Ep.3: Manhunt

Summary

Summary of "Very Scary People" - Episode: "Manhunt"

Release Date: March 12, 2025
Host: Donnie Wahlberg

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Introduction

In the gripping episode titled "Manhunt" from the podcast series Very Scary People, host Donnie Wahlberg delves into the harrowing true story of Christine Belford's desperate fight to reclaim her three daughters from her ex-husband, David Matusewicz, and his mother, Lenore. This intense custody battle escalates into a deadly obsession marked by stalking, kidnapping, and murder, revealing the darkest facets of familial control and manipulation.

The Abduction: A Mother's Nightmare

The nightmare begins with David and Lenore Matusewicz abducting Christine's three daughters, determined to sever their ties and regain custody by any means necessary. As narrated by Ryan Reynolds at [02:12], "Detectives have just confirmed Christine Belford's worst fears. Her husband, David Matusewicz, along with his mother Lenore, have abducted the family's three young daughters with no intention of ever returning."

Christine's anguish is palpable throughout the episode. In a distressing interview conducted by Chris Barish, Christine shares her terror and hopelessness:
Christine Belford ([04:23]): "His idea of what's good for them and my idea of what's good for them are very different ideas."

The situation is further compounded by David's manipulative tactics concerning their children's health. Christine reveals the extent of his control:
Christine Belford ([05:08]): "He was doing a lot of vitamin therapy and was looking into alternatives... my daughter hasn't had her shots... he was concerned that the inoculations were what brought on the autism of my other daughter."

Investigative Struggles: Racing Against Time

Detective Jeff Schreiner of the New Castle Police Department spearheads the investigation, immediately recognizing the unprecedented challenge posed by David and Lenore's calculated abduction. Chris Barish reflects on the complexity of the case:
Chris Barish ([06:45]): "All my years as a detective... I've never seen a case quite like this."

The Matusewicz family's strategic planning grants them a significant head start, making the initial search efforts futile. Detective Barish expresses the frustration felt by law enforcement:
Chris Barish ([17:31]): "It was a needle in a haystack... that call that came out of Panama to Amy. To my knowledge, Amy doesn't have any friends in Panama."

Despite extensive efforts, leads are scarce, and the family's ability to stay ahead of the authorities intensifies the desperation to locate the missing children.

International Pursuit: From Panama to Nicaragua

As the investigation stalls domestically, attention turns internationally, first to Panama, and subsequently to Nicaragua. The breakthrough comes when Detective Bill David, a seasoned U.S. Marshal, identifies a suspicious transaction linking Amy Matusewicz to Nicaragua ([30:49]). This pivotal moment reignites hope in the search for the girls.

Bill David ([31:17]): "We know we were on the right track. We were doing everything we could domestically to find them, with little to no success."

The meticulous coordination between international investigative bodies eventually leads to a covert operation in Nicaragua. After over a year of relentless pursuit, the authorities execute a successful raid, culminating in the arrest of David and Lenore and the rescue of the three daughters ([32:42]).

Reunion and Aftermath: A Fragile Hope

The reunion is both joyful and emotionally complex. Christine Belford's relief is immense, yet the scars of trauma linger. In her heartfelt recounting, Christine states:
Christine Belford ([37:43]): "I was just relieved, finally, after 19 months, to finally have the kids back with their mother."

However, the end of the manhunt does not signal the end of Christine's ordeal. David and Lenore's imprisonment marks a temporary victory, but lingering threats from other family members, particularly Amy and Tom, hint at ongoing dangers and the potential for continued harassment and manipulation ([38:56]).

Notable Quotes

• Christine Belford ([02:12]): "Detectives have just confirmed Christine Belford's worst fears. Her husband, David Matusewicz, along with his mother Lenore, have abducted the family's three young daughters with no intention of ever returning."

• Christine Belford ([04:23]): "His idea of what's good for them and my idea of what's good for them are very different ideas."

• Christine Belford ([05:08]): "He was doing a lot of vitamin therapy and was looking into alternatives... my daughter hasn't had her shots... he was concerned that the inoculations were what brought on the autism of my other daughter."

