06x07 - We Never Fight

[bunniefuu]

Narrator: a family's worst nightmare.

I guess it's when the fear starts.

Narrator: a desperate search to find her.

Time was going by, and time was not on our side.

I wanted my daughter back.

I wasn't gonna stop till we found her.

Narrator: police dig for answers.

Narrator: now only the unblinking eye

Of the surveillance camera will reveal the shocking truth.

It was one in a million chance

We'd get that video.

Mark: I wasn't gonna let him get away with it.

He knew where my daughter was.

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: it's labor day weekend,

And 23-year-old christina morris is looking forward

To a night out.

Yes.

Christina was a social butterfly.

Getting ready with her was always an event.

She would try on hundreds of outfits

Till she finally found the perfect one.

Narrator: her boyfriend, hunter foster, is used to this ritual.

They lived in an apartment together.

They went to school together.

They knew each other for close to ten years, if not more.

Narrator: a year earlier, the couple moved to fort worth,

Where christina works for a dating web site.

She called me up and told me they were gonna let her start

Taking pictures of the clients

Using her skills in photography,

And that made her real happy.

Teighlor: she was doing everything that

She'd strived for her entire life.

She was on her way to much, much bigger things.

Narrator: but not everything in christina's life

Is going to plan.

Tonight, she is leaving town to spend the weekend with friends.

Before she sets off,

She calls her friend teighlor.

Hey, it's me.

Yeah, sorry you can't come tonight.

Next time, though, for sure, all right?

She called me that night because she

Wasn't sure about her relationship with hunter.

She knew something wasn't right.

Yeah, you're probably right.

Anyways, we're just gonna do our own thing tonight.

She was very, very excited

To go out and party and see everybody.

[ Phone ringing ]

Narrator: four days later, christina's father, mark,

Gets a call from his ex-wife asking if he's heard

From their daughter.

Didn't show up for work saturday,

And they thought maybe she had just gone out with friends.

But when she didn't show up for work on tuesday,

They felt something was wrong.

Narrator: mark tries contacting hunter foster.

We called her boyfriend.

Didn't hear anything back from him.

It's mark morris, christina's dad.

We start calling, you know, everybody

We had phone numbers for.

And the people we didn't have phone numbers for,

We got phone numbers from her friends.

You just hung around the bars in the area, huh?

There were several people that said,

You know, they were with her

On friday night.

Narrator: a picture emerges of christina's last

Known movements.

Friends say she spent

Friday night with them in downtown plano.

The group then went back to their friend

Paulina's apartment to continue the party.

But while she was there, christina argued with her

Boyfriend, hunter,

Over the phone and left.

Christina was upset that night. She wanted to go home.

Narrator: and it seems no one has heard from christina since.

I got a terrible feeling at that moment.

I thought maybe she's been in an accident.

Something's really wrong.

Narrator: mark and anna contact local hospitals,

But no one matching christina's description has been admitted.

Hello, police?

Narrator: in desperation, they call the police.

Narrator: plano police assign an officer to search for christina.

Her friends say she parked her car at the shops at legacy mall.

Fortenberry: the parking garage to paulina's apartment

Is probably a 10- to 12-minute walk.

It's all in the same shops at legacy general area,

But it's several blocks away.

Narrator: the officer heads straight for the parking lot.

[ Music builds ]

On the first floor,

He locates christina's car...

But there's no sign of christina.

Fortenberry: car looked to be in the same condition

That it was parked, no signs of a struggle.

However, the fact that her car is still there and she's missing

Is a confirmation that this is a serious case,

And we need to find her.

Mark: they called me back, and then my heart just sank.

Three days later, her car's still in this parking garage.

Something wasn't right.

Narrator: the next morning, plano police department

Step up their missing persons case.

They stop by the apartment christina shares

With her boyfriend, hunter foster,

[ Knocking ]

But he's not in.

Fortenberry: in most missing person cases,

The perpetrator is somehow related to or knows the victim.

And in this case, christina was dating someone.

