Dateline NBC - Deep in the Woods

Episode Date: August 16, 2022

In this Dateline classic, a young Army medic based at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina goes missing. Police have a suspect but can’t solve the case, until an unorthodox private investigator steps in to help. Andrea Canning reports. Originally aired on NBC on March 16, 2018.

Tonight on Dateline. We're agonizing for these last two years. Initially it was panic and then it turned into torment. I felt so helpless. She texts me, I made it home, I'm safe. Why would you text me I'm safe? Why would you not be safe? I was concerned that she was hurt somewhere. I'm really worried about it. I knew that something bad happened.

Why did you jump to that conclusion so fast? If you talk to somebody every day and then you can't get a hold of them, it's not good. What were some of the scenarios that were running through your mind? That somebody was holding her somewhere. She needed to be found. I said, I'd like to see if I could solve this.

He was quietly working behind the scenes, chipping away. We had no idea. When I'm watching him, it's like, dude, I can tell you're lying. I had to get into his mind, see what he was about. What you were involved in was psychological warfare. Mm-hmm. He knows where she's at. After a young soldier's mysterious disappearance,

one man's personal battle to find her. Do you think he's finally going to reveal to you? Oh, I know he is. I'm Lester Holt, and this is Dateline. Here's Andrea Canning with Deep in the Woods. It's closed now, just a decrepit old shack with only the weeds for company. The good times are long gone, back when it was a watering hole for some of the soldiers based at nearby Fort Bragg. Famous for billiards, beer, and karaoke, it was once a popular little pub called Froggy Bottoms. And it was where private first-class Kelly Bordeaux planned to unwind one Friday night back in April 2012, Friday the 13th. Kelly was just 23, a mere 5'1", and barely 100 pounds, but she could hold her own with anybody.

Girl power indeed! To her older siblings, Matt and Olivia, Kelly was always the perfect combination of tough and sweet. Bouncy, bubbly, happy, and the perfect combination of tough and sweet. Bouncy, bubbly, happy, and just trying to have a good time. I think she was always working to get better. She had a driven personality. Kelly also had a big heart. She was warm and generous, always putting others first.

She liked to help people that she saw needed help. She wanted them to be better because she could help them to be better. Kelly grew up in Florida and enlisted in the Army when she was 22. You just wait till I see you. I'm not playing with you at all. After basic training, the Army sent her to Fayetteville, North Carolina. At Fort Bragg, Kelly trained as an Army medic, one of the most demanding jobs in the military. I think it gave her an opportunity to do something better with her life, and she wanted to help people. And what was it about being an Army medic?

That's an intense job. It was something that would push her to her limits. I want to make a career out of it. I want to do my 20 years. She's like, I really want, you know, this to be something. So she would have possibly made a life out of the military. Yeah, that was the plan. Kelly's professional life was on track, but her personal life was complicated. Kelly had a husband named Mike Bordeaux. They got married in 2010 before she joined the service, but later separated. After some time apart, the couple decided to give it another shot. So when the Army sent Kelly to North Carolina, she asked Mike to come with her. Why did Kelly want to save the marriage? I think she didn't want to see

it as a failure. She said, I'm going to give it three months where I devote, I am going to make this work. But Kelly couldn't make it work. Despite her efforts, the marriage was on the rocks. She bought him a one-way plane ticket to Florida, and he left. And did she actually use the word divorce? I remember in the text, it was just very clear, like, listen, Mike, I've done everything I can for the last three months to try to make this work. I can't do this anymore. Like, this is it. During her initial separation from Mike, Kelly started seeing someone else, a guy from her hometown of St. Cloud, Florida, named Justin Thompson. She was just fun. She's easy to talk

to. She was always laughing and loving. It was, she never meant anything wrong to anybody. Kelly had an act for making people happy? Mm-hmm. She was inviting to everyone. If you were there, you're part of the party. When Kelly tried to save her troubled marriage, Justin says he gave her space.

But when Mike ultimately moved out, Kelly asked Justin to move in. Were you in love with Kelly? Yeah, we were in love. I don't want to be like, we were going to get married and have kids because I don't know what was going to happen, but I know that was our intentions

is to further our relationship. Was home wherever Kelly was? Yeah. In early April of 2012, Justin visited Fayetteville to get acquainted with his future home. The couple also hit froggy bottoms. Then Justin returned to Florida. He'd be back in two weeks, this time for good. Meanwhile, that Friday the 13th, Kelly decided to go to the bar alone. She texted her sister Olivia before she left that night and sent this selfie. Did she say if she was going with anybody?