• Chris Barish ([06:45]): "All my years as a detective... I've never seen a case quite like this."

• Chris Barish ([17:31]): "It was a needle in a haystack... that call that came out of Panama to Amy. To my knowledge, Amy doesn't have any friends in Panama."

• Bill David ([31:17]): "We know we were on the right track. We were doing everything we could domestically to find them, with little to no success."

• Christine Belford ([37:43]): "I was just relieved, finally, after 19 months, to finally have the kids back with their mother."

Conclusion

"Manhunt" is a harrowing exploration of the depths of human obsession and the relentless pursuit of justice. Through exclusive interviews, detailed narratives, and emotional firsthand accounts, Very Scary People sheds light on the resilience of a mother and the complexities faced by law enforcement in navigating a case filled with manipulation, fear, and the desperate hope for a family's reunion. This episode not only narrates a terrifying true story but also invites listeners to reflect on the profound impacts of custody battles gone tragically wrong.

Transcript

[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Chris Barish]

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[Ryan Reynolds]

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[Chris Barish]

Whatever was done, it tipped off. David Eleanor I remember saying to him.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That authorities were looking for him just to bring him home to come home.

[Chris Barish]

After two and a half months, the focus moved international. I could immediately see her reaction was just complete, total fear. And that's when the reign of terror really started.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Detectives have just confirmed Christine Belford's worst fears. Her husband, David Matusiewicz, along with his mother Lenore have abducted the family's three young daughters with no intention of ever returning. With a fully stocked Motorhome 1,000,000 doll in a two week head start. David and Lenore are several steps ahead of the police and only becoming harder to find with each passing day. Christine's sister in law, Jenny Puglisi is by her side throughout the investigation and shares the painful memories of watching as Christine struggled under the weight of her grave reality. Christine prays every day that she'll get a call that the girls have been found and they will finally be back in her arms. But she can't help but feel her heart drop when the phone rings. That this call won't be a reunion but the confirmation of her deepest nightmare that her daughters will never come home. And that's when I saw her become concerned because that brought that into her mind, like maybe David would harm the girls. And that became her biggest concern, was not that she would never see them again, but that they would kill them. Local reporter Chris Barish was one of the first people in the media to make contact with Christine after the Matusewicz girls went missing.

[Chris Barish]

Christine knew David had resources. He had made like a half a.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Million dollars in selling his business and the visa on the lam, and she.

[Chris Barish]

Didn'T know where he could be.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Chris Barish continues to cover the case extensively and is able to conduct a sit down interview with an open and vulnerable Christine. She issues a desperate plea to David for the safe return of her girl.

[Chris Barish]

Do you fear for their safety or do you feel that they're in danger?

[Ryan Reynolds]

His idea of what's good for them.

[Chris Barish]

And my idea of what's good for.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Them are very different ideas.

[Chris Barish]

Your one daughter's got autism.

[Ryan Reynolds]

I'm very concerned for her because, you know, he was doing a lot of vitamin therapy and was looking into alternatives. He's mentioned intravenous chelation, which is, I don't understand completely, but they do a lot of filtering of blood. And there was a case in New England where a child had died because the kidneys were not ready to handle this.

[Chris Barish]

And it's not a cure for autism.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But other countries use chelation, usually in vitamin form, not an intravenous, not at someone that age.

[Chris Barish]

They're unschoolable.

[Ryan Reynolds]

No, my daughter hasn't had her shots. If they're in another country, they don't have her full set of inoculations because he was concerned at one point that the inoculations were what brought on the autism of my other daughter.

[Chris Barish]

Do you know if he took his weapon, any of his weapons with him?

[Ryan Reynolds]

I don't know. I don't know.

[Chris Barish]

What's your message to him and to the kids?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Just to bring him home? Cologne. As the investigation stretches on, Christine's daughter Katie Moffa reflects on how everyday updates only intensified the fear that they might never see the girls again. At one point when they were missing, my mom had to submit a DNA sample because a baby had washed up in a box that they said looked like the youngest. I remember being scared because I knew that the youngest was never his favorite and he wasn't really interested in her from the beginning. So in my head it made sense.

