>> translator: okay, where? that family had moved four months i believe prior. disappeared, he volunteered to take the test. >> translator: you said it there, denis. >> then three months into the operation, the sting was primed. >> then, denis continued, he put the body in the plymouth voyager, made a left turn onto highway 16, the highway of tears, and drove to an abandoned logger loggers road, 1.5 hours away. i called every friend of mine, every friend of hers. >> a phone call from dad asking if we'd seen mom because she hasn't shown up where they were supposed to meet. we're going to fix them. if you're honest, things will be great. Husband Denis Florian Ratte is now serving a life sentence without eligibility for parole for 15 years after a jury found him guilty in November of second degree murder in her death. the police. and brand new cars for less than $900. i'm caught. In 2020, the NBC Dateline episode featured the case of the gruesome 2003 rape and murder of Katie Sepich by Gabriel Adrian Avila, for which he is serving a 69 years jail sentence. Police investigated: a bitter feud with a neighbor, a possible serial killer. a macbook pro for under $16. we'll get through it. what about the jones family, the neighbors who wendy helped evict from their property? that is, of course, if he knew anything about it. they would have had the motive to hurt her. >> okay? . to ensure as much as possible that the suspect doesn't lie to gain respect. and tender moments like these, anna said, reminded her how much she yearned for the bond they once had. coming up -- >> it became sickening after a while to hear the police issue another release that another girl had gone missing. YT ONLY - Dateline 1057 Stringout. so show me the evidence. >> did she bring up the idea that wendy may have had some sort of mental breakdown? the emissaries of divine light. and this time -- >> translator: check the tapes. good. that she -- she's still alive? >> and then finally she and the family seemed to find it. >> was her mom alive? >> but there crime organization was designed for him. in fact, in the very first week of the investigation, thomas had questioned him three times. >> so he did, all the way back to canada, to northern saskatchewan. >> frank peebles of the "prince george citizen." i got this mountain bike for only $11. >> wendy, an art teacher by trade, taught her kids to help others, to speak up and be heard like her. >> his father was in prison, and his mom -- well, his mom -- do you really believe in your heart that there is a possibility that your mother is still out there somewhere? >> translator: yeah, but, denis, we know that you killed her. the grocery store, i think, was just closing up, and i thought well, maybe she is on her way out of the grocery store. healthmarkets has options from both on and off the government exchange. >> were denis' two confessions evidence enough? rcmp investigator judy thomas checked the bank's surveillance cameras, and there he was. a macbook pro for under $16. don't forget. >> and i told him right away, "i want the truth, whatever it is. hello, i'm dara brown. Izhar Harpaz, a producer for Dateline NBC, was in Prince George on Thursday to get a look at the sites and scenes related to the disappearance of Wendy Ann Twiss Ratte. >> when "dateline" continues. >> it was such a whirlwind. >> when "dateline" continues. memory, focus, accuracy, learning, and concentration. one of the worst things about a cois how it can make you feel. i won these bluetooth headphones for $20. -you don't know him. >> who are these people? >> why lie? >> for wendy, very caring, loving mother. the premier cold case unit in british columbia. it's impossible to get around. while it's capable of exposing the guilty, it can also induce innocent suspects to falsely confess to a crime they didn't commit. she was open about it, too. Ratte case draws NBC Dateline's attention The 1997 murder of a Prince George woman and the subsequent conviction of her husband for second-degree murder 13 years later could be featured on a U.S.. anybody could see how close they were. but then police showed him the video. >> when "dateline" continues want to brain better? FACTS -Wendy Ratte a wife and mother of 2 kids disappeared on August 18th,1997 at the age of 44 -American free-spirit born in a well to do family from New England -Became a teacher like both parents -Had a bipolar personality -One of her odd personalities was Shanna, a wild child who wanted nothing but freedom -Ran away from home twice >> during one of his delivery trips to vancouver, denis stopped to see his son gabriel, now 26 and a college student once more. >> and something else bothered him. >> and unlike diane and gabriel, unlike her mom's family in the states, anna was convinced her father was guilty as charged. but that's not catchy, is it? The incident garnered a whole lot of media attention and later an adaptation of the case by the hit crime series, "Dateline" on NBC. >> you looked out there and you saw everybody else who -- in the family who disagreed with you. >> probably. she was driving a very fast, very expensive car. i just quit school because i felt like this is too much right now. i said denis, you're the husband. >> and it was on one of those smoke-filled nights, sometime around february 1997, six months before wendy disappeared when hunched around the poker table, in the company of high roller, denis found himself staring at a hand that spelled salvation, with $25,000 in chips sitting on the table. >> what was it like to hear that? Following. wendy or a second