48 Hours - A Parents Worst Nightmare

Episode Date: January 11, 2026

In November 1997, Florida couple Marlene and Steve Aisenberg reported their five-month-old daughter Sabrina missing from her crib. The police began to search for the baby but soon became convinced that the couple knew more about their baby’s disappearance than they admitted. “48 Hours" Correspondent Troy Roberts reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 2/9/2008. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays, and stream on demand on Paramount+. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I don't think anyone has a conclusion of this story yet. It's about a little girl that goes missing and I don't think anyone knows for sure what happened to her. Sabrina, come crawl to mommy. She had just started to crawl. She could not get out of the crib herself. Come on, oh, she's getting up. Here she goes. I gave you the most horrific thing you can imagine, looking into your child's crib and not seeing her there. Oh God, my baby.

Every night we kick myself because we didn't use an alarm and we had one every night. But I'm not going to dwell on it. If the Eisenbergs are telling the truth, you have to believe that someone walked into their house in the middle of the night to where baby Sabrina was sleeping, plucked her out of a crib and vanished forever. And we need her back in our family where she belongs. And I know she's out there. I think that Steve and Marlene know more than what they're saying. Police are like, well, we believe you know where Sabrina is or what happened to her.

All of a sudden I hear Marlene, come downstairs. And the next thing I know is there's a gun being pointed right at my face. At some point it became just like a soap opera. Where is your daughter? Not only has our daughter been taken from us, but they tried to destroy everything about our family. You tell us where Sabrina is. It hurts. She's seven years old and she's not home yet.

That kills me. Where's our baby? Happy Halloween. Our life is like a fairy tale. We started off so happy. They happy? Hey, young, happy go lucky. And I don't think we're so naive anymore.

And Zerina's crawling and she's almost five months old. I don't think we're so happy go lucky anymore. Marlene and Steve Eisenberg would be the first to tell you they're just. a regular family. When you encounter a stranger or someone that doesn't know you very well and they ask you how many children you have, what do you say? Three. Because that's how many children I do have.

But their youngest daughter, Sabrina, has not been seen or heard from for more than 10 years. Not since November 24, 1997, when the five-month-old seemingly vanished. I believe she's just a beautiful young lady. years old, she's not a baby anymore. I have dreams often that she's coming home and that we're playing and the dreams are as vivid as they're real. Have you been able to successfully rebuild your life? Um, a happy family, but we will be in a static family when we're all together, like we should be. Steve and Merlin Eisenberg's ordeal began here at their home in Valerico, Florida, just outside of Tampa. It was 6.30 in the morning and Merlin was

beginning her day, rising early as usual before her husband and three children. Immediately, though, she sensed that something wasn't quite right, that something had gone terribly wrong. I remember just screaming. It's something I really don't like to listen to because I can't. It just brings everything back. Marlene and Steve would like to forget everything about that awful night, especially the garage door that they admit to leaving open.

Yes, I go open. Would you have done anything differently about securing the house? Oh, for sure, my God. What would you have done differently? What we do now. I look at the doors every night and we make sure they're shut and locked and we turn the alarm on. Every night we kick myself, ourselves, because we didn't use an alarm and we had one. Of course we would do things differently.

But that night, with the door open, the Eisenbergs can only assume that someone crept quietly into the house and snatched Sabrina while they were sleeping. My baby's not in her crib. You know, where is she? After Marlene called 911, Steve went next door to a neighbor. The doorbell rang that morning, and your wife answered the door. Yes. What happened next?

The first thing Steve had said to my wife was, she's missing. Scott Middleton is a former Tampa cop. At the time, he and his wife lived directly across the street. My wife had ran out the front door and Marlene was waving. Just, you know, hey. What do you mean? Well, it was, you know, it wasn't the panic. You know, it was not a panic parent.

Immediately, his police training kicked in. What was struck you as odd that morning? They're just, you know, and I'm a parent myself. There wasn't any emotion there to say, hey, my kids are gone. But this news video shows how destructive Marlene was, that November morning, Sabrina disappeared. I didn't understand anything that was going on. I mean, it was just all hysterics.