[Chris Barish]

Right. Get rid of that one.

[Ryan Reynolds]

The missing girls are living in a state of imminent danger. What happens when one of the girls gets sick and Lenore doesn't believe in the medicine that will save her. What if the middle daughter's autism becomes an unmanageable stress in an already high pressure situation? Or worse, what if David starts viewing the youngest daughter's life as disposable? With all they have risked, there's no telling how far Lenore and David will go to evade capture. Meanwhile, the New Castle Police Department and Detective Jeff Schreiner are discovering that leads in this case are frustratingly then in.

[Chris Barish]

All my years as a detective or the missing person detective, I've never seen the case quite like this at all. You know, and again, I've had other cases that I had the idea where they may be going or I had a direction of travel or something like that. This one I had nothing. Plus a two week head start. Plus they had all this cash with.

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[Ryan Reynolds]

Determined to make some headway in the case, Detective Shriner starts from the beginning. He obtains David's phone and bank records, looking for any red flags or abnormalities that could point him in the direction of where David and the girls may be heading.

[Chris Barish]

One of the things we saw a very large purchase at a RV sales center down in Smyrna, Delaware. A 33 foot Winnebago RV was purchased and we started pulling credit card information and the last of anything we could find of his or the kids or Lenore Matusewicz existence was in North Carolina where they stopped and got fuel with a credit card.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But after that, David and Lenore stop using their credit cards and their paper trail vanishes completely. With their main suspects completely off the grid, the chances of finding the children begin to fade.

[Chris Barish]

And through those weeks I would be getting calls from Christine and it was really difficult trying to tell her we're working but we don't have anything really to even offer at this point. And at that point being so far behind, not having any idea where they may be going, I enlisted help of other outside agencies to help do the dive to try to find them. My name is William David. I was a deputy U.S. marshal running a fugitive task force in Wilmington, Delaware. It was a typical busy day coming towards the end of the summertime in September of 2007. I end up getting a phone call from Detective Jeff Shriner from Newcastle County Police Department. He explained the situation, the case that he had, and there was just something there that caused me some concern, not so much about the fugitive case because I had many years of working those cases. My concern was more for the three girls and what it meant for them to be missing and for their father to be accused of interfering with their lawful custody. And what did that really mean deep down, not just on the surface.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Bill David and the U.S. marshals Service review the case fully. They need to be extremely thorough as even the smallest details can potentially produce a lead. But with three young girls lives at stake and a few weeks already having passed since they were last seen, they know time is of the essence.

[Chris Barish]

And I officially adopted the case into the Fugitive task force and poured all of our resources into trying to find David and the three girls.

[Ryan Reynolds]

BILL David realizes that his best bet in finding the girls might be turning once again to both Amy and Tom Matusewicz, who have previously claimed that they have no information about the whereabouts of David, Lenore and the girls. Bill David decides it's time to speak to Amy again.

[Chris Barish]

We arrived at her home in New Jersey. She was very welcoming, invited us in. We spoke for probably 20 minutes. She was pretty convincing at the beginning that she didn't know where he was. Then I tried to press some of those emotional buttons, if you will, trying to explain to her that while she loves her brother and she wants to protect him, she also has three nieces that she needs to look out for and protect, that she will have to live with those consequences herself, because I firmly believe she knew where he was or where he was going. It was at that point that I saw some cracks in her facade, in her demeanor, and I thought I had her. I thought she was ready to break and tell me what I needed to know. And then very quickly, she composed herself, became a stone, and gave us nothing else. Interview pretty much ended at that point. We left. As an investigator, it's frustrating when you know that to your core, you know they've been in touch with him, they've been in contact with him, and that they're just lying to you.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And with Amy's interview doing little to aid the investigation, locating Tom proves even more difficult.

