenge for Annapolis police, especially because by the time Paul Collins reported Nancy missing to them, the trail was more than 5 months old. All of the sort of traditional avenues of investigation that we think of first today when we're trying to find somebody or figure out where they were, you know, tracking their phone, getting their emails off their computer, doorbell cameras, license plate readers, security video at the airport, none of that existed.

[Detective William Noel]

And the lack of a footprint for such a busy woman is, in today's terms, just unthinkable. But it was the norm.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

There are conflicting accounts of when Nancy returned to Maryland from Missouri. However, our reporting points to her being in the Baltimore area on election night. In his April 1981 missing persons report, Paul Collins told police when Nancy returned to Maryland on November 4, she stayed with a friend named Bobby at a, quote, fancy hotel near Towson, unquote. Towson is a suburb of Baltimore, and Bobby was Bobby Goodman, the political TV producer Nancy had written about to Stacy. He's the man Nancy said she was deliriously in love with, the same man who hosted the party she went to on election night. He's also someone I knew back when I was a political reporter back in the 70s and 80s. Bobby Goodman was a very big deal in the world of political campaigning and advertising. His son was my college classmate, so I knew him, too. Police knew Bobby Goodman played some part in Nancy Snow's last recorded days. The question was what part and whether he wanted to talk about it. Was the boyfriend married at the time?

[Detective William Noel]

I believe there's indication that he may have been.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

According to the April 1981 statement Paul Collins gave police, Nancy asked him to meet her on November 5th at that fancy hotel where she was staying. Paul told the detective he did not remember its name.

[Detective William Noel]

Paul says he waits for her in the lobby, and he sees her possibly traveling in a green BMW and a gentleman driving that BMW, and at which point Nancy gets out of that car and joins Paul for the return trip back to Annapolis.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Corporal Noel says the original case detectives interviewed Nancy's boyfriend, Bobby Goodman, who corroborated parts of the story told by Paul Collins. And he was helpful.

[Detective William Noel]

Yeah, he was helpful. The detectives at the time, they were satisfied.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Paul told police that after picking up Nancy, they stayed at her apartment in Annapolis for a couple of days. Then he said something significant happened on November 8th in the middle of the night. According to Paul, Nancy had gone to a local bar a couple of blocks from her apartment. At 3:30am she came home and said she was going to drive in a van to Fort Lauderdale with a boat captain she had met that night. His name was Jay, and they would be transporting boats between islands in the Caribbean and Fort Lauderdale. Paul said Nancy's plan was to return sometime between December 17 and December 27. Remember, he told Nancy's family she would be back by Christmas. Paul said she packed some clothes, they had some coffee, and then he walked her to the corner of east and Fleet Streets near her apartment. The report does not mention if Paul saw Nancy drive away. Noel says police started looking for the mysterious Captain J. Their search stretched from Maryland to the Caribbean. Law enforcement in Fort Lauderdale assisted.

[Detective William Noel]

The Annapolis Police Department called in anyone they could, given our proximity to the Naval Academy. They used resources to call Coast Guard, Naval records, anyone that may have set foot on a ship or vessel with the name or nickname J.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

And it sounds as if one investigator was onto something. A police report filed in Fort Lauderdale, May 6, 1981, notes that one Annapolis detective believed Captain J was actually a man he said had been the subject of a drug investigation by the dea. Is it in the files whether he was ever spoken to and whether he acknowledged knowing Nancy?

[Detective William Noel]

So I didn't see any interview or any contact being made with him back in 1981.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Even as the hunt for Captain J continued, investigators kept their focus on Paul Collins. And something he said in that missing persons report caught their eye. He had told police he and Nancy were close friends and casual lovers who at one point had dated for about six months. Police wondered if their relationship might have been more complicated than Paul described. Justine met Paul while she was with her mom in annapolis. He was 15 years younger than Nancy, and Justine did not think he was her mother's type.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

And I was like, what is your attraction to this guy? And she's like, well, I'm not attracted to him. It's just that he's helpful, you know, he's a handyman, and he's easy because I don't have to think too hard when I talk to him. Those were her exact words.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Okay. But there was clearly a time when they were. I don't know, involved might not be the right word, but seeing each other, dating, something was going on.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

I think they were casual drinking buddies.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Stacy had a different impression.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

My takeaway with Paul is that my mother was kind of enamored with the fact that a younger man was schmoozing her, and she had a weakness that way with men outside my dad. And she didn't make some good choices.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

After my dad in that April 1981 missing persons report, Paul told police Stacy gave him permission to put most of Nancy's belongings in storage and to sell some items to pay off her debts. Stacy says that is not true. Police subpoenaed Nancy's bank records and discovered Paul was writing checks on her account. Corporal Noel says from a law enforcement standpoint, the fact that Paul was Nancy's house sitter complicated the picture.

