Chapter 1: What led to Kim Langwell's disappearance?
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I think we have to fight hard for our loved ones and we have to listen to them and be cautious about the people that we allow into our lives. I wish so much that I would have fought harder for mom. I'm an only child of Kim Langwell. She made me her whole world. She was my best friend. In July of 1999, I was a normal 15-year-old teenager. Everything seemed pretty perfect in life. July 9.
What are your plans for that night? We were going to go out to eat. She called me after work just to make sure that I was on track, you know, ready for dinner that night. And then I can't get a hold of her. I immediately start texting her 911. She just never called. And all I could think about was maybe there's something, you know, that she's just not telling me.
And you just keep thinking she was just there. She was just on the phone. What do I do? I woke up to my phone ringing, and it was Ken Weatherford, my mom's boyfriend. Hey, did your mom come home? And I said, no, she's not here. And he said, well, Tiffany, I didn't tell you last night. I was looking for her, and I saw her car. I think you need to call somebody. I think something's wrong.
So detective, where was her car? Her car was parked right about where I'm parked now. You're looking for physical evidence. We were looking for blood, and we were looking for a body, looking for a crime scene, and we had none of that. She just disappeared. I think for the first year, I kept it together, and then after that, it just falls apart.
The person that you depend on for everything is now gone. In the spring of 2023, my supervisors filled me in on reopening the investigation. Our overall goal was just to get answers for the family. We definitely got the feeling that people were not being completely honest in their statements that they had provided back in 1999. She had a social life and she interacted with a lot of people.
This man was writing her love letters. There is a stack an inch and a half thick. This is a lot of love letters. It's a lot. Kim, I have developed this terribly strong crush on you. Something must be done about it. We're seeing obsessive behavior here. We didn't want to get tunnel vision. Do we have any named suspects in this file?
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Chapter 2: How did Tiffany McInnis cope with her mother's absence?
It was a good choice. This house is where we found the most disturbing scene, something I've never seen or heard of in my law enforcement career.
This case, even after I retired, this case has haunted me because I couldn't find her.
I felt like I had failed. And you felt that you failed the family? Yes. And her. It has been more than two decades since 34-year-old Kim Langwell disappeared. And former Beaumont, Texas detective Joe Ball still relives those early days of the investigation over and over again.
On July 10th, 1999, a day after Kim Langwell failed to arrive home, Detective Ball was summoned to a strip mall parking lot in front of an Eckert Pharmacy. My mom's car is there and nobody's checked it out. We need to see what's in the car. Kim's daughter, Tiffany McInnis, who was just 15 at the time, and Kim's sister, Susan Butts, had already arrived at the scene.
When you looked through the window, what did you see in the car?
I saw her briefcase and a phone. No purse, no wallet, no keys. Yeah, the purse was not in there. The car was locked.
No keys inside?
Nothing. It just looked like somebody walked away.
This is where Kim's vehicle was. This is where Kim's vehicle was parked. And what did that suggest to you? It suggested to me that she either met someone here and left with them, or that she had been kidnapped out of this parking lot. But no one could recall seeing anyone get in or out of Kim's car.
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Chapter 3: What were the initial investigation findings in Kim's case?
Frank McCormick was a supervisor out in Mobile, and he worked in the same building as my mom. Tiffany says McCormick, who was married, often came around their house and left Kim presents, like chocolates from Paris.
He adored her. He talked about her big blue eyes and how sweet she was. And then it went from that to a little darker.
McCormick began sending Kim love letters, dozens of them. He also sent disturbing photo collages. These are grainy copies that were given to 48 Hours by investigators.
Pictures of all kinds of women with Kim's face on the bodies.
Esther said that Kim was upset about McCormick's bizarre behavior, but she didn't report him for fear of retribution.
Kim was nice to everybody, but I think he just thought because she was nice to him that she liked him.
Detectives say despite McCormick's obsessive behavior, he had an alibi. Around the time Kim disappeared, he told investigators he was at a grocery store to buy some chips for a poker game. and he had the receipt to prove it.
We looked at him, we talked to him, and we were able to rule him out as the suspect.
But authorities had someone else on their radar, Terry Rose, Kim's ex-boyfriend. Kim and Terry dated and lived together for about six years. After they broke up, the two stayed in contact. I do know that she kept a friendly relationship. He would help her do things. In fact, the night Kim disappeared, Kim had stopped by Terry Rose's house on the way home from work.