[Chris Barish]

I never did interview Thomas early in the investigation. My partner and I went down to Smyrna, Delaware, which is where Thomas and Lenore had been living, and we watched the property for a few days. Didn't see any kind of movement. No lights changing in the evening, no cars in the driveway. Nothing appears to change from day to day, which is a bit unusual. Shortly thereafter, we find out that Amy ends up moving out of New Jersey to Texas with their father, Thomas.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And while the timing of the move to Texas could be considered suspicious, Amy gives us simple, harmless reasoning for the relocation. My husband has always wanted to live in Edinburgh, Texas, the day I met him. And he's had family that's been through Edinburgh, Texas, and they fell in love with the area, and he's always wanted to live there. And we finally just wound up. My dad wound up moving there, and then we wound up following after my dad. Even with the continued manpower of Bill, David and the U.S. marshals, the investigation continues to drag on for months. With very little momentum, I think my mom fully focused on finding them like any mom would, you know, the flyers. She had hired a private investigator at one point. She was just distraught.

[Chris Barish]

Christine was beside herself. She said she couldn't even go into stores because she would just remember being with the girls.

[Ryan Reynolds]

She couldn't watch a TV show with children in it.

[Chris Barish]

She thought maybe, maybe they're all dead. She just didn't know.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Christine's stepmother, Eileen McDermott, explains that despite the never ending nightmare she was enduring, Christine kept pushing forward for the sake of her family.

[Chris Barish]

The only reason that she stayed strong.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Was because of those kids. That maybe one day I'm gonna get my kids back again. That's the only thing that kept that way woman going, nothing else. Christine's world is consumed by terror and fear with only a fragile thread of hope that her daughters will be found safe. Meanwhile, the Matusewicz family operates with cold, calculated precision, driven by a single goal to keep the girls away from their mother. Bill David knows time is running out. If he has any chance of reaching the girls, he must act swiftly before it's too late.

[Chris Barish]

It was at that point that I'm trying to figure out how I can generate new leads. I need something else to work on. I need another avenue, another angle to take. Knowing that Amy was the weak link, I started focusing in more on her. I need to know if she is in touch with David. How are they talking? Are they communicating with an email? A phone call? What are they doing? How are they talking to each other?

[Ryan Reynolds]

BILL David receives permission to access Amy's phone records. His goal is to port through a mountain of dense call logs with the hope that he can catch David and Amy in the slip up. It is tedious and meticulous work with no promise of success.

[Chris Barish]

It was probably approximately two, two and a half months into the investigation until I get a response off of one of the court orders. It's a needle in a haystack. I'm trying to find that one piece of information in about 200 sheets of paper. That will be my next lead. And what that ended up being was a call that came out of Panama to Amy. To my knowledge, Amy doesn't have any friends in Panama. She has no business dealings in Panama. So that stood out to me. And when I started to do a little bit of research on that turns out to be a hotel in Panama.

[Ryan Reynolds]

That'S when it all starts to click. Why would Amy be contacting a hotel in Panama when she has no friends or family there? Or does she?

[Chris Barish]

That piece of information. There was potential that David and the three girls were in Panama. So the investigation is starting to pick up. And so we knew we were on the right track. We were doing everything we could domestically to find them, with little to no success. After two and a half months, the focus moved international.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Bill David and the US Marshals have just received their first major break in the case. The new reality of the situation, however, quickly throws cold water on any excitement authorities may have had about this discovery. This means that David and Lenore are cunning enough to escape the country undetected. In their eyes, the Matusewicz family has proven to be a bigger danger than they originally thought. And what's worse, the investigation has officially reached beyond their jurisdiction. Bill David contacts the Diplomatic Security Service or the dss, for assistance in what has now become an international manhunt.

[Chris Barish]

Once I reached out to Diplomatic Security Services dss, I made the request of them to check out the location in Panama. The DSS agent was very upfront with me and let me know that they're not authorized to go out into the host country and actually perform those investigative steps and that they needed to rely on their host country investigator that is assigned to them.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Both the DSS and the U.S. marshals Service are powerless to take any legal action to advance the investigation. Their hands are tied, leaving them with no choice but to wait. Trouble is, the U.S. marshals are trackers hunters. They aren't comfortable just sitting on the sidelines and hoping someone else will do the job for them.