And I called Marlene, and it was a miracle that she picked up, and she was a mess. Good friend, Kathy Dodson, heard the panic in Marlene's voice. She was crying, and I said, I just heard, is it true? I mean, I was just blown away, and she was like, yes, yeah, I gotta go, I gotta go. I mean, she was just a mess. Within minutes, deputies from the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Department descended on the iceberg home, and the media was right behind them. This was a great story. Being a parent, I hate to say that anyone's missing child is a good story.

But as time wore on, it became a very interesting story. TV reporter Bill McGinty covered the story for WTSP, the CBS affiliate in Tampa. This was the lead story in our newscast every day for months, because every day there was something new to tell. Sheriff's deputies began an extensive search in and around the Eisenberg home, but found nothing. There are our mess witnesses at this point. We have no reason to believe that they're involved.

Still, deputies were struck by the disheveled appearance of the Eisenberg home. To the cops it spelled neglect. But to her friends, it was just the way Marlene was. She wasn't an immaculate housekeeper. Anybody would testify to that, that, you know, her house was a mess. By the end of that first horrible day...

And I'm begging that person to please bring our baby back to us. Police encouraged the couple to go on TV and plead for their daughter's safe return. But to a curious public, the Eisenberg seemed cold and aloof. Most people thought, at least the speculation on the street is, if my baby were taken, I'd be a lot more upset than that. Some people looking at that have said that you seemed strangely unemotional. First of all, you're in shock and my baby is gone. I have no idea where she is and I have to say something.

And we all miss her and love her very much and we need her to come home to us, please. You don't know what to say, you don't know how to react. There's not a book that you read on what to go through when you've had something horrible happen in your life. But like a lot of people, McGinty thought there was just something slightly off about their story. It's a little tough to swallow that somebody went in through a door and took a baby out of a crib right across the hallway from where they were sleeping. You drive into the neighborhood, there's one way in, one way out, they live on a cul-de-sac. There's a big wall around their neighborhood. Suspicion was growing around the Eisenbergs.

Take this snippet of videotape. For a brief moment, less than a second, really, Steve was recorded with a story. smile on his face. A lot of our behavior was what was dictated for us to do and be by the police. When we were leaving our house one day, they made a joke and we laughed. The focus of the story shifted from Sabrina Eisenberg, five months old, missing baby, to Marlene and Steve Eisenberg. Even Brownie, the family dog, came under scrutiny. Why had she not bark at the intruder? Brownie was a nut. Would Brownie bark at his own shadow? Yeah. Browning was a nut. Would Brownie bark at his own shadow? Yeah. Brownie was a dog that was full of all kinds of energy.

Rambunctious dog? Laid back. Laid back? Laid back? Laudy did not park? Nope. With the Eisenberg's permission, the FBI tapped their phone so that any call from a kidnapper could be traced. One of the first calls was from Steve's brother, Dave, a lawyer.

Well, what's going on down there? I mean, the detectives are doing their job. They're following every leave they have. When detectives listened in, they were amazed that Steve, supposedly awaiting a call from his child's kidnappers, never answers the call waiting beep that kicks in. Every other phone call is the press. Right now, the detectives are in a meeting. To the police, this was proof the Eisenbergs knew much more about Sabrina's disappearance than they were letting on.

Any concerned parent they thought would have taken that call immediately. Suspicious, the detectives confronted Marlene. We'll call them here to help us find her, or who took her, where is she? And this person sitting there telling me, you know, well, we think you know where Sabrina is and what happened. 24 hours after Sabrina was reported missiles, the Eisenbergs were frustrated with a police response. They chose to look for a body, not a baby. Any lead that was called in for a live baby at the airport, they didn't follow up on it. 911.