No. She's like, I'm going to go see karaoke and just not think about work. Nothing about Mike. Just kind of trying to get away from all that and relax. Kelly also texted Justin about her plans. Justin says he wasn't happy that Kelly had gone out alone in a new town she didn't know. I didn't feel like her life was in danger. I just didn't feel like that was a good environment. What wasn't a good environment? The Fayetteville area. Her by herself, we don't know anybody there. So if something was to happen, nobody's going to call you to say, hey, Kelly hasn't came home in a while. Nobody knows anything. But throughout the evening, Kelly and Justin kept in touch, texting frequently. Everything seemed fine, he said.

Olivia, meanwhile, went to bed early. The next morning, did you try to call her or text her? Probably at some point I probably texted her and just said, hey, you know, how was last night or whatever. But it wasn't uncommon for us to not talk for a day or two. I just remember, like, just let her chill this weekend. But Justin said he did wake up to a text from Kelly sent around 1.30 a.m. He says there was something strange about it. The verbiage, the way she talks, it doesn't make sense. I made it home. I'm safe. I'll call you tomorrow. Why would you not be safe? Why would you text me? I made it home. I'm safe. I'll call you tomorrow. Why would you not be safe? Why would you text me? I made it home. I'm safe.

Call me. I'll call you tomorrow. That makes no sense. Did you try calling her then? Yeah. And? It was dead. So what are you thinking? It was bad. I knew it was bad.

Coming up, what had happened to Kelly Bordeaux? Her family starts to panic. What were some of the scenarios that were running through your mind? That somebody was holding her somewhere. And then police turn their attention to Kelly's estranged husband. Were they talking divorce? Kelly was. Mike was. Saturday, the morning after.

Kelly Bordeaux had been out of touch for hours. Her boyfriend, Justin Thompson, knew something was wrong. What was supposed to be a day off was now turning into a day of dread. Not a call, text, or tweet from her, he says. I remember talking to my mom. I was like, I don't want to start a storm, but I'm really worried about it. Because I knew something bad happened. Why did you jump to that conclusion so fast?

If you talk to somebody every day and then you can't get a hold of them, it's not good. Saturday came and went. Still, nothing from Kelly. So on Sunday, Justin, now frantic, phoned the Fayetteville Police Department, urging them to start searching. Nobody would help me. I called them several times. Police policy required a family member to call in and provide more personal details on Kelly before they could start searching.

So the next day, Justin decided to call the Army base instead. I asked them if they showed up, and I said it's important. If she didn't show up, you need to go to her house. And then they got back on the phone and said she didn't show up. Army investigators and Fayetteville police went to Kelly's apartment. They got inside. No Kelly. No Kelly. No Kelly.

Is that when everybody starts taking this really seriously? Yeah, that's when you start to panic, yeah. Word spread like wildfire as Fort Bragg called Kelly's estranged husband, Mike, who then phoned her sister, Olivia. Reliable Kelly had missed roll call and wasn't at home. I was like, what the hell? So then I started Facebook messaging her, texting her, calling her like crazy. I started trying to find anybody that I knew that was in the Army with her. I'm like, have you seen her? Did you go out with her on Friday?

I was just trying everything. Everything led to nothing. No leads, no clues, no Kelly. What were some of the scenarios that were running through your mind? Just that somebody was holding her somewhere. Kidnapping? Yeah, I thought that. I was more concerned that she was hurt somewhere and she wasn't able to get

to us, so we have to get to her. Olivia, Matt, and Mike immediately made plans to all meet in Fayetteville. By now, the Fayetteville PD was all over the case. One of the investigators assigned was veteran homicide detective Mike Ballard. We knew this could be an endangered person. Why the homicide unit when she's barely been missing?