[Chris Barish]

All this time, I'm fairly confident that David is down there, but I can't do anything about it. And that level of frustration was building. And again, there's absolutely nothing I can do. I'm having weekly phone conversations with my headquarters, my international branch. So I'm conveying this to the DSS agent who is equally as frustrated that it's taking as long as it is. But that agent is far removed from seeing Christine and seeing the pain that's on her face and in her eyes.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Bill David is a hardened veteran marshal, but even he is struggling under the pressure of getting these girls home before it's too late.

[Chris Barish]

As a parent, as a father, this particular case really struck a chord with me. Over the years, I got used to separating work from personal because in this line of work, I see the worst of the worst. I see what one human being can do to another, and it's just not. It's not good. It's horrifying. This particular case involved three young little girls that had their childhood stolen from them by their own father. For David to do what he did to his girls, the three girls that he professes to love and want the best for. It wasn't about the girls. It wasn't about doing what's best for them. He did what he did out of pure control, and that was driving me so hard. And there were days where it was extremely frustrating. Things were thrown across the office. Frustrating because I knew what this meant for the girls. I knew what this meant to Christine. And unfortunately, I had a bad feeling about what this Matusewicz family was really doing with these girls.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Christine's anguish and Bill's frustration are left to linger in purgatory until Bill receives news from Panama.

[Chris Barish]

An international investigator went out to do a proper interview to gather up whatever evidence there may be that would show that this contact was actually David reaching out to his sister and not some innocent happenstance.

[Ryan Reynolds]

At last, Bill David's investigation can move forward. However, he cannot have any contact with the international investigator prior to their operations. When Bill finally gets word that action has been taken in Panama, the results are devastating.

[Chris Barish]

I finally got confirmation, and unfortunately, whatever was done in Panama tipped off David and Lenore and they ended up fleeing out of Panama.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Bill David was right all along. He knew exactly where David and Lenore had been hiding, and they slipped right through his fingers. After all that time, the local authorities finally take action. And it's a sloppy investigation. The home that the mature two Switzers left behind is eerily similar to the scene Jeff Shriner found at the family's Delaware home. All that is left is empty rooms and scattered trash. David and Lenore are in the wind again.

[Chris Barish]

I do not know what occurred that tipped them off definitively. My gut tells me the wrong person was interviewed, someone close that either was untruthful with the investigator or David had a stronger relationship with that person that was interviewed. But whatever it was, David was tipped off that we knew they were in Panama. G'day, America. It's Tony and Ryan from the Tony and Ryan Podcast from Down Under. This episode is sponsored by Boost Mobile, the newest 5G network in the country. These guys are no longer the prepaid wireless company you might remember. They've invested billions into building their own 5G towers across America, transforming the carrier into America's fourth major network alongside the other big dogs. Yep, they're challenging the competitors by working harder and smarter, like this amazing new.

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[Chris Barish]

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However, there is a silver lining. Panamanian authorities are able to provide some interesting details about how David, Lenore and the girls were living while in the country.

[Chris Barish]

David hurts the home in Panama. So they were they were established and comfortable in Panama for probably over a year, but he still had the rv, had it packed and ready to go at a moment's notice. And he always had an escape plan. He kept that RV ready to go in the event that that day came, which it did. And unfortunately for us, we were behind a couple of steps and he was able to get in that RV and leave.

[Ryan Reynolds]

With the operation in Panama a failure, Bill David needs to regroup and push forward. He won't let one setback stop him from doing everything he can to bring the girls home to their mother. Bill has learned that David is looking to put down roots. He was settling down in Panama. So wherever David lands next, he will probably be there for a while. The other piece of intel Bill learned from the Panama investigation is that Amy was the one who led him there. David was using Amy to his Advantage. And it was time for Bill to do the same.