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Chapter 4: Who were the primary suspects in Kim Langwell's disappearance?
Knowing Terry like he knew Terry, did he have anything to do with Kimberly?
I don't think so. Not at all. And I just don't think he's that type of person. Investigators were convinced Wiley wasn't telling them everything he knew, so in April of 2024, the DA convened a grand jury, where Terry Rose and David Wiley would have to testify under oath. Rose stuck to his original story, but Wiley, while also consistent, seemed uneasy. He was very nervous.
He seemed very uncomfortable. So we decided to call David Wiley and see if he would just be willing to come in and take a polygraph test. He immediately was like, you're going to need to contact my attorney and ended the phone call. So we knew at that point that we were onto something. That hunch was confirmed when Wylie's attorney called back.
He does have information for y'all that's going to help you find her.
How are you doing today? Good. How are you doing?
Great.
In April 2024, more than two decades after Kim Langwell disappeared, David Wiley was ready to talk to investigators. This was huge. This is what we needed. But only under one condition. His attorney told us he wants full immunity from any kind of prosecution. I said, okay, we kind of need to know what we're working with here. Detectives wondered if Wiley could have been an accomplice.
He said, no, he didn't. He's not saying that he killed her, that he just has information of what happened to her. So we're like, we can work with that. With assurances of an immunity deal, David Wiley met with investigators at his attorney's office.
Our goal is you're here to tell the truth, okay?
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Chapter 5: What new evidence emerged in the investigation in 2023?
We're going to be looking under the floor, as David described where she was. It was going to be a huge operation. and it would take intricate and secretive planning. Detectives feared that if Terry Rose found out, David Wiley's life could be in danger. They were also concerned about the safety of Terry's common-law wife, Violet. What is his mindset?
If this man is really the narcissist psychopath we believe him to be, will Violet's life be in danger too? So they devised a ruse. On June 10, 2024, Terry Rose and Violet were called to the police station to discuss another case. Terry's father had been a victim of a homicide five years after Kim disappeared. After that conversation, the Langwell investigators stepped in.
I think he was truly caught off guard that he was called to the police station for one thing, and now this is happening.
As Detectives Tamayo and Wilson served Terry Rose with the search warrant, investigators were at his house, ready to begin looking for Kim Langwell. I want you to understand what all it entails. It's going to be a thorough search of the house, possibly under the house. So if there is information that you want to tell us, is Kimberly on the property?
Is there any evidence of her murder on the property? Shouldn't be. No. Did you murder Kim?
No.
So is there any reason why we're going to find any kind of blood or evidence or remains or anything like that anywhere on your property, sir?
No. I don't know what you want. We want the body.
Well, I understand that. I don't have anything to tell you. OK. We just want to give you that opportunity. Is this mine or? You can keep that. Yes, sir. I think at that point, he knew that his world was crashing down, but he couldn't stop him. Detectives Wilson and Tamayo then went to speak to Violet.
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Chapter 6: How did detectives locate Kim's remains?
I think he knew it was over.
Don't hurt me.
Terry Rose was immediately transported to the police department where Detectives Wilson and Tamayo were waiting to question him. We do have an arrest warrant for you for the offense and murder.
You don't want to talk?
Nothing to say.
What can I say?
Well, there's probably a lot to say. I mean, are you curious about what we have found or why you're here?
His true character is being revealed in that moment.
I mean, I'm interested in what you have to say.
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Chapter 7: What was Terry Rose's defense during the trial?
I'm anxious, I'm nervous to have to look at him. So a lot of nerves going in to that moment. That moment, over a quarter of a century in the making, came in December of 2025, when Tiffany McInnis, flanked by supporters, faced her mother's killer in a courtroom.
All rise.
the terms of the plea deal where he would get anything up to 40 years. At his age, 40 years is a life sentence. And my goal from the get-go is to make sure he never breathed one more breath of free air. Prosecutor Nichols called David Wiley to the stand.
You swear or affirm the testimony you're going to give in this hearing will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
Yes, I do. Who recounted Terry Rose's confession to him back in 1999. Did he give you any detail as to how that happened and where he shot her?
No. The only thing he told me was the back of the head.
That he shot Kim in the back of the head?
Correct.
Now, the police asked you about this in 1999, didn't they?
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Chapter 8: What was the outcome of the trial and plea deal for Terry Rose?
Absolutely. Yeah.