Kelly Bordeaux was not a problem soldier. Always contacted her family, her friends, and then she just disappears off the face of the earth. Breaking news in the case of Kelly Bordeaux, the Fort Bragg soldier missing since Saturday. The disappearance of the beautiful young Army medic was now big news and covered extensively by local media, like NBC station WRAL-TV. Right now, it's still a missing person case. There is a lot that is not known at this time. Olivia and Mike arrived in Fayetteville where they took a grim meeting at police headquarters. I remember that one point that the detectives were trying to take us back to talk to us more

and we were walking into a room and it said homicide on the door and I was not going in there and they were like no no this is just the best room and I was like that's not happening I was like I'm not letting that thought in I was like I have to stay positive this is an out of character thing to happen to my sister it's not something that is it's not something she would do Olivia quickly became a mainstay on every media outlet in the area. I just want my sister back. You know, I just want to talk to her. Mike Bordeaux also went on camera to plead for his wife's return. Please let her come home.

Just let her come home. The public, police, and military response was intense. It seemed like the whole town turned out to look for Kelly. Most of us are military, prior military, or spouses, so we are very driven to find one of our own. Search teams numbering in the hundreds comb the fields and thick forests surrounding Fayetteville. I searched basically every day I was there, sun up to sun down, for the most part. And then it's just searching, searching, searching.

This volunteer group started at Kelly's apartment, but just like police, their search turned up nothing. Detectives were also combing through Kelly's background, her habits, and most importantly, her circle of family and friends. Everybody's a suspect until we eliminate you. You started with Mike Bordeaux? Mike Bordeaux.

Kelly's estranged husband? And he told me during the interview that they were having some problems, and that's what threw me off when he would get on TV. There was no issues. Me and her love each other very much, and I just appreciate everyone out here

helping, looking for her. He wouldn't be inconsistent. Were they talking divorce? Kelly was. Mike wasn't. Did you see that as a possible motive? Yeah. We had to eliminate Mike Bordeaux. Mike insisted he was in Florida when Kelly went missing in Fayetteville. Even so, police still considered him the primary person of interest.

Has her husband been questioned by detectives? Even so, police still considered him the primary person of interest. We've had conversation with Mr. Bordeaux. Police also needed to have a conversation with Kelly's boyfriend, Justin Thompson. Little did they know that Justin had a huge new lead waiting for them about the night Kelly disappeared. Coming up, a new possible suspect. He is the last person that's seen with Kelly. That was very concerning to us. Why something in his past would trigger even more alarm bells. It certainly was a red flag. When Dateline continues. Police have just told us they have no new lead. No lead. Kelly Bordeaux. What happened to Kelly Bordeaux? It was now national news. Suddenly, quiet, little Fayetteville was ground zero for a massive search for a missing Army medic. Detectives say information in this case keeps pointing them

to look in this area near where she was last seen. Kelly Bordeaux had been missing some 72 hours. The chances of finding her were growing slimmer by the day. Investigators have combed through just about every area here in Fayetteville, as well as in Cumberland County. 600 miles away in Florida, Kelly's boyfriend, Justin Thompson, was talking to detectives, telling them he was home the weekend Kelly disappeared. He was right where he said. We checked his phone. Everything checked out with Justin.

Justin told detectives something else, another name to check out. When he and Kelly visited Froggy Bottoms the week before she disappeared, they met a chatty guy who worked there named Nick Holbert. He just started talking to us at that point. You get vibes from people sometimes. I can see you. He's weird.

But he says Kelly being Kelly asked Holbert if he wanted to join them for a game of pool. Holbert hung out with them until Justin and Kelly decided to head home for the night. Did he ask Kelly for her phone number? Yeah. And? She gave it to him because he worked there. So it's always good to have somebody that works at the bar as a friend. That Friday the 13th, when Kelly decided to go back to the bar by herself,

Justin told detectives she wasn't really alone. He said she arranged to get a ride from Nick Holbert. I just said, just watch out. Be careful around him. This guy really stuck in your mind. Yeah he's weird. I don't know what she was doing. Did you say maybe you shouldn't? I said it. Go? I said it but I didn't I wasn't adamant about it. I'm not going to tell her no a thousand times on text message. Kelly made it safely to the bar where she texted Justin throughout the night but then there was that last,

rather odd, text he received. Justin was sure Holbert had something to do with Kelly's disappearance and sent the text to cover his tracks. She went out with this kid, and she was supposed to come home, and she didn't come home with that kid. So detectives went to Froggy Bottoms, where they found Nick Holbert. They discovered he was down on his luck, living in the woods behind the bar. They searched his campsite and his car. Not one clue. Holbert also agreed to an interview at the police station, where he told detectives,

yes, he picked up Kelly on Friday the 13th, and later dropped her off at the entrance to her apartment complex. Holbert was fully cooperative, didn't duck one question. So, they let him go. Cooperative. Didn't duck one question. If you knocked her down in the car, I need to know about that. No, I did not. Not even touched her? No. So, they let him go. If Nick Holbert was a suspect, he certainly wasn't acting like one.