They were in a fight that night.

He didn't report her missing,

And those things raise suspicions to police officers.

Narrator: with the witness they most want to speak to

Unavailable, investigators at plano pd

Focus on christina's last known movements.

According to her friends, she left paulina's apartment

At the same time as a former classmate named enrique.

[ Phone ringing ]

So, um...

Narrator: while detective stamm waits for enrique to arrive,

Officers downtown search the streets where christina

Was last seen.

All right, we have a missing girl,



The shops at legacy is an upscale development,

With stores, restaurants, businesses,

Condominiums, apartments.

Narrator: they look for witnesses who saw

Christina on the night she disappeared.

They needed to figure out,

Like, why she didn't get to her car and what happened on that

Walk from leaving paulina's house.

Narrator: but inquiries draw a blank,

So detectives turn their attention

To a different kind of witness.

Fortenberry: investigators went to look at any

Of the store's parking garages,

Things like that that had any sort of video to see

If we could capture something to tell us what happened

To christina.

Narrator: they quickly catch their first break.

A store that sits between paulina's apartment

And the local bars has two cameras covering the sidewalk.

In a missing person case like christina's,

It's critical to have surveillance,

Because we can't talk to her.

Narrator: plano officers bring the footage back

To the department.

A few things about surveillance video that it can

Give us that witnesses can't

Is that, one, it's accurate. Second of all, is it can

Catch people when they're not telling the truth.

Narrator: they spool back to 11 pm

When christina's friends say they arrive downtown.

Ok, stop there.

Narrator: is the secret to christina's

Disappearance hidden somewhere in this footage?

♪♪

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: five days after christina morris's

Disappearance, police officers want to see if

Her friends' accounts of the evening check out.

They say they met at paulina petrosky's apartment,

And, at 11 p.m., Headed into town.

You see a group of individuals walk along storefronts

As they're headed to a bar.

Take it back.

Fortenberry: and you can see the figures

And what they're wearing.

Christina was wearing a skirt

That was pretty unique and identifiable.

Narrator: christina is with her friends, paulina and enrique.

The fourth person is identified

As high school friend, sabrina boss.

Fortenberry: that footage was reviewed time and time again

To see if there was any sort of, like,

Body language that could show any tense moments or any

Disagreements between one person or another.

It seems very upbeat.

No one is upset.

It's very casual.

Narrator: the footage appears to back up everything

Christina's friends have told police.

All of the friends end up back at paulina's apartment

After the bar,

And they stay there until about 3 or 3:30 in

The morning, and that's when christina leaves with enrique.

Narrator: detectives now want to see if any cameras

Captured christina and enrique walking to their cars.

Fortenberry: there's a hair salon located between

Paulina's apartment and the parking garage

Where they had parked that night.

Investigators were able to get footage from that salon.

Narrator: they cue the footage to 3:30 a.m.

The minutes tick by.

At 3:47 a.m.

There's movement outside.

Fortenberry: although it's grainy, it's hard to see,

There's a reflection, they were able to see

Two figures walk through or walk in front

Of the salon window.

Narrator: it's impossible to make a positive id.

But just a few yards further down the street is an atm.

Investigators switch cameras.

There's a bank on the corner of parkwood and legacy,

And paulina lives off of parkwood.

And in order to walk from paulina's apartment

To the garage,

You would pass directly by the bank.

Narrator: they spool forward to 3:45 a.m.

And watch closely.

At 3:53, two distinct figures

Walk through frame.

Okay, stop. Zoom in there.

Yeah, that's her.

Fortenberry: the benchmark bank video is quite clear

Because there's a street light over the parking lot,

And you can see the figures and what they're wearing.

And so, from that video, you can see it's enrique

And christina, even though you can't make out their faces.

She walks normal. She's not staggering.

There's nothing about her demeanor

That makes her look intoxicated.

Their body language didn't indicate

That there was anything wrong going on.

Narrator: the pair appear to be headed

For the parking lot, just as enrique said,

Yet christina never made it to her car.