[Detective William Noel]

Paul maintained that he had that permission to pay her bills, give himself a quick stipend as needed. The issue is we have nobody to refute it because Nancy's, you know, missing, and we don't have any way to confirm with her that those things were true or not.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

You're convinced that Paul Collins was continuing to pay Nancy's bills after she disappeared?

[Detective William Noel]

We have records of some of the canceled checks where he did pay some bills.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Corporal Noel says Paul Collins did not have access to all of Nancy's accounts, and he was not withdrawing huge sums of money at a time from her checking account.

[Detective William Noel]

Maybe once a month, once every other month, there was an amount drawn to him. He never withdrew an amount that would say, okay, he's taken off, or he's trying to clean out her account.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

One of the things Mr. Collins apparently told Nancy Snow's daughters was that there had been a flood in her apartment building and a lot of her stuff got ruined and he had to throw it out.

[Detective William Noel]

Yes.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Was there a flood in her building?

[Detective William Noel]

We've not been able to corroborate whether a flood occurred or didn't.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

He's told conflicting stories about when he reported her missing. He's given away her possessions, he's writing checks on her account. That's not enough to arrest somebody. The state's attorney couldn't persuade a jury.

[Detective William Noel]

That's a separate conversation. In the investigative world, circumstantial is great. It lets you know you're on the right path. But in terms of handing that baton off to the prosecutor, they have a set of needs that they have to have kind of lined up before they say, hey, we'll bring this to a grand jury.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Nancy's family tried to keep on living their lives. Stacy returned to California with the belongings she'd recovered from Paul's friends and then joined her sisters who'd moved overseas with their father, stepmother and step siblings. Bob Snow, Nancy's ex husband, had a new job in Germany. You all came to believe that whatever had happened, she wasn't alive anymore.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

Of course, she would never not call us.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Nancy's teenage daughters remained determined to find out the truth about her disappearance. They just had no idea how long that quest would last. Nancy's case files stayed open, and someone besides Paul Collins stayed on the law enforcement radar. A detective at the county prosecutor's office would be paying another visit to Nancy's boyfriend, Bobby Goodman. You spoke with him? Yes, I did. Cooperative. Cooperative in the sense that he was very, very careful with his thoughts and his words.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Now.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for $15 a month is back.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

So I thought it would be fun.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

If we made $15 bills, but it.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Turns out that's very illegal. So there goes my big idea for the commercial.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment of $45 for a three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes of network's busy taxes and fees extra. See mintmobile.com hi, we're emoji Health, your long term weight loss solution. We'll connect you with a board certified provider to discuss your unique goals. Eligible patients can Access custom formulated GLP1 medications at an affordable fixed price delivered to their door monthly. Take our free eligibility [e-mail] and use code AUDIO40 at checkout for $40 off your first month of membership. That's joinmoch I.com results may vary. Eligible GLP1 patients typically lose 1 to 2 pounds per week in their first six months. With Mochi. When combined with a healthy lifestyle, your life isn't one size fits all. Every day brings something different. Your style should too. At Maurices, we make it easy to show up feeling comfortable, confident and completely you. Our over 800 stylists are here to help you look your best. From tried and true denim to head turning looks, we've got styles that fit your life and your budget. Fashion Made for real life Moments Maurices.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

In 1988, Nancy Snowe was legally declared dead and a year later, at the urging of her daughters, Nancy's case was reclassified as a homicide. David Cordle of the Anne Arundel County State's Attorney's Office caught it. And during the nearly 30 years Cordle worked Nancy's case, he chased hundreds of leads and re interviewed dozens of witnesses. One of those interviews was with Bobby Goodman, Nancy's new boyfriend at the time of her disappearance and as far as police can tell, one of the last two people to see her Alive. You spoke with him? Yes, I did. Cooperative. Cooperative in the sense that he was very, very careful with his thoughts and his words. We interviewed him at his home and his wife was present. So I had to make sure that we were kind of segregated from her. But I think that may have had something to do with his reluctance. But overall, he was cooperative. Cordal says Goodman's wife was briefly inside the house while the two men talked outside on a patio about the evening of November 4, 1980. And the next day he confirmed that he was having an affair with Nancy. Yes, but maybe not to the extent that Nancy was perceiving it. He spent the night with Nancy from the original reports and stories from witnesses, yes. And they had breakfast together the next morning?