He joined search teams looking for Kelly and even spoke on local TV expressing his concern. She seemed like a really nice and cool person. And, I mean, I hate that she's missing. But Fayetteville police weren't buying Holbert's story. And now he too was a person of interest along with Kelly's husband, Mike Bordeaux. Remember, Mike said he was home in Florida when she went missing, which detectives needed to confirm. Family put him there. Friday night, friends put him there. His alibi checked out. So now, detectives and District Attorney Billy West zeroed in on the last person seen with Kelly.

Everything kept coming back to Nicholas Holbert is the prime suspect. So investigators dug into Holbert's background and discovered something rather disturbing. He was arrested for sex offender and served time in a penitentiary for that. It certainly was a red flag, the fact that he had a prior sex offense. He is the last person that's seen with Kelly. That was very, very concerning to us.

The DA didn't have any evidence to arrest Holbert for Kelly's disappearance, but he did discover Holbert was violating the terms of his parole. He was a prior sex offender, and he was not registered properly, and he was placed in jail. Right where detectives wanted him. Now they could watch Holbert, see if he blabbed to a cellmate about what happened to Kelly. They also questioned him, twice. Even took him back to Froggy Bottoms to jog his memory. But Holbert stuck to his same, though sometimes inconsistent, story. You caught him in lies, but you couldn't crack him.

Exactly. By now, Olivia and Matt had left Fayetteville and gone home. I remember feeling defeated. We came up here thinking that something was going to happen, and it didn't. I don't know. I felt like I didn't sleep for a couple weeks. It was just 24-7 thinking about what happened, what happened, what happened. Detectives and the DA seemed so close to an answer. They even had their prime suspect in custody.

But weeks passed, months. Holbert stopped talking. You couldn't arrest him? We needed her body. We needed to find Kelly Bordeaux. Little did police know it would take some two years to finally unravel the mystery. But they were about to get help. Help they never imagined.

Deep in the forest, a secret investigation was underway. A man on a mission to bring Kelly home. Coming up, why a perfect stranger cared so much about Kelly. She needed to be found.

Who he believed had taken her and his risky scheme to get the man to talk. He buys that? Hood line and sinker. Autumn 2012. Kelly Bordeaux had been missing for months. The searches continued, but were winding down. And so was hope. Privately, many around town felt Kelly would never be found. But in the forest outside Fayetteville,

there was someone still secretly searching for her. No one knew. Not police. Not even Kelly's family. His name was David Marshburn. He didn't know Kelly, but had an intense interest in her case from the day she disappeared. She was in the military. You just don't up and disappear. She was a young female. That's not right. Marshburn is both a bounty hunter and private investigator. His specialty? Finding people, dead or alive. I knew she wasn't alive. I knew she needed to be found. She seemed like a really nice... Remember that TV interview Nick

Holbert did? Marshburn saw it too. When I'm watching him, it's like, dude, I can tell you're lying. He did it. He knows where she's at. He killed her. And Marshburn was also convinced he could find Kelly Bordeaux. Operating on his own time and own dime, Marshburn started carefully researching the details of Kelly's disappearance. I don't know what the hell got into me to do it. I mean, I just did it. To bring some answers to her family. Yeah, I love doing it. I love helping a family out. Marshburn was convinced Holbert had buried Kelly close to the Froggy Bottoms bar,

somewhere in the thick forest surrounding Fayetteville. How daunting of a task was it? It's like, I don't know, taking a rock no bigger than this and just throwing it out here and saying, go find it. And you miss it by an inch, you might as well miss it by a mile because it's not that easy to find something. Marshburn needed help. So several months into his very private search, he added two new members to his team.