A neighbor, a couple nights before, Sabrina was taken from our house. A woman had her window of her baby's room broken into a couple of nights before. 15334 hours. Are you telling me that the police never conducted an honest search? They tried to find a body. The investigators never really got past Mr. and Mrs. Eisenberg. Graham Brink, a reporter for the St. Petersburg Times, has written extensively about the case. Most people, I believe, would tell you that the community thought they had done it or that it was an accident and they were covering it up.

You understand that the police had to. investigate you. Oh, sure. Investigate us, but follow other leads. The statistics show that when a baby is abducted, there's only one chance in a thousand that someone other than a family member did it. Well, guess what? You're meeting number one. Right. There she goes to William's shoes. There's her big brother acting silly. Before Sabrina disappeared, life for the Eisenbergs largely revolved around their three children. Sabrina and her two older siblings, William, then nine, and Monica, five. You know, I love kids, I love my kids, I love my friends' kids.

And I would just tilt your head up and blow as hard as you can. Marlene even started her own business for kids, running a baby and toddler exercise program. Steve worked real estate in Tampa's booming economy. We're just regular people. But ugly gossip was spreading. Tell me what kinds of things were you hearing? One of them may have been having an affair,

that the baby may not have been Steve. may not have been Steve's biologically. The Eisenberg's meanwhile continued to cooperate with the investigation. Sheriff's detectives gave a couple lie detector tests and then reportedly leaked information that some of Merlene's answers were deceptive. The results of your first polygraph test, Marlene, was inconclusive. Correct. And you failed a second test.

I was told I was inconclusive on the second test as well. Police said that you failed it. I was told by them that I was inconclusive. The investigation was now three days old, and at the advice of his brother, Steve got a lawyer. You guys should get an attorney, you know, because these people are, you know, they're out to get you. The Eisenbergs hired Barry Cohen, one of the most high-profile and combative lawyers in Florida. What kind of lawyer are you? Good lawyer. Damn good lawyer. Cohen says there's nothing that points to his client's guilt.

There's no physical evidence. This entire investigation, the FBI, the Hillsburg County Sheriff's Office, did not produce one piece of physical evidence that even suggested that either one of them were responsible. Everybody's probably a suspect, and they've been asked the hard questions. Despite that, Cohen says sheriff's detectives had one mission to prove the Eisenberg, were involved. When I saw the police were acting in bad faith and that they were destined to try to frame Marlene and Steve, that's where we stopped cooperating. The Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office refused to talk to us about the case, but reporter Bill McGinty says the cops definitely pursued

other leads, even though the vast majority were from people who mistakenly thought they had spotted Sabrina. They were running two parallel investigations, one looking at the Eisenbergs and one looking into every other possibility. We went to the Eisenberg war room where they had volumes of information, places they'd been to thousands of different leads. But there's no doubt the police felt stymied, just when they thought they were on the verge of breaking the couple.

We are not going to permit any further interviews. The case became very adversarial. Would you say that the Eisenbergs are cooperating in the surgery, Sabrina? Limited cooperation, very limited. It was Barry trying to defend clients as best he could against what he saw was a horde of investigators and prosecutors trying to bring them down.

Why would innocent people need to hire a lawyer? Because the law enforcement officers were not trying to find the truth. Leeds were pouring in, but the police clearly thought their best suspects were sitting right in this house. In a highly unusual move reserved largely for mob bosses and drug kingpins, he was a very Kingpins. Hillsborough County Sheriff Detectives got a warrant allowing them to secretly plant small listing devices or bugs in the Eisenberg's kitchen and bedroom. Why did the police wiretapped the home? I think they thought it was their last chance of getting the Eisenbergs.

This would not be a good place for microphone. 48 hours asked Mike Paris, a wiretap and bug detection expert, to come to the Eisenberg home to show us how the wiretapping operation worked. This is the actual bug? That's the microphone here, yes. It's quite sensitive to, it has ability to pick up a whisper within probably about 30 or 40 feet. Paris explains that the bug is attached to a transmitter and then placed behind a wall jack to an existing telephone line.