[Detective William Noel]

That's correct.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Then he reports Nancy getting in a car with Paul Collins. He couldn't identify who she got into a car with because he did not know who it was. He just saw a male subject with Nancy getting into this car and driving off. And that's the last that the witness says he saw over. Of course, Cordal says he was eager to interview Paul Collins, too. But unlike Goodman, Paul was not cooperating. I think I spoke briefly with him on the phone. Anything else? He chose not to talk with us. Numerous attempts had been made. In 2005, Paul Collins was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury at that proceeding. He took the fifth. He got an attorney. And he didn't speak with you and he wouldn't speak with the grand jury. Correct. Four years later, Collins did agree to speak with a detective and a prosecutor under a use immunity deal, meaning anything he told them could not be used against him, but he could still be charged if they found other evidence to connect him to Nancy's murder. With his attorney present, Collins sat for a two hour interview, which was not recorded. According to a written summary by the detective who conducted the interview, Collins gave a brand new account of his interactions with Nancy. The detective wrote, quote, I asked Paul Collins to tell me what he remembers about picking Nancy Snow up when she returned from Missouri. He advised that his memory is that he picked her up at BWI Airport arrivals. I told Paul Collins that he had previously said that he picked Nancy Snow up at a hotel in Towson and that he saw her get out of a car. I further told him that he had previously told us the make and color of said car. Paul Collins advised that he does not remember any of that and that in his memory he picked her up at BWI airport, unquote. According to the detective, Collins Also said Nancy returned from St. Louis one or two days after the 1980 election, not on election day, as he had told the police in his original missing persons report. Over the years, Stacey, Justine and Kimberly have spent countless hours replaying what they say Paul Collins told their father about a boat trip back in November 1980, when they had not heard from Nancy for days.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

He was trying to make it sound like my mom went off with friends, not strangers, so that we wouldn't worry, like that was his first contact with my dad.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

That is what Nancy's family says Paul Collins first told them. But more than five and a half months later, Paul told police a different story. That version had Nancy running off with the elusive Captain J, not with friends.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

He made it clear that he did not know who these people were, that he did not know this Captain J. He told investigators he knew nothing about it until that night when my mom told him.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Corporal William Noel, the Annapolis detective now trying to solve Nancy's case, does not believe this 44 year old mystery has anything to do with a Captain J. You don't think Nancy ever went to sea? You don't think Nancy ever got on a boat? You don't think she made it out of Annapolis?

[Detective William Noel]

No to all.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

You think she died the day that Paul Collins picked her up?

[Detective William Noel]

I believe that whatever happened to Nancy Snow happened very soon after she was picked up from that hotel in the Baltimore area.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Bobby Goodman died in 2018, leaving investigators without one of their key witnesses. Is or was the boyfriend ever a suspect?

[Detective William Noel]

The investigators reporting from anything I've seen at the time never indicated him as a firm suspect. The only person that drew the raised eyebrow of anybody that investigated this case is Mr. Collins.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Corporal Noel wanted to sort through all those inconsistencies in Paul Collins stories, among other things. And in March 2021, Paul Collins agreed to talk with Noel by phone. Tell me about that call.

[Detective William Noel]

It was brief, but Paul struck me as somebody who is very familiar with how investigations go. I want to say he was cooperative in so much that it served him. And then when we get to the nuts and bolts of are you available to speak with me? He advised me that he wouldn't be doing that and that he wished her family, her daughters, nothing but the best and that if I could, to offer them some words of comfort, and I told him I wouldn't do that, I could set up a call, but I wouldn't do that on his behalf. And that pretty much ended our conversation.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Paul Collins remains a person of interest.

[Detective William Noel]

Absolutely, but not a suspect can't call him a suspect yet. But I will say that he's a person of interest, nearly a suspect. But I can't say that he's a suspect, because right now we're circumstantial. I don't have my PC yet.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

By PC, he means probable cause. To build a criminal case, detectives and prosecutors need to establish evidence that a crime was committed. If Paul Collins killed Nancy Snow, what was the motive?

[Detective William Noel]

Tough to theorize that out in the open, but it's not unknown that Paul was romantically fond of Nancy. It's unclear what the nature of their relationship was. After an initial courting of Nancy by Paul, and from all indications, Nancy saw him as basically a nice guy, but not a guy she wanted to have a relationship with.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

And very clearly, it seems she was much more interested in the guy in Baltimore.

[Detective William Noel]

Yes.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

The man she met at the hotel.