[Chris Barish]

This particular case involved an entire family. They were making concerted efforts to keep the children away from their mother. But I don't want to interview Amy again because I know she's not going to be truthful with me.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And unbeknownst to Bill, David and the rest of the U.S. marshals Service, their hunch about Amy couldn't have been more justified. Here she recalls actually receiving a call from David while they were on the run. I remember my brother calling me once. I know we just talked. And I said to him, remember saying to him that, you know, the authorities were looking for him, and I told him he needed to come home. Everybody was like, my mom and my nieces and them. And, you know, he put my niece on the phone, and I talked to.

[Chris Barish]

Her and asked her how he was doing. Now I missed him, and I just.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Like, kept it light, but I don't know. Yes, these parties are looking for you. But with no proof of Amy's correspondence with David and Lenore, Bill David must continue digging. He pours over Amy's call logs and now has access to her financial documents. He's trying to tie anything back to David and the girl's potential new location. That's when a strange transaction catches his eye.

[Chris Barish]

And I end up sorting through a ream of paper again. I find a ReMax realtor being contacted because I see Amy is reaching out to the bank of Montreal to facilitate a wire transfer down to Nicaragua. Now I'm pretty confident that Amy is facilitating another purchase.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Bill David begins to develop the theory that David, Lenore and the girls are planning on renting or purchasing a property in Nicaragua with Amy's assistance. But based on the previous failings of the Panama investigation, Bill David knows this may be his last chance to catch David and Lenore off guard. If they fail to apprehend them this time, David may realize that Amy is the leak and go dark, leaving investigators with a cold trail.

[Chris Barish]

I don't know what was said to the foreign investigators to get them to move kind of quickly. That investigator went out, conducted the interview with a ReMax agent, which is precisely what I wanted done. And from that interview, got the piece of property that David had purchased, went there, did a covert surveillance, put eyes on David, put eyes on Lenore, and more importantly, put eyes on all three girls, then developed a plan.

[Ryan Reynolds]

On March 19, 2009, over a full year since the girls first went missing, a covert operation is put in place by Nicaraguan authorities to recover David Lenore. And the girls, they watched David leave.

[Chris Barish]

With the oldest daughter. He was driving a pickup truck, taking her to school. They end up stopping the truck, arresting him, recovering the one truck child. They then have a team that goes back to the RV. They arrest Lenore and recover the other two children. Approximately 19 months into this investigation, and I get a call on my cell phone from our detective who's assigned to the Marshall's task force also working this case, that they had found they have a location for it. The family in Nicaragua. They were requesting me to go out to Christine's house and tell her and also get the first plane out to Nicaragua in the morning. And so myself, our Detective and the U.S. marshal went out to her house to inform her we had found the children. We arrived at Christine's house after 10:00 at night. She opens the door and I could immediately see her reaction was just complete, total fear.

[Ryan Reynolds]

In an interview with a local news station, Christine describes this monumental moment in her own words. About 11:30 at night, U.S. marshals and the New Castle county police detective came to my door and, and ringing the doorbell repeatedly, knocking on the door, very excited. We found them.

[Chris Barish]

And when they told me they were in Nicaragua, I was quite surprised. The children's mother reported them missing. And over the years, law enforcement have.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Determined Matusewicz got away in an RV with his mother, Lenore.

[Chris Barish]

The three girls were found safe and reunited with their mother, something a New Castle county missing persons detective had promised. What happened? Told the mother that I'm not gonna give up. So what we did.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Christine's daughter Katie vividly remembers the night she found out her sisters had been located. I was laying up in my room, my mom was downstairs and somebody came and was knocking on the door.

[Chris Barish]

And from upstairs you could see the front door.

[Ryan Reynolds]

So I was sitting at the top of the steps and they were like, we found them. We need to get you on a flight. So my mom booked her flight and I went to my grandma's house and off she went. Chris Barish is the first person from the media to have a one on one interview with Christine upon her return home with the girls. Well, tell me about just, you know, seeing them and, and what that was like. Oh, it was great. It was so exciting. Of course I was crying, more shocked. He kept coming over to touch me to make sure that I was alive. He said, I'm just so glad you're alive. I thought you were dead. I can't believe you're alive now. What did, what did.