An assistant named Marsha Ward and a specially trained search dog with a keen sense of smell named Kaz. He's trained on tracking, trailing, whatever you want, what odor you want. Including buried bodies. Together, Marshburn, Marsha, and Kaz slogged through ponds, fields, forests, thousands of acres, and searched for months. But no trace of Kelly. I got really frustrated and disappointed. and I'm at my wit's

end. Then came an unlikely break. In May 2013, Nick Holbert was released from jail after being locked up on that parole violation. If Holbert was happy, David Marshburn was thrilled, because now he could deal with him face-to-face. So just a day after his release, Marshburn pulled up to the house where Holbert was staying. Well, I've never talked to a killer. Have you? I work for Dateline. Wait, wait, wait. I'll tell you that way. What were you nervous about, that he would try to hurt you,

or just that the stakes are high here? Sort of like a starstruck. You know what I mean? You're like, wow, it's happening. Marshburn took a deep breath and knocked on the door. And he answered the door. And I said, hey, Nick, I'm David Marshburn. I'm a private investigator.

I'm here to try and find Kelly Bordeaux, and I think you can help me. His strategy was simple, trick Holbert into thinking that he was an ally. It was basically telling him, I'm your angel, I'm your help. Let me help you. Help him how, though? For people to see the light, that he was not guilty. And he buys that? Hook, line, and sinker.

So now, the bounty hunter and the prime suspect talked. Over the next few months, Marshburn gradually started to win Holbert's confidence, coaxing him to confess about what really happened to Kelly Bordeaux. I had to get into his mind and see what he was about. Did you think that he was going to just confess to you? Mm-mm. I knew that. I didn't know how I was going to get it out of him. At this point, police were aware of David Marshburn and his DIY investigation. Did you take David Marshburn seriously?

Absolutely. He came to us and wanted to befriend Nick Holbrook. What did you think of that? I'd go for it. We can't tell him what to do. Marshburn, remember, is a private eye, not a police officer. And unlike detectives, he could try tactics that were, to say the least, unorthodox. A few months after they met, Marshburn told Holbert that the DA was ready to cut a deal if he confessed. Marshburn even presented Holbert with this very attractive plea bargain agreement. It would be something like manslaughter,

and he would do three or four years, and he would go to a mental hospital. The so-called deal was completely bogus. You'll see I put a fake judge on there. It was just an F case, honorable just an F case, just in case. Did he believe it? Yeah.

He believed it to a point, but then he threw it back at me after looking at it for about five minutes, said, no, they'll just take it back. Marshburn thought that wasn't exactly the reaction of an innocent man. Now, he was fully convinced Nick Holbert had killed Kelly, but he needed to get Holbert to reveal where he buried her body. How can I be his friend?

And I had to do some things, say some crap that I just didn't believe, but I had to do it to play the part. Marshburn bought Holbert countless meals, beers, even hired him to do odd jobs, slowly becoming a BFF, or maybe more of a frenemy. But Marshburn said he paid a high price as he practically abandoned his wife and young son.

Were you obsessed? When I have somebody I'm hunting down, I don't stop until I get them. Isn't that being obsessed? I don't know. Dedicated. Get the answers you need. I'm not going to stop until I do get the answer or the answer comes. But Holbert still wasn't providing any answers about Kelly, who had now been missing some 18 months.

By this time, Marshburn had spent thousands of hours and some $40,000 trying to crack Holbert. He was losing hope and considered quitting, or even trying something drastic. At times, I wanted to just take Nick and cut his fingers off. And so you tell me, I'm going to chop another one off. I wanted to torture him because I knew he knew. You really would have done that? I hated him that bad. I despised him. Marshburn didn't resort to torture, but he did need a new tactic, something that would make Holbert finally share his deadly secret. Coming up, Marshburn finds a new pressure point. That was his Achilles heel. But will it work? Is the mystery about to be solved? This is it. This is it. When Dateline Continues.

There were still a few flyers scattered around Fayetteville. But nearly two years after Kelly Bordeaux had mysteriously vanished, the investigation had cooled. New crimes now took priority. Kelly's family still visited Fayetteville periodically to keep the case alive, somehow never losing hope. People would ask, how do you keep thinking she's alive? I was like, well, until you can prove otherwise, why should I believe it?