A sophisticated eavesdropper is going to want to be able to have access to wire like we have here. The sound then travels along outside phone lines to a nearby police station. And the sound quality? Excellent. Excellent. As long as it's applied correctly.

which is critical. That's correct. Every day for nearly three months from 7 a.m. to midnight, Sheriff's deputies listened and recorded thousands of private conversations going on in the Eisenberg home. They had a lot of pressure on them to make a case, so they figured if they're guilty, they'll probably talk about it. Sabrina had been gone for two months when a federal grand jury was convened to examine her disappearance.

Where is Sabrina? The Eisenbergs were asked to testify, but Cohen advised them to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights. He advised you not to testify before the grand jury looking into your daughter's disappearance. Well, why wouldn't you want to do that? We did what we felt was necessary at that time. You know how it looked, though? Your daughter is missing, and you two don't want to cooperate with the process. You don't want to testify before the grand jury.

That's not true. We cooperated with the whole process. 100 percent. You didn't testify before the grand jury. You know what? If you have any other grand jury questions, you can ask our attorneys. Why did you advise the Eisenbergs not to testify before the grand jury? I knew the reputation of Steve Kuntz. Stephen Kuhnz was the lead federal prosecutor in the case, and, to put it mildly, Cohen doesn't think much of him.

He has no business in the system. If he worked for a corporation, that be sued for negligent hiring and or negligent retention successfully. Is that when things got really ugly? You know, things have been ugly for so long we don't remember when they became ugly. As the grand jury heard testimony, social workers showed up at the Eisenberg's front door

to investigate whether the couple's older children, William and Monica, were being mistreated. So what did you make of this? Was this a strong-armed tactic? Totally. I think they wanted to scare us. us and let us think that they were taking away our children. They just wanted to know because they could talk to them all evening and that children

would let them know that all we do is love them. But it's just another effort on a part of the authorities here in this case to break these people. But their ordeal was only just beginning. It was like the scariest thing to have a gun pointed at you. I mean, he was literally aiming the gun right at my face. The swamps outside Tampa keep many secrets. Do they also hold the key to solving the mystery of what happened to Sabrina Eisenberg?

Searchers seem to think so, but after a year and a half without any answers, the sheriff's office was feeling the pressure, and Barry Cohen knew it. They were embarrassed. They didn't want to have another Ramsey case on their hands out here where the investigators were made a fool out of. Like the Ramsey case, Detention. The detectives looking for Sabrina come home to us

were convinced the parents were somehow involved. I think once law enforcement collectively decided that the Eisenbergs were responsible and guilty, then whatever it took to implicate and to charge them, then that was going to be done. John Fitzgibbons, a former U.S. attorney now in private practice in Tampa, says Barry Cohn. Let's finish.

I don't care what they, what they're going to do. What they're going to do. said. And his zeal to protect the Eisenbergs was aggravating investigators. Barry basically and repeatedly stabbed his finger in their eye throughout the case. We don't know if they've correctly written down what they've said. We don't know whether they've taken out of context. We don't know whether they've confabulated the information. He mocked the investigation. He publicly challenged the investigation. They should be apologizing not only to the Eisenbergs, but to all of the other law enforcement

officers whose integrity they have undermined. Do you think that using kinder, gentler language and being more cooperative would have helped your clients more? Well, no, I don't think any, I don't think this case called for any euphemisms or any kinder language. This was a war. This was a war. You don't go into a war with a BB gun.

The Eisenbergs, meanwhile, were trying to keep their hopes alive. We know we didn't harm her, and I can't believe anybody else would harm her. I believe that she was taken to be loved by someone. What I think about is how can I bring my daughter home? And that's what's most important to me. By May 1999, the Eisenbergs were struggling financially. So they sold their house in Florida and moved back to Steve's childhood home in Bethesda, Maryland. I believe that the police are someone you're supposed to teach your kids to respect.

And I could not do that living in Tampa. And just four months later, on September the 9th, they received some unexpected visitors. I was packing because our family was going to Boston for Rosh Hashanah. Clothes on the bed and cars pulled up and got a look and seeing people just walking around the driveway. I didn't understand who these people were, why they're all coming here. So I called Barry. I called my attorney. I'm literally on hold, you know, wanting to talk to somebody.