[Chris Barish]

Where did you meet with them?

[Ryan Reynolds]

In the immigration office in Nicaragua, which was a pretty war about. David was on the other side. And especially a. It's not like our justice up here. It was pretty rough. And then he was trying to talk to you at the same time and tell you to. He had been knocking on the door. I didn't realize he was over there. Apparently they didn't want me to know that I wouldn't get turned out. But at some point it came up, the conversation. He came over to the, like little fence. You talked to him. I just said, I know they will. And that was it.

[Chris Barish]

Did they talk about.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Did.

[Chris Barish]

Did they talk about what their life was like?

[Ryan Reynolds]

Apparently when they went to Panama, it was pretty. They had a pretty high challenge. Nicaragua was room four. So I think that about that time they get Timaropolis working. The change was washing the clothes for the family by hand. The money was out with his body. They didn't have very much food or anything.

[Chris Barish]

I was provided photographs of the living conditions where David and Lenore and the three children were staying. And what it simply was, was a plot of land, maybe no bigger than a quarter of an acre plot of land out in the middle of nowhere where they had set up the rv. It was a complete mess. Sink was full of dirty dishes. There were clothes everywhere. Just bedding laying all over the beds and the floor. It was just a complete mess.

[Ryan Reynolds]

And after all the horror of the past 19 months, the sleepless nights and the constant worry, Christine Belfort is finally reunited, united with their children.

[Chris Barish]

I was just relieved, finally, after 19 months, to finally have the kids back with their mother. That's why we as a group are working so hard. And we met our objective.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Bill. David has David and Lenore Matusewicz immediately extradited from Nicaragua and brought back to the United States to face trial for the kidnapping of the three girls. With David and Lenore in custody, Christine can finally rest easy. Little does she know, while one nightmare may be over, another is just beginning. They were gone for a long time. My sister spoke Spanish. When she came back, they were disheveled and hurting. I was scared of them because I always thought David and Lenore were gonna come back and try and take him again. I was scared to be in the house with them.

[Chris Barish]

So on December 22, 2009, it was less than two weeks after he's sentenced to four years in prison. He writes to he emails Amy and says, no more Mr. Nice Guy. It's time to take the gloves off. And that's when the reign of terror really started.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Next time on Very Scary People. Lenore is in prison. David is in prison, but Amy and Tom are not in prison. They still had two people on the outside. They would use websites, YouTube and email and regular mail to promote these lies. Lenore would write that Christine planned to sell David's three white, blonde, beautiful girls.

[Chris Barish]

To pedophiles for $50,000 a piece.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Very Scary People is produced by Lionsgate Alternative Television for id. I'm Donnie Wahlberg. You can follow our show wherever you get your podcasts and we'd love it if you could take a second to leave us a five star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

[Chris Barish]

Acast powers the world's best podcasts.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Here's a show that we recommend. Okay, here's the pitch.

[Chris Barish]

What if John Oliver's Last Week Tonight.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Had a baby with Shark Tank and.

[Chris Barish]

That baby grew up in the 2000s and loved getting sassy about celebs, movies and TV shows.

[Ryan Reynolds]

But that baby's grounded and empathetic.

[Chris Barish]

Okay, and inquisitive. With too many dang opinions about things.

[Ryan Reynolds]

In the cultural zeitgeist and the two of us cackling all the time.

[Chris Barish]

Yes, that would be our podcast.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Let Me Fix It.

[Chris Barish]

I'm Francesca Ramsey. And I'm Delon Grant and we are.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Two best friends who together host Let Me Fix It.

[Chris Barish]

Each week we take a deep dive on a topic and then we do.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Our best to try and fix it. So make sure to tune in for.

[Chris Barish]

New episodes every Wednesday. Wherever you get your favorite podcasts.

[Ryan Reynolds]

ACAST helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere.

[Chris Barish]

Acast.com.