I was like, I'd rather believe the better scenario. How did you have that hope that it would happen? Because the other avenue wasn't the one I wanted to go down. Back in Florida, Kelly's boyfriend, Justin Thompson, had been living in limbo with a bad case of survivor's guilt. I could have done more. Somehow I should have done better. I feel.

I should have told her, no, don't go. I should have tried to argue about it. I don't know. What was the waiting like and the not knowing? Terrible. Just like slams on the brakes. In your life, you can't do anything. I honestly didn't think we'd ever find her.

Really? What was going to change? But little did Justin know, things were about to change. Up in Fayetteville, private investigator David Marshburn had befriended Nick Holbert, the prime suspect in Kelly's disappearance. Marshburn was working practically 24-7 to get a confession, chasing every clue Holbert dropped. We'd go talk to him, and then we would go out and try and figure it out. We knew we were going on wild goose chases.

We had to do it. I mean, what else you got? Marshburn needed to turn up the heat on Holbert and had an idea. Nick was always worried that law enforcement was watching him. That was his Achilles heel. Mm-hmm. So I knew that was a weakness. Which Marshburn exploited by enlisting a friend who owned a vehicle that looked like an unmarked police car.

He had him park near Holbert's house and conduct surveillance. Fake surveillance. It worked like a charm because he saw him right out the gate when he come outside and got paranoid. So paranoid that Marshburn tried yet another trick to push Holbert to give it up. He had his wife pose as a paralegal and drop phony indictment papers

charging Holbert with Kelly's murder. I took one of his old charges, changed who the detective was, changed the charges. He was being indicted. And I got CeCe, my paralegal person on the phone. Who's your wife? Yeah, who's helping me.

The plan was working good, and he was worried. Holbert took one look at the indictment papers and went into a panic. Sensing Nick was near his breaking point, Marshburn reminded him about that sweetheart plea deal if he confessed. So they took a ride to Froggy Bottoms, back to where it all began. I said, look, Nick, you're fixing to be indicted on this. They evidently got evidence. You need to get me to where Kelly's at. And he's standing there just looking straight down. And it feels like he's imaging all this stuff going on of what he done.

Do you think he's finally going to reveal to you? Oh, I know he is. This is it? This is it. Oh, yeah, I had chills. Marshburn then applied one last bit of pressure, his own ticking clock of sorts, to push Holbert over the edge. So I pick up the stick.

I figured if I'd sit there and snap it, that it would ring in his mind. Hey, I'm on a time limit. The clock's ticking. I start snapping the twigs off of it. And finally I got to that last little piece off of it. And he said something like, okay, I'm ready. Ready to confess. Finally, after a year-long cat-and-mouse game, Holbert revealed to Marshburn that he killed Kelly Bordeaux.

They got back in the van, and Holbert directed Marshburn to a remote area where he remembered burying the body. And then he said, right here. So we pulled down this path. Are you getting nervous? No. I'm excited I'm going to find her. And I took Kaz, and me and Kaz tried to find her. Marshburn and Kaz spent the next several hours

combing through the thick woods, trying to get a scent of Kelly's grave. We searched till almost dark, and Kaz starts laying down, and so we start digging. Can't find nothing. What is that telling you, though? Thinking we're close.

But not close enough. Holbert couldn't remember exactly where he buried Kelly's body. It was almost dark. Everybody was exhausted. So Marshburn reluctantly called it a day. But he didn't take Holbert home. I gave him a hotel room, and I tell him I'm going to be back in the morning. Did you worry that he might get spooked and take off?

I was worried he was going to kill himself. And take the secrets of Kelly's grave to his own. Coming up, an excruciating few hours. I couldn't sleep that night. Marsh couldn't sleep. In the morning, one final search, and at long last, a sign. All of a sudden, he starts whimpering, and he stops. After two long years, are all questions about to be answered?

It was a long night in North Carolina. Nick Holbert was holed up in a hotel. While a few miles away, David Marshburn was wide awake, wondering, worrying, hoping that tomorrow would be the day that he could finally bring Kelly Bordeaux home. I couldn't sleep that night. Marsha couldn't sleep. I mean, we were just all excited for the next day. So the next day comes, we go pick him up, and he's real quiet. He, of course, was Nick Holbert, who was now back in the forest outside Fayetteville.