personality some say lurked inside? he bet the highest he could. we couldn't find her. after about an hour of conversation, she finally just shook her head and said, i'm very sure that it was dad. and i can absolutely understand wanting to be blind to -- to the truth because i was there too. dupixent is a biologic, and not a cream or steroid. >> i know my father. . and if he lied about one murder. >> there was a clear disengagement from reality. >> all i remember is the glint in his eye when he told me he was working again and how proud he looked. coming up, where was wendy? >> coming up, anna gets word there might be witnesses who know what really happened to wendy. Rate. just so you know, next time, you can submit a claim with our mobile app. >> i remember her transforming into this character. but wendy could still have left prince george of her own accord. she was feeding the ducks, her back to him, when he took aim with a .22-caliber rifle. his son gabriel was one of just two witnesses the defense presented to the court. >> we were talking about the phone, and he said they want me to take a lie detector test. s. a month into the investigation, police thought they were a big step closer to solving the mystery surrounding wendy's disappearance. >> translator: you know, i stirred it around, and it slipped. by nightfall, there was still no sign of wendy. >> denis said it was just one shot, not a lot of blood. there was, after all, that sighting at the greyhound bus station. >> the rcmp would not discuss the specifics of the undercover operation that targeted denis ratte. she didn't just disappear. available over the counter. for this free service, go to healthmarkets.com or call right now. my hand was so good that no one was going to beat it. she tried to do in her everyday life. but no, said thomas, false alarm. you get a sense that you know these people when you're looking for what happened to them? but as the years slowly ticked by one by one, nothing. People always want answers, they don't like to live with mysteries, and in this case you have someone who was on a quest, who was very uncomfortable living with these big question marks and pursued it. >> we're always mindful of false confessions -- >> allegations are made all the time, i suppose. when "dateline" continues. >> absolutely. See production, box office & company info. >> okay -- >> in this video, she organized a peace project that taught student, including her own son, about conflict resolution and respect. and he began to confess again. Gabriel Avila is a convicted felon for the rape and murder of a student named, Katie Sepich. your sign's pointing at my sign, so people are gonna look at my sign. fearlessly it appeared because she must have known they would not like this, obviously. his audition, he believed, for membership, for trust, for help from mr. big. and i saw the look in his eye. you do hear it. this time for almost two years. to. might be angry with me for the results of where this trial led. i know she'd spent some time in new mexico when she was getting her teaching degree, and she loved it. that's not wendy." when she does that, she's shawna. >> by then, wendy's disappearance became news all over prince george. >> so even in the newsroom that, was a leading theory. >> he said that's not wendy, that's shawna. he changed so much. managing heart failure starts now with understanding. that's a common safeguard of the mr. big technique, said keenan. he could have said, ah, i thought i was talking to a crime boss. it doesn't matter that my family. >> or maybe the enemy lurked within. try our new gummies for 30 days and see the difference. >> it struck me odd right at the beginning. >> why should you replace her? >> oh, yeah. >> judy told me, "we don't understand. and it makes it difficult. , >> what about the religious group, the emissaries of divine light, that wendy had been drawn to years before? after trying other medications. but nobody would be working on it. a van with a dent in the door that nobody could remember seeing before. Keith Morrison reports. >> it was quite a shock that somebody who is apparently normal, everyday, almost a stereotype in that sense could disappear without a trace. dupixent is the first treatment of its kind that continuously treats moderate-to-severe eczema, or atopic dermatitis, even between flare ups. >> and your very first reaction was what? the best thing we can be is striving to be at our best. >> it was. that's when she became convinced. >> couldn't be true because of my recollection of the morning, he said that she was wearing totally different clothes than i saw her leave with. View the profiles of people named Gabriel Ratt. >> our primary suspect and only suspect, husband denis ratte, had just about finished their investigation. >> and the kids? >> yeah, okay. >> it was just the natural assumption that someone of that style, that democrat graphic demographic wouldn't go missing unless it was to someone she knew closely. the goal -- to lure denis ratte into their midst and gain his trust so as to find out what he really knew about his wife's disappearance. >> if her father didn't want to go police, anna decided, then she would. that's cold to talk about let alone cold to do. september 27, 2008. a hotel room in winnipeg. S29 E9. >> translator: honesty, honesty, okay. now they know i didn't do it, and they're leaving me alone. i guess i look pretty ridiculous. so you've got this elaborate setup. >> translator: there was a big thing with a cover on. 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