It must have been a new secretary or something and she didn't know where anybody was. They broke it into the house. All of a sudden I hear Marlene, come downstairs. You need to come downstairs. And I come right here and the next thing I know is there's a gun being pointed right at my face. And he's just pointing a gun right at me. And I'm like, just in shock, just looking at them, what's going on. And he's like, put down the phone, and I was like, put down the gun.

It was like the scariest thing to have a gun pointed at you. I mean, he was literally aiming the gun right at my face. The intruders tell Marlene who they are, the FBI. I said, did you find Sabrina? Where is she? And at that point, they said, we didn't find Sabrina. We believe that she's dead. And I said, no, I don't believe that.

ever believe that and they said well we're arresting you. At the same time across town agents are arresting Steve. They put me in a cell strip searched me. They did the fingerprints, the photos. And the whole time I'm just thinking you're making a huge mistake. You didn't look for our daughter and you're making the biggest mistake right now. Prosecutors believe they have an airtight case because of the secret wire recordings. indictment also charges the Eisenbergs discussed on several occasions that the baby was actually dead and what story they would tell authorities concerning the disappearance of the baby.

They are later released on bail using Steve's father's home as collateral. Stephen Rene, did you kill your daughter? Did you kill your daughter? No comment. The Eisenbergs are indicted not for murder, but for conspiracy and for lying to investigators. The charges, if proved, could send them to prison for up to 30 years. Yeah, there. We'd like to give you a chance to respond to that indictment and say something on your behalf. The indictment was based on the police bugging operation that lasted nearly three months.

More than 2,600 conversations were recorded between the Eisenbergs, in which police say they discussed killing their daughter. The indictment was horrific to read. And that they could even put a bug in our bedroom, especially the bedroom. It's just, you know, it's a sanctuary for a husband and wife. And it's scary to sit there and say,

oh my God, you know, look what they're trying to do to us. Did you kill your daughter? Prosecutors said the Eisenberg's tape conversations were devastating. Marlene reportedly said the baby's dead and buried. It was found dead because you did it. The baby's dead no matter what you say, you just did it. Steve supposedly responded, we need to discuss the way that we can beat the charge. We will do what we have to do.

I thought the government has a hell of a powerful case here. At the couple's bail hearing, a federal prosecutor tells a judge, she had heard Steve Eisenberg on the tape say, I wish I hadn't harmed her. It was the cocaine. I'll do drug tests from now to eternity, and you'll never find any drugs in my safe. drugs in my system.

I said, Steve, I said, look at the detail in this indictment. I never said anything that they say I said. Marlene never said anything that they say she said. And I said, Steve, I believe you. And then I went back and we finally got those tapes.

But do the tapes contain a confession or will they just add to the confusion already surrounding the case? Do you have a dark curiosity? Heart Starts Pounding, Horrors, Hauntings, and Mysteries is a weekly podcast hosted by me, Kailen Moore. Each week, I'll take you on a dark journey through terrifying true urban legends, bizarre true crime cases, chilling tales of backwoods horror and more.

So if you're looking to join a passionate community of The Darkly Curious, check out Heart Starts Pounding on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And remember, stay curious. It had been more than two years since baby Sabrina vanished from her crib. Federal prosecutors were sure they had a case, not a murder case, but a case of conspiracy. They were determined to get a confession. I knew pretty shortly that it was going to get ugly. Barry Cohen felt prosecutor Stephen Coons was overzealous. He's totally ambitious. He's totally irresponsible and he believes in one thing and I was getting a conviction and getting his name

in the paper. In December of 2000, the Eisenberg the feds and the secret tapes were about to have their day in court. The courtroom was packed, and everyone was there for one reason and one reason alone, to hear the bombshell recordings. When they told us these are the quotes, we have them on tape. Everybody thought, oh wow, gee whiz, they're dead in the water. These tapes were the backbone of the prosecution's entire case. But can you hear what's on them?