Investigators want to know if christina had plans to meet up

With her boyfriend, hunter,

And hope enrique can help them find out.

Enrique confirms that he and christina

Left paulina's party at the same time.

Narrator: detective stamm now turns her attention

To christina's fight with hunter.

Mnh-mnh.

Narrator: enrique does, however, recall christina

Making a phone call.

I didn't really...

Narrator: the phone call confirms witness accounts

That christina and hunter argued that night,

But enrique can't recall any more details.

Narrator: unable to help further, enrique is free to go.

Detective: thank you for being cooperative.

Enrique: oh, it's no problem.

♪♪

Narrator: with christina morris now missing for five days,

Fears for her safety intensify.

Narrator: a police helicopter searches plano

For any sign of her.

Narrator: while on the ground,

Friends and family organize their own search efforts.

Really, just anything that will give us --

And hand those out until you don't have any left,

And then we'll get more, okay?

We started searching right away to find

Anybody that had any information that had seen her,

That spoke with her.

Narrator: private investigator paula boudreaux joins them.

Time was of the essence to, you know,

Get people out there and get them moving to look for her.

We had no reason to believe

That she's not out there somewhere.

That's all we had, all of us,

Was that hope.

Narrator: at the same time, detectives release footage

To local news channels, hoping someone

Knows where christina is.

Anybody looking for christina.

It's just that one little lead, that one, you know,

Somebody who might have seen something.

It's very, very important.

Narrator: but it seems christina has vanished without a trace,

So detectives hope her phone records

Can provide fresh leads.

They confirm

She called her boyfriend, hunter foster,

Several times on the night she vanished and hasn't used

Her phone since.

But hunter is still off the radar.

Christina's boyfriend isn't being cooperative,

And he's not being responsive.

And this day and age, with cell phones and people in

Their twenties constantly being on their phones,

It's -- it's a bit odd.

Narrator: on september 3rd,

Five days after christina went missing,

Hunter finally comes in for questioning.

He claims he's been unresponsive

Because he'd lost his phone.

Narrator: the detective moves on to hunter's relationship

With christina.

Narrator: hunter explains that he has spent

The weekend with friends in dallas.

He hasn't seen christina since she left the house

On friday night.

Narrator: it's a claim that contradicts reports

That the couple had a fight the night she went missing.

Narrator: hunter explains why he hasn't reported christina missing.

Narrator: the detective now asks to read hunter's

Text messages from christina on friday night.

Fortenberry: the text messages that christina sent

To her boyfriend,

It contradicts what he said, that there was no problems,

That they weren't in a fight.

Those text messages show that christina morris

Was upset with her boyfriend.

Narrator: the detective wants a copy of all

Hunter's cell phone data.

Hunter wouldn't allow them to look at his phone.

You know, to take it away.

Investigators were just a little

Suspicious of was he hiding something?

Why not cooperate fully?

Narrator: without further evidence,

They can't hold hunter.

But his phone may yet provide vital clues.

Investigators request the records of the cell phone

Of christina's boyfriend,

So they're able to look at the location information

And ping his cell phone to know exactly

Where he was at what time.

Narrator: for now, investigators are no closer to being able

To tell christina's family what has happened to her.

They wanted to desperately know where she was.

Was she okay?

Was she alive?

Narrator: but later that day, there's a breakthrough.

Footage from the parking lot

Where christina left her car has been recovered.

Fortenberry: the plano police department are trying

To figure out did christina ever make it to her car

Or ever make it inside that parking garage?

Narrator: detectives pull up footage from a camera looking

Down onto the main entrance into the parking lot.

Investigators know that if christina

Went in that parking garage,

It was most likely through that main entrance,

And so they're pulling that footage to see if they can

See any sign of christina between that 3:30 and 4:00 a.m.

Narrator: the picture of what has happened to christina morris

Is about to get a whole lot clearer.

Detective: there.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: detectives from plano police department have recovered

Cctv from the parking garage where

Christina morris disappeared.