It was May 14, 2014. Two years of searching had now come down to this once sweltering spring morning. But Holbert still couldn't remember exactly where he had buried Kelly's body and went off searching in a different direction. We're standing there. I'm like, darn it, I cannot figure this out. And all of a sudden, I looked over to my left, and there's some clearing over here, and there's the sun coming down. Then, in that very same spot, Cass seemed to pick up a scent. All of a sudden, he starts crawling to it, like whimpering, crawling. And he stops.

That was our spot. They carefully pushed a metal rod into the ground. The soil was loose, like a hole had been dug and filled in. It was at that moment Marshburn was overwhelmed with emotion. At that time, I said, baby girl, you're going home. You're going home, baby girl. So, I'm sorry. I get emotional.

Had you even seen her yet? Mm-mm. You just knew? Mm-mm. We just knew. But they had to be sure. So now the grim task of digging began. We found a little piece of a jacket.

When we pulled that jacket back, that's when we stopped. We said, well, this is her. I mean, this is it. Throughout the day, Marshburn had been texting Fayetteville police about his progress. Now, minutes after finding Kelly's body, he sent them something definitive and dreadful. A photo that appears to be a human bone, a place he's digging. And at that time, we contacted him and said, hey, cease in the system, dig it, don't do nothing else. Police rushed to the scene, and soon Detective Jeff Lock The very beginning? Holbert told the whole horrible story. How he took Kelly to the bar and they hung out. Then later, said Holbert, someone there told Kelly about his prior sex offense.

She got upset and swore at him in the empty parking lot. And I just snapped and zoned out and hit her, knocked her out. Holbert said he took Kelly to his campsite, where she woke up and started screaming. And I hit her again, knocked her out again. You know, I mean, she was dead. Holbert said he then took Kelly's body deep into the woods and buried her. You okay with going back there, Nick? I don't really want to.'t know where the line is.

Holberg was then taken downtown and arrested. This morning, detectives with the Fayetteville Homicide, Fayetteville Police Department Homicide Unit recovered what we believe to be the remains of Private First Class Kelly Bordeaux. By now, Kelly's family had gotten the news. Matt called me and he was like, hey, you need to come to mom's now. They found Kelly. And I just remember dropping to the floor and I was like, I'll be right there. And then it's like a sense of relief instead of just wondering what if,

what if, what if, what if. Olivia called Kelly's boyfriend, Justin Thompson. As soon as she called, I just, I knew they found her. I was just so grateful, honestly. I was just so happy that she was found. I can't say happy. Relieved. Yeah, I guess I was relieved. I was like sad again, all over again. Now we're going to have to do the funeral thing.

Two weeks later, they paid their final respects. The funeral in Florida was such big news, it was actually televised. Kelly Bordeaux was just 23. Just over a year later came a measure of justice. Are you in fact guilty of each of these crimes? Yes, ma'am. Facing the possibility of the death penalty, Nick Holbert pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing Kelly in exchange for a life sentence.

I wanted my sister. I didn't want her body. I wanted her. And so I was like, you know, what happens to Nicholas Holbert isn't going to change what he's done, whether he says he's sorry, whether... It doesn't matter. For David Marshburn, his remarkable work was done. Case closed, justice served. Kelly Bordeaux was finally home.

But he says solving her case left him with mixed emotions. Once we got finished, we were depressed. It was a depression. Like, you would not believe. Because we went for two years, nonstop, Kelly, Kelly, Kelly, Kelly. Do you think this case ever would have been solved without you? No.

I don't think that Nick would have ever told anyone unless they were his friends. But he did tell me. For the family of Kelly Bordeaux, the loss, the pain, the sorrow never goes away. But David Marshburn at least gave them a chance to heal. He ended a suffering for my family where we're sitting here agonizing for these last two years. he was the one that was able to come in and end that for us and to make it to where you can try to start rebuilding and doing things that will make Kelly proud

and to live your life. The family also had something for David Marshburn, a very special gift from Kelly. Kelly's dog tags, which that's a great honor in itself. This is a very important thing for a soldier. I'll always have these. These will stay with me forever. That's all for this edition of Dateline. We'll see you again Friday at 9, 8 central. And of course, I'll see you each weeknight for NBC Nightly News. I'm Lester Holt. For all of us at NBC News, good night.