[Detective William Noel]

Correct.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

So maybe Paul Collins is angry that she's not interested in him. Or maybe Paul Collins wants to get his hands on the money that Nancy has recently inherited.

[Detective William Noel]

There's a possibility of some jealousy that he's not the main guy in her life. It could be a financial desire on his part. The issue for me as an investigator is getting in front of Paul Collins in a setting where he would even talk to me about it. And that's where we've run into a pretty big brick wall.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Paul Collins has never been arrested or charged with anything connected to Nancy Snow's disappearance. He is now 74 years years old and living near Washington, D.C. we reached out to him, and he has not responded to our requests for comment. Do you think you're going to eventually solve the disappearance of Nancy Snow?

[Detective William Noel]

You know, I really would like to deliver that for her family and for Nancy. I think I've got enough years left at the agency to see it through.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Any cold case detective will tell you this time is both their enemy and. And their friend. With every passing year, evidence can get lost, witnesses can die, memories can fade. And also, over time, witnesses, and sometimes even perpetrators can change in unexpected ways. David Cordle, who labored over Nancy's case for almost three decades, knows that firsthand.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

I've seen it before.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Over periods of time, relationships change. People grow up, people grow old. People get religion. People want to get things off their chest. And sometimes the alibi I gave you X number of years ago, I'm no longer gonna lie for you. Absolutely. That's what you're hoping for here. Absolutely. As the years passed, all of Nancy Snow's daughters got married and became mothers Themselves. Today, their own mother would be 88 years old, making it 44 years since any of them have heard her say their names. All they have now are those cassette tapes Nancy left behind.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

I was concerned about Justine and Kimberly not being, you know, strong swimmers yet. So I have a young man who's a lifeguard at the pool working with them three times a week. Kimberly, in one lesson, has learned to swim. And Justine is coming right along, too. We're so pleased with both of them. Now, Stacy already knows how to swim, and she's going off the board and doing all kinds of tricks and things. She would sing me to sleep. She would read me stories. And I think maybe most of all, I really miss that voice. Sorry. I think what my sisters don't realize is when I listen to them talk, when I don't see them and I listen to them, they sound like my mom. I hear her through some of their mannerisms and what they say and how they say it and their intonations. I can hear it.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Your mom wouldn't have wanted this to take over your life?

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

No, I don't think so. That's why I tried to change and become the mother that she was to me, for my kids and pour my love and my heart and my time into them and make. Mold them to be like my mom because she was so amazing. And I have her pictures all over the house, and I tell stories all the time. And I wanted to pass on her spirit to others.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Like her sister Stacy, Kimberly holds on to the things her mother gave her that can't be taken away.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

She just believed that I was extraordinary and that I was capable of anything. So I think of all the things that she taught me, I think the most powerful is how to believe in myself and how to love myself and how to be present in the moment and to soak in the life around me.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

We let Justine have the final word because what she told us goes for her sisters, too.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

I want justice to be served. I want to know the truth. I will never stop looking for our mom.

[Narrator / Josh Mankiewicz]

Here is how you can help. Nancy Snow was 44 years old at the time of her disappearance in 1980. She was 5 foot 6 and 120 pounds, with blue gray eyes and short graying dark hair. If you have any information about her disappearance, please call the Annapolis Police Department at 410-268-9000 and ask for Corporal William Noel. To learn more about other people we've covered in our Missing An American Series and to see photos of Nancy Snowe. Go to datelinemissinginarica.com There you'll be able to submit cases you think we should cover in the future. Thanks for listening. See you Fridays on Dateline on NBC. Missing in America is a production of Dateline and NBC News. Kate Vidak is the producer of this episode. Marshall Hausfeld is the audio editor. Veronica Mazeka is digital producer, Nicholas Vinuela Yodar is associate producer, Bradley Davis is senior producer, Paul Ryan is executive producer and Liz Cole is senior executive producer. From NBC News, Audio sound mixing by Rich Cutler Bryson Barnes is head of audio production.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

What does possibility mean to you?

[Detective William Noel]

That's a hard question. Something that you can strive for.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

I'm able to do anything I set my mind to. You're confident in yourself and you believe in yourself. Stuff that you could achieve. I feel it's Sarah Any is possible when you're more confident. Shoes are a huge part of that.

[Detective William Noel]

They are the most important part of my style.

[Nancy Snow's Daughter]

You can like, express yourself in the right shoes. Anything is possible. DSW Countless shoes at bragworthy prices.

[Detective William Noel]

Imagine the possibilities.