Listen closely. I later described it as it's sounding like chicken squawking with a hurricane playing in the background. Static, a lot of TV, a lot of noise. And all we could hear in the courtroom that day was mumbling. And you could hear the hum of appliances and things like that. But the prosecution heard more than just noise. They believe they heard incriminating evidence.

When it was played in open court, the judge looked over at the prosecutor and he had his glasses on the end of his nose. And that look was a glare. This is the best you got. Barry Cohen hired a former analyst from the FBI to listen to the tapes. He said, well, I'm going to call it the way I see it. I said, that's great. When he submitted his affidavit that he had listened to the tapes and the tapes did not match up with the words in the transcript, I thought that was the turning point of the case.

Former prosecutor John Fitzgibbons. It was just astounding. There were sentences and paragraphs that didn't connect up. To combat Cohen's expert witness, Stephen Coons hired audio expert and private investigator to the stars, Anthony Pelacano, whose clients included Michael Jackson and Elizabeth Taylor. Pelicano had a reputation for resorting to violence to get his way. I learned that he bragged in articles that were written about.

him about getting people to talk to him with a baseball bat and slicing people's faces. A real fair word would be that he was just a real scumbag. Anthony Pelicano later pled guilty in another case to possessing illegal explosives. Why would the government stoop to hiring Tony Pelicano when shortly after that, he was indicted himself? And he served two and a half years in federal prison. It appeared that Pelicano and the prosecutors were the only ones in the courtroom who could hear the incriminating evidence.

This came as no surprise to the Eisenberg team. One of their lawyers on their legal team sat back in his chair like this and just looked at the media and said, told you. I can't comprehend how someone with even a minimum amount of intelligence could come up with those phrases when listening to the tapes. This is the worst transcription I have ever seen. 48 hours hired our own audio expert to listen to the tapes. Jack Mitchell has worked for the U.S. Department of Justice.

This entire paragraph right here is nonsense. It's almost as if it were just simply made up. There is no evidence whatsoever on any of the requirements. any of the recordings that I have examined that will implicate the Eisenberg's in the disappearance of baby Sabrina. None. Mitchell has analyzed hundreds of tapes during his career

and is convinced that some of the most incriminating quotes may not even belong to the Eisenbergs. That means to me that it's possible that this whole matter of need to have you kill me all the way down through the baby's dead and is a television program. See, we have a lot of interference here. Remember when bugging expert Mike Parris talked about the sensitivity of the microphones used to tape the Eisenbergs? Have you been able to understand any of this?

No, this is very unusual. It sounds like they had some sort of technical problem with the application. The damning evidence was nowhere to be found. All eyes. Just all lies. We knew that there was nothing on those tapes. It just goes to show what a furtive imagination the police had. All of this was enough to make Barry Cohen suspect the worst.

You believe that the Eisenbergs were framed. Yeah, don't you? Why would they want to frame the Eisenbergs? Why? They wanted to get a quick confession, clear this case, and look good. But the only problem was they didn't have any facts, so they had to make them. The prosecution's case against the couple began collapsing. Now it was the feds who had some tough questions to answer.

Prosecutors told the judges that the bugging conformed with state and federal laws. Is that true? No. They were lies. They misled the judges to get permission to bug the house. Yeah, misled as a euphemism. They lied to the judge because they didn't have any evidence. For example, police told the judge that Merlin's 911 call was, quote, an emotion.

Oh, God, my baby, you're cow! I think at the end of the day, the police crossed the line, and whether the Eisenbergs are guilty or innocent, they were victims of police misconduct here. In fact, two judges appointed to review the case found the Eisenberg tapes were, quote, largely unintelligible. They called some of the prosecution statements false and pure fiction. In a stunning blow to the prosecution, the recordings were ruled inadmissible. The case against Marlene and Steve Eisenberg is all but officially thrown out. One week later, all charges were dropped.

Felt vindicated? There's a relief. Findication? No. Relief. Yes. After our repeated calls to lead prosecutor Stephen Coons were not returned, we approached him for answers. And I would be interested in speaking to you about the prosecution of this case. Stephen Coons was temporarily demoted while he was investigated by the Department of Justice. His supervisors refused to comment on the outcome, but he is still a federal prosecutor. While it was a hollow victory for the Eisenbergs, today, They hope a new clue will bring their daughter home.

Putting all the pieces together to come up with an age-progressed image of what we feel Sabrina will look like. The old family secret recipe. Do you want a regular spoon or do you want to use that, Monica? Today, Steve and Merlene Eisenberg are settling into a normal family routine. How many chance you get to lick, huh? Caring for their children, William and Monica. You used to love that. But Sabrina is not forgotten.

Pretty girl. Come on, pretty girl. They even keep a separate bedroom in their Maryland home reserve for their missing daughter. We go to bed at night. We say night to all our kids. We go downstairs. We kiss William. We kiss Monica. And we say good night, Sabrina. We walk by this room. Even buying her souvenirs from their vacations. When she comes home, this is her stuff and her room and her beanie babies. And she can play with them and do anything she wants with them.

They believe their daughter is somewhere alive and well and is being raised by a family who desperately wanted a child. Aren't these reminders painful, though? Don't you go into that room and want to cry? No, I go into that room and say, okay, when are you coming home? You know, you're going to love these things. When are you coming home? It hurts.

She's seven years old and she's not home yet. That kills me. But Marlene has good reason to never give up. up hope. The possible break in the case of another missing child, Sabrina Eisenberg, who was abducted from a Florida home. It was May 2003 when a couple in Illinois began adoption proceedings when a six-year-old child who did not have a birth certificate.

I thought she'd definitely look like Sabrina as a baby. I mean, the pictures were very similar. Pontiac Police Chief Don Schlosser began an investigation. A woman whose identity no one knew handed the child over to a second party. A lot of people, including the Eisenbergs, believe the mystery behind Sabrina's disappearance was about to be solved. It gives us optimism that she's going to be coming back home to our family. It all just seemed like it was going to fit that this could be really her. And, you know, we were just on pins and needles and on edge, just praying that it was going to be her.

For two weeks, Steve and Merlin waited for the results of a DNA analysis. The Paloma's DNA did not match. It was very difficult and very emotional for all of us. Paloma's natural mother was a Mexican woman who abandoned her baby at a clinic on the Texas border. A nurse there gave the baby to her sister in Illinois. There was no malice in what she was doing. She simply went about the process in a wrong way. Eventually, the sister did adopt Paloma legally. Are you still angry?

If they bring Sabrina home, I won't be angry, you know. And I have to pray that they do the right thing, that they will look for her and bring her home. There's pictures with Monica holding Sabrina, William, and Sabrina. Today, the Eisenbergs put their hope in those who stood by them. I'm a believer, and we're going to bring Sabrina home. The National Center for Missing Children? What day did she go missing? What is the child's race?

Or she would go to meet so when she met online. The staff at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has been invaluable. Here in the forensic imaging unit, the cases don't even come back here until at least two years old. Joe Mullins is a forensic artist at the center who creates age-progressed photos. He was abducted at 21 months? Yep. Of what children may look like years after they've gone missing. 21 years later, and this is how close we got.

So this composite sketch led to his recovery. Yes, it did. It did. This technology has helped in the recovery of almost 800 children. There's a split screen of her brothers and sisters at about the same age as she would be today. Using facial features from Sabrina's older brother and sister, Mullins creates this image of what Sabrina might look like at age seven. I pray to God, somebody can look at her and say, that's in Eisenberg. Do you really believe she'll come back to you?

I believe it. I know you're only focused on finding your daughter. there will still be people out there that will look at the two of you and say, you know what, they got away with it. And when she comes home, everyone will know the truth. And what we ask is that you look to help bring her home so you can see the truth too. If you have any information about Sabrina Eisenberg, please call 1-800-the-Lost.