Dateline NBC - Son testifies against father in Hawaii. A pastor accused of cyberstalking wife. Plus, Hailey's Law.
Episode Date: April 2, 2026Hawaii anesthesiologist Gerhardt Konig stands trial for allegedly attempting to murder his wife on a hike. His son is taking the stand against him. In South Carolina, a pastor pleads not guilty to cha...rges of cyberstalking, abusing his wife, and lying to investigators about it. In Dateline Round Up, alleged Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann expected to plead guilty. Plus, an interview with Beau Buzbee, father of 17-year-old Hailey Buzbee who died after meeting a stranger online. This episode discusses suicide. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or visit 988lifeline.org for more resources. For resources on domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233. Or visit thehotline.org And helpDateline’s "Missing in America" win a Webby award. Vote here: https://vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting#/2026/podcasts/shows/crime-justice Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hopefully someone can hear me.
Yeah.
You're listening to the Dateline story meeting.
Let's go ahead and jump in.
I know it's a super busy day there.
Our producers are catching up on breaking crime news.
She was like filing reports and reports and reports.
She's starting to believe in her father's guilt.
Whether he takes the stand or not, good chance he might.
Welcome to Dateline True Crime Weekly.
I'm Blaine Alexander.
It's April 2nd and here's what's on our docket.
In South Carolina,
a pastor has been charged with cyberstalking his own wife.
They say that he sent her unwanted and harassing text messages
and had tracking devices on her car.
So this is really intense.
In Dateline Roundup, we've got a big update in the case of the alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer.
And new charges have been filed against a former American Idol contestant
who's accused of murdering his wife.
He was hit with a waterfall of new charges, including aggravated murder and intimidation.
of an attorney, victim, or witness.
Plus, after an Indiana teen was allegedly kidnapped by a man she met playing video games online,
her dad is now on a mission to change the law.
Predators depend on that delayed response to take your child further away from you.
But before all of that, we're back in a Hawaii courtroom at the trial of an anesthesiologist
accused of trying to murder his wife.
A key prosecution witness has taken the stand, the anesthesiologist's son.
It's week three in the trial of Gerhard Koenig.
That's the anesthesiologist accused of attempting to kill his wife
when they were hiking on the scenic Pali Puka Trail in Oahu on March 24, 2025.
He is pleaded not guilty.
Last week on the show, we talked about the disturbing testimony of Dr. Koenig's wife,
Ariel, who told the jury how her husband pushed her towards the edge of a steep cliff,
pulled out a syringe to try and inject her with a mysterious substance,
and then hit her in the head with a rock multiple times,
only stopping when two other hikers arrived at the scene.
I, at some point, hear a woman's voice say,
we're here, and we're calling 911.
Okay, so after you hear that woman's voice, what happens?
Gerhardt just kind of froze and knelt back away from me,
and I just crawled away really slowly.
But it's what Gerhard Koenig did next that the prosecutor
asked the jury to pay attention to this week.
He alleges that after running off
into the woods, Gerhardt called Emil Koenig, his 19-year-old son from a previous marriage to confess.
He says, I'm not going to make it back. I tried to kill Erie, but she got away.
Gerhardt's defense attorney says far from being a confession, the call was Gerhardt's
goodbye to his son as he contemplated suicide. He was calling him to tell him he was sorry.
He was calling him to tell him that he wished he was a better man.
On Tuesday, the jurors got to hear from Emil himself.
as he took the stand against his father.
Can you start off by stating your name, please?
Emil Koneg.
And who is Gerhard Koneg to you?
My father.
Here to bring us the latest from the courtroom is Hawaii News Now anchor and reporter Mahelani Richardson.
Welcome back, Mahelani.
Aloha, Blaine.
Aloha.
So good to see you.
Thank you for being here with us to break this down.
Now, last week you mentioned that this case was basically a he said, she said type of situation.
The only two people who really know, of course, what happened at the top of that mountain are Gerhard and Ariel.