Can you play that back?

Just before 4 a.m.

On the parking garage security camera

You see two figures walk down the middle of

The driveway.

You can tell that on one side is christina.

She's wearing the same thing that she was seen wearing

In the other surveillance videos.

The other person is enrique arochi.

Narrator: enrique says it was here that he last saw christina.

Fortenberry: enrique had told the plano

Police department that they had split ways

And parked in separate parking garages.

Narrator: but police watch

Enrique walk with christina right into the garage

Where she parked.

All right, do you have another clip?

Narrator: they switch to an interior camera

Located right beside christina's car.

Fortenberry: inside of the garage was a camera mounted

At the ceiling that looks straightforward down one

Row of parking, and they're able to see

A glimpse of some movement inside the garage.

Detective: there.

Narrator: christina's car is located just off screen

To the right.

You can see lights flashing,

As if somebody was to hit their key fob

To unlock their doors.

Narrator: detectives replay the footage,

But to their frustration,

The view of christina's car is blocked.

Fortenberry: they are only feet away from where christina

May be walking, but they can't see anything,

And so we don't know what's happening.

Narrator: there's one further camera that might

Give detectives the shot they need.

Fortenberry: there's a camera mounted on the back side

Of a bank just outside the garage

That is only activated upon motion.

So when a car or a person walks in front of it,

It activates and records just a short segment.

Narrator: it's pointing towards christina's car

By pure chance,

Two minutes after christina and enrique enter

The garage, a passing car activates the camera.

Nobody approaches christina's car,

But a dark-colored vehicle facing hers starts to reverse.

Then the camera cuts out.

We're not able to see who went in the car,

What door they went in or anything like that.

All we're able to see is the lights turn on,

And then the car backs up.

Narrator: it's critical detectives pick up

Where the car went next

And who was inside it.

Investigators pull every camera that's available

In that garage,

And there's one mounted at the entrance and exit

On the backside.

Narrator: just one minute later, the camera captures

The same dark vehicle exiting the parking lot.

It's a dark-colored chevrolet camaro,

Just like enrique arochi's.

Detectives zoom in, hoping to spot christina inside.

♪♪

Ultimately, it was impossible to see

Who was behind the window.

Paula: they don't see christina on any other footage,

So the question is, where's christina?

Narrator: one thing is clear.

The account enrique has given police doesn't match the cctv,

So he's called back in for further questioning.

Enrique tells the police officers that he was too drunk,

That he unfortunately,

Because of his intoxication, he couldn't remember where

Exactly he parked

And when exactly he split ways with christina.

Enrique's story doesn't make him, you know, innocent.

But it doesn't make him guilty either.

There's no physical evidence.

There's no motive.

Narrator: suspicious of enrique's behavior,

Plano police search his camaro.

When investigators look inside enrique's car,

They see nothing that relates to christina morris,

And they allow enrique to go.

Detective: okay. Thanks a lot.

-No problem. -Appreciate it.

Detective: promise me you're gonna send me those pictures...

-Enrique: yes. -Detective: right?

Narrator: on the outskirts of plano,

Volunteers gather to search the surrounding wilderness

For christina.

Time was going by, and time was not on our side.

Narrator: despite the odds, her family

Are still hoping for a happy ending.

You're always holding on to that little bit,

That little bit of hope that, you know,

She's out there.

You're gonna find her.

Anna: he searched for her...

And searched for her and searched for her.

I don't know how that's humanly possible,

But that's how much he loves her.

Narrator: at plano police department,

The investigation is at risk of stalling.

Paula: the two lead suspects in the disappearance

Of christina morris would be hunter foster

And enrique arochi.

Narrator: yet police don't have enough

On either suspect to make an arrest.

In need of new leads,

They return to the footage.

Police are looking for anyone that may have entered or exited

Or driven near the garage

At the time of christina's disappearance

To see whether they're a witness

Or whether they're the perpetrator.

Narrator: suddenly, they spot something.

That!

Narrator: what they are about to see will

Only deepen the mystery surrounding

Christina's disappearance.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: plano police have two suspects denying any

Involvement in the disappearance

Of christina morris.

Desperate for more evidence,

They revisit the cameras from the lot where christina

Was last seen.

They cue footage to 3:58 a.m.,

The time enrique's car left, and let it play.

At 4:08 a.m., A car enters frame.

A green kia enters the garage and kind of circles around.

That raised their attention because, um,

It's the time of night where

There's not much activity in the garage.

Narrator: they switch to an exterior camera.

The same distinctive kia circles the parking garage.

The police look for any identifying characteristics,

The license plate,

The driver or anything like that.

Narrator: but it's impossible to make out a license tag.

It's imperative detectives find the kia's driver.

Hey, I'm gonna need you to id a car.

They're looking to know if that person is

A witness or a possible suspect related

To christina's disappearance.

Narrator: investigators reach out to local cab businesses

In the hope one of them recognizes the vehicle.

Those drivers are known to circle around the garage

In the areas to look up to pick up their passengers.

Narrator: it's a long shot, but one company

Does come forward.

Paula: investigators were able to track down the driver

Of the car,

And found out that the driver was an uber driver

That was looking for his -- his client that

He was trying to pick up at that time.

Narrator: it's another dead end.

With their options rapidly diminishing with every setback,

Investigators shift their focus back to the two lead

Suspects, hunter foster and enrique arochi.

They access both men's cell phone and bank records.

Fortenberry: when the police officers obtain the records

Of christina's boyfriend for his cell phone,

It confirms that he was in a different town

At a different bar.

Hunter was telling the truth when he said he was in

Downtown dallas,

And that was corroborated with witnesses

That were with him at the time

That christina went missing.

Narrator: hunter foster is ruled out

Of the investigation,

Making enrique arochi the prime suspect.

There isn't enough evidence to arrest him,

But detectives hope his bank records

May give them the lead they need.

Fortenberry: the plano police department wanted to know

Exactly what he was doing

And where he was on those critical hours following

Christina's disappearance.

Narrator: they reveal that six hours after he left

The parking lot,

Arochi visited a car wash, followed by a gas station.

Fortenberry: that's an extremely important detail

And also something that's very suspect of someone who

May be trying to cover up or hide

What sort of involvement they had.

Narrator: detectives head straight over

To try to recover any cctv footage.

They strike out at the car wash,

But the gas station has cameras overlooking the pumps.

All right, let's see what we got.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: at 9:58 a.m.,

A chevrolet camaro pulls into view.

Here we go.

Narrator: enrique arochi gets out.

As he walks past the trunk, he does something odd.

What's he doing?

Fortenberry: as he goes by,

He actually does a double take,

Almost that he noticed something

Or something caught his eye.

Narrator: they switch angles and see enrique grab a rag

And clean the passenger door handle.

Then he picks up a squeegee.

Most people use a squeegee to clean their windshield.

Begins to rub the back of his car

Near the license plate and where the trunk closes.

♪♪

It's very bizarre behavior -- because it's just hours

After christina went missing,

Investigators believe that whatever he's trying

To clean relates to christina morris and her disappearance.

Narrator: the evidence against enrique is mounting,

But it's still only circumstantial.

Police need more.

Fortenberry: the surveillance at the gas station

Leads investigators to think

That there's something of value

To the case in that trunk or related to that trunk.

Narrator: if christina was ever in enrique's trunk,

Only forensics can prove it.

So detectives seize enrique's car.

Fortenberry: and when they open the trunk,

They see that there's a rubber seal

That goes along the border of the base of the trunk.

And so that area is what the crime scene investigators

Focus on because it is a porous material

That is absorbent and would also be

Very hard to clean.

What they're looking for is the smallest amount

Of evidence, dna,

Hair samples, blood samples, whatever they needed.

Narrator: but it will be months

Before forensics finish processing the findings.

[ Helicopter blades whirl ]

It's a frustrating wait for detectives,

But they need to make the case watertight

Before they arrest enrique.

With all eyes on him, rumors pointing

To his involvement in christina's

Disappearance spread.

Her family are furious that enrique is apparently

Off the hook and decide to take action.

They stage a protest outside his home,

Demanding answers.

We had tried to talk to enrique face to face.

We had tried to make contact with him,

Um, to see if he would answer our questions,

And he refused to.

He held all the answers.

Wasn't gonna let him get away with it.

He knew where my daughter was.

♪♪

♪♪

Narrator: enrique arochi is the prime suspect

In christina morris's disappearance

And possible m*rder,

But police are lacking concrete proof of his guilt.

He continues to deny

Any involvement in christina's disappearance.

Narrator: then, after several agonizing months,

The dna results from enrique's come back.

The dna came back and...

My daughter's dna was in the trunk of his car.

My heart just dropped.

Dna was actually found in two locations.

One was on the rubber seal, where the trunk lid closed,

And the second location was on the trunk mat.

It was statistically impossible for it to be

Anyone else than christina morris.

Narrator: still, detectives face an uphill battle

To charge enrique with m*rder.

Fortenberry: without a body, we knew that

We had a difficult time proving m*rder.

We couldn't prove how she was m*rder*d

Or when she was m*rder*d.

[ Helicopter blades whirl ]

Narrator: but prosecutors are convinced

The forensic evidence, surveillance footage, and holes

In enrique's story are enough to prove his involvement

In christina's disappearance.

On december 13, 2014, police arrest him

On the charge of aggravated kidnapping.

♪♪

Enrique maintains his innocence,

So the case goes to trial.

♪♪

On the 21st of september 2016, the jury reach a verdict.

Judge: mr. Arochi, if you'd please stand for me, sir.

Verdict form reads as follows,

We the jury find the defendant guilty

Of aggravated kidnapping as charged in the indictment.

Enrique was found guilty of the first-degree crime

Of aggravated kidnapping,

And he was sentenced to a life sentence.

Narrator: but for christina's family,

The case is far from over.

We needed people to understand that,

Yes, he's guilty,

And, yes, he's going to prison,

But... Where is she?

We still don't know.

Narrator: on march 7, 2018,

Three and a 1/2 years after christina went missing,

Her family's worst fears are realized.

Fortenberry: it was a construction site.

A man was walking in front of the bulldozer

To make sure that he didn't run over any pipelines.

He saw what he believed to be a human skull.

At that time, he called the local police department.

They found other skeletal remains

And the clothing remains

Of what christina was wearing on the night she went missing.

Narrator: the discovery of christina's body confirms

Detectives' theory of what likely

Happened that night.

In the early hours of august 30, 2014, enrique arochi

Walks christina to her car.

He likely offers her a ride.

We believe that she got in the car willingly,

But it perhaps or likely was under false pretenses that

He lied to her and said he would take her home

Or take her to see her boyfriend.

♪♪

Narrator: no one knows for sure how christina died,

But as the dna was found in enrique's trunk and with

No evidence of third party involvement,

Police believe enrique k*lled christina and dumped her body.

[ Music crescendos ]

♪♪

Prosecutors are still deciding whether to pursue

A m*rder charge.

Due to the difficulty

In proving the aggravated kidnapping the first time,

It wouldn't be much easier to prove the m*rder case,

And because it wouldn't extend his sentence

Past a life sentence,

The reward in pursuing a m*rder charge is very minimal.

Narrator: christina's family are finally

Able to put her to rest.

Anna: there's some measure of peace in the fact

That we do have her,

That she is found.

We have a place to go now

To be with her and talk to her, but...

This isn't the way we wanted it to end.

There's not a day that goes by I don't

Look at something that reminds me of her.

Hopefully her story helps, you know, other women.

You know, these are things, you hear of them happening,

You just never think it's gonna happen to you.

And it can so easily.

Just follow up.

Make sure your friends make it home all right.