Now, she says that he attacked her first, but Gerhardt's defense is basically saying that she hit him first.
The state has since been calling a bunch of witnesses to support their version of events.
But break down for us, what has the jury heard so far in this case?
We heard from Ariel Koenig herself.
She lifted her bangs to show the head injury that she still had, and she was missing parts of her hair on her head.
The prosecution also showed pictures of her.
from the incident, bloody head, blood streaming down her face.
And we also heard from an emergency room doctor who said the injury went down to her skull.
If you could see down and through portions of this laceration, you could actually see the skull.
I observed pieces of rock and material that were actually embedded in the laceration.
Oh, my gosh. That's just incredibly graphic.
I mean, just some really disturbing details in all of this.
Break down for us, how has the defense been handling these expert witnesses on the sand?
When it comes to the doctors, the experts who have looked at the case, the defense has been very, very pointed in questioning.
The defense said that the injury, it looks bad, but it's not that bad.
When we heard from that emergency room doctor, the doctor said that she did not have a traumatic brain injury and no internal bleeding.
And doctor, the cat scan to the head indicated that there were no skull fractures, correct?
Correct.
And no hemorrhaging was found either, yes?
I mean, correct?
No internal hemorrhage.
Now we know that Gerhard's laptop was turned over to the police.
Walk us through that.
There was hours of testimony in terms of what Gerhard looked at on his computer
after he believed that he had discovered that his wife had been cheating on him.
And he was on the computer late night reading these forms about infidelity.
and divorce. The detective also said that Gerhard sent an email to a woman named Andrea Miller.
And Andrea Miller is the wife of Jeff Miller, the man who Ariel was allegedly having an affair with.
And he wanted to talk to her on the phone. He offered his number. At this point, we don't know if Andrea Miller ever responded to his email.
So Ariel told the jury last week about this emotional affair.
she was having with Miller. He lived in another state and she says it never got physical.
But it sounds like the prosecutor was using Gerhard's digital footprint to show just how upset he was
at the issues in their marriage, those ongoing problems. Still, the search histories, the injuries,
don't answer that basic question, though. Again, who hit first? That's kind of what it sounds like
this whole thing is coming down to, right? So Emil took the stand on Tuesday and I'm just curious,
what was your impression of him? You've been following this case from the very start.
Emil is very young. He was very somber. He was serious. Only looked at the prosecutor. He didn't look around. His answers were very short, very concise, and not emotional.
So one of the big things, of course, is that call he got from his dad. Let's listen to what he says about that call.
What did the defendant tell you during that call, as close to word for word as you can remember, that he would not be making it back to Maui and to take good care of.
the younger kids and that he had that Ari, my stepmom had been cheating on him and that he tried to kill her.
Did the defendant say anything about self-defense?
No.
Did the defendant say anything about Ariel attacking him?
No.
So this was a face-time.
Emil could see his dad.
What did Emil say that he noticed about his dad during that call?
Emil said that he noticed that there were blood splatters on his dad's shirt.
And when he asked about it, he said that Gerhardt,
told him that it was Ariel's blood.
I mean, that had to have just been shocking for him to hear.
But then shortly after that first call, Gerhard actually called Emil a second time.
What was that all about?
This was about an hour after that first FaceTime call.
When Gerhard called again on FaceTime, he told Emil that he wanted to jump off the cliff,
according to Emil.
He said that he was just going to jump and said that a couple times.
So after the defendant told you he was going to jump a couple times during the second call, how did you respond?
Same way as before said not to.
I don't know.
You told the defendant not to jump.
Right.
How did the second call end?
With him saying, with the defendant saying, I'm going to go before the police catch me.
Let's talk about the defense's strategy on cross.
How did the defense approach cross-examination?
The defense asked if Emil wrote down what his dad said, if there was any recordings, if there was any video of what the dad said.
You could see if the defense was challenging his memory of what happened.
You remember telling the detective initially that your dad told you he tried to kill Ariel by pushing her off a cliff.
You remember telling the detective that?
Yes.
Okay. But later on, when a detective asked you about that, you clarified and you said,
the part about pushing her off the cliff was what you assumed he meant, not what he had actually said, correct?
Yes, correct.
And Mihailani, the defense also pressed Emil on his relationship with Ariel side of the family versus Gerhard's side of the family.
So what exactly is the defense trying to do with this line of questioning?
Well, the defense is trying to show some sort of bias by Emil.
Over the last year, since this incident, you have continued to live with Ariel, correct?
Yes.
You also would see Ariel's parents, Judy and Pete, regularly over the last year, correct?
Correct.
And you refer to them as your grandparents, yes?
Yes.
And they came with you to court today, yes?
Yes.
The defense is trying to show that Emil is very close to Ariel and her family.
When Emil was in high school, he chose to live with Gerhardt Ariel and his two half-brothers in Kahului Maui.
They had been living together for about two years before this violent incident.
He works on Maui and lives with Ariel and his two half-brothers today after this incident.
That's fascinating.
There is a lot to watch in this case.
Mahalani Richardson, we know that you will be all over it.
Thank you so much for joining us.
Blaine, Mahalooney. Thank you.
After we taped our conversation on Wednesday,
the defense called Dr. Koenik to the stand will bring you details on what he had to say in next week's episode.
Coming up, nearly two years after a woman was found dead in a park,
prosecutors have accused her pastor husband of cyber-stalking her.
For our next story, we are heading down to South Carolina,
where the sudden death of a pastor's 30-year-old wife two years ago
made national headlines and is back in the news.
And just a warning for our listeners, this segment includes discussions of suicide,
so please take care while listening.
On April 27, 2024, Micah Miller left her Myrtle Beach home,
went to a pond show.
purchased a gun and crossed state lines to Lumber River State Park in North Carolina.
From there, she called 911.
Tell me what's, um, happen.
Um, I'm about to kill myself, and I just want my family to know where to find me.
Let me make sure I got the exact location where you're at, okay?
Just one minute.
Then, Micah hung up the phone.
Police were dispatched to the park where a kayaker alerted them to a body floating in the river.
it was Micah. Micah's death made headlines after suspicions circulated online that her estranged
husband, a well-known pastor named John Paul or J.P. Miller abused her and may have even been responsible
for her death. J.P. Miller has denied any abuse or involvement in Micah's death and a medical examiner
officially ruled it a suicide. But now, almost two years later, J.P. Miller is facing criminal
charges in connection to his wife, not for anything to do with her death, but for how prosecutors say he
treated her when she was still alive. Miller has pleaded not guilty to charges of cyberstalking
and lying to investigators, those of the charges against him, and he's set to face trial this
month. So joining us now to break it all down is reporter Eric Richards, who has been covering this
case for the NBC affiliate WMBF in Myrtle Beach. Eric, thank you so much for joining us.
Very nice to be with you today. So Eric, just give us some background. Tell us about Micah and J.P.
Miller. Well, I can tell you that Micah really was well loved and
in her community, in her family. She was very deeply rooted in her faith. J.P. Miller, the pastor at
Solid Rock Church, that was his church then, in Myrtle Beach, and that is where he actually met Micah.
They were friends since like 2009. She was a teenager when they met. He was 30 years old at the time.
They became a couple, though, and actually married in 2017.
So what was the state of their relationship leading up to
Micah's death. Can you kind of pull back the curtain for us a little bit? Well, yeah, I can tell you that
they were actually estranged at the time of Micah's death. And her former attorney, Regina Ward,
says that she had actually filed for legal separation twice from JP. The second time was on April 15th,
less than two weeks before her death. And her sister, Sierra Francis, actually alleged that
JP had been abusive towards Micah. Sierra said that Micah told her,
on many occasions that if she ended up with a bullet in her head, it was not by her, but actually by
JP.
Wow.
And Zira said this in a sworn affidavit.
This is just such a chilling thing to hear.
You know, Micah had actually filed a police report the month before her death, saying that she
feared for her life.
But the medical examiner said that there was no concern for foul play, that this was consistent
with suicide.
All this on top of J.P. Miller, who was actually...
in a different state at the time that Micah died. He was down here in South Carolina,
allegedly with a woman that he was romantically involved with, as according to the
Robson County Sheriff's Office. And of course, Micah died in North Carolina, so across the border
from each other. Correct. Okay. Well, in the months after Micah's death, the FBI did get involved
in the case when local authorities asked for their assistance. But then three months ago, December of
2025, there was some big news. J.P. Miller was indicted on federal charges.
of cyberstalking and making false statements to investigators.
It's a very interesting charge, right?
We think of stalking is something that a potential victim gets from somebody they don't know.
But in this case, the alleged cyberstalking is being done a husband to his own wife.
Exactly, you know.
And when you read the indictment, it sounds more like a domestic violence incident than your typical stranger danger or stalking situation.
What exactly are prosecutors alleging that JP did to Micah?
and when are they alleging it happened?
Yeah, well, they're saying that this really started in November of 2022 until her death in April of 2024,
with J.P. Miller allegedly engaging in various cyber-stalking behaviors.
They say that he sent her unwanted and harassing text messages and other electronic communications.
Prosecutors also say J.P. had posted a nude photo of her online without her consent
and also threatened to do so various other times.
They say that JP had tracking devices on her car, in fact, that could surveil her with the end goal, really of harassing and intimidating her.
So this is really intense.
That's the cyberstalking charge.
Break down the false statement charge.
The false statements surround events on March 11th of 2024 on that day.
My kid had actually contacted the police and said that she believed that somebody had deflated.
her tires and that she felt that she was being followed and contacted unwillingly by JP.
And a prosecutor say that JP falsely claimed that Micah called him more than he actually called her
that day when in fact it was the other way around. And they say that JP also told police that he
did not damage Micah's tires when in fact they said that he did using a deflating device.
Wow. Okay. So I'm really struck by this. There are these new charges that come about two years
after Micah's death, but it doesn't sound like there are any charges actually relating to her death.
This indictment does not lay the blame, any blame, in fact, on J.P. Miller for Micah's death.
Well, in January, J.P. Miller pleaded not guilty to both of the federal charges against him.
So, Eric, tell us what's next for J.P. Miller here.
J.P. is still out on Bond, and he has to wear an ankle monitor. After several delays last week,
there was finally a date set for his final pretrial conference. That will happen actually on April 14th,
with jury selection scheduled on April 21st. And if there is a conviction on these charges,
what sort of sentence could these charges bring? Well, JP, you know, if convicted,
faces up to five years in prison for the cyber-stocking charge and up to two years for making
those false statements. Okay. And before we go, we'd like to share some information with
everyone who's listening. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the suicide and crisis
lifeline at 988.8.org. And if you need resources on domestic violence, or if you're in an unsafe
situation, a good place to go is the National Domestic Violence Hotline. That number is 800799 safe,
800 799-723. Or you can text the word begin, B-E-G-I-N to 8-799-799-2-33. Or you can text the word begin, B-E-G-I-N to 8-8-799.
or go to the hotline.org. And of course, we'll put that number in all of that information in our episode description.
Eric Richards from WMBF, thank you so much for joining us to break this down. And for all of your great reporting on this, we know that you'll continue to stay on top of it.
Thank you. And yes, we will.
Up next, it's time for Dateline Roundup. The alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer may not be heading to trial after all. We've got the latest. And new charges in the case of a former American.
an idle contestant accused of murder. Plus, after an Indiana teenager is allegedly kidnapped and
abused by a man she met online, her dad wants lawmakers to do more to protect children. Welcome back.
Joining me for this week's roundup is Dateline producer Rachel White. Hi Rachel. Hi, Blaine. Well, first we're
off to Long Island, New York, where there is a stunning development in the case against Rex Heuerman,
the man accused of murdering seven women and dumping their bodies in or near Gilgo Beach, dating back to
1993. Rachel, this trial is certainly one of the most highly anticipated trials of the year.
Tell us the latest on this case. So, Heurman's trial was scheduled for September 26.
And, you know, he was arrested in 2023, had maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty.
But according to two sources close to the case who spoke with WNBC's Greg Sergel, he's now
expected to plead guilty. Oh, wow. That is a very big change. Do we know exactly when he's
expected to change this plea? Court records show that he's expected back in court on April 8th,
so that's when we think he could change his plea. So of course, now the big question is,
why might he be changing his plea? Why now? I mean, that is the big question. Hureman and his
attorneys have yet to release a statement. You know, we've watched the state build a sprawling case
against Hureman with DNA evidence, cell phone, and digital evidence. We've also seen the defense
challenged the state's evidence planning to present their case.
and ultimately lost those arguments.
So did that impact Heurman's decision to change his plea?
We don't know.
But either way, this is a huge development and certainly changes the trajectory of this decades-long saga.
Absolutely.
And calling it a saga is very accurate.
We will certainly be watching this on April 8th, so there's more to come there.
Next, we've got a verdict out of the state of Mississippi in the murder trial of Jeff Spence.
That's the man accused of murdering his daughter's boyfriend, entrepreneur and
precious metals dealer Kirby Carpenter. This happened back in 2022. Rachel, this is a case.
I know that you've been following very closely. Just give us a quick reminder about this one.
Sure. So back in 2022, Kirby Carpenter was found shot dead outside his home. A year went by without
any arrests. But then on the anniversary of Kirby's death, there was news of not one, but three arrests.
Kirby's girlfriend, Caitlin Spence, and her parents, Jeff and Karen Spence were all arrested.
Just break down, what was the investigator's theory of this crime?
So they alleged that the family conspired to kill Kirby, but that Jeff Spence was the one who fired the fatal shots.
And as for why, prosecutors believed it was all about money and greed for Jeff Spence.
Kirby was in the precious metals trade. He often carried gold, silver, and lots of cash on him.
And their theory was that Jeff Spence wanted to take that from him.
So, Rachel, as we talked about last week, Kirby's
girlfriend and her family members initially pleaded not guilty to these charges. But before their trial got
underway, Caitlin, his girlfriend, and her mother, Karen, Karen, Karen, Karen Spence took an Alford plea to being an accessory to grand larceny.
She got 10 years suspended sentence and is out on probation. Caitlin pleaded guilty to be an accessory after the fact to capital murder and agreed to testify against her dad at his trial with
her sentencing set for after his trial took place. Okay, Rachel, so her dad, Jeffrey Spence, did go to trial back in 2025. During that trial, the jury deadlocked and a mistrial was declared. So last week, his second trial began. And as we mentioned, the star witness in his first trial was his daughter, Caitlin. Did we hear her testify again in the second trial as well? We did. And just like during his first trial, she told jurors about a conversation that she had with her father where he basically confessed to killing Kirby.
Okay, let's listen to a little bit of that.
And then later, by a waterfall, your dad apparently implies that he killed Kirby, right?
Yes.
Do you enter a plea of guilty to accessory after the fact?
Yes.
And what was the basis for your pleading to that?
For the knowledge that I had after of my conversation with my father.
based on that information
did you make
did you consider that information
to be your dad
admitting to you
to killing Kirby Carpenter?
Yes.
Well last Friday, this case made its way
into the hands of a jury.
Rachel, you were right there, you were at the courthouse,
and the jury came back pretty quickly.
Yes, so they got the case around lunchtime,
and they were back with a jury.
verdict about two hours later. Oh, wow. That's very quick. Let's take a listen.
We did jury find the defendant to Jeff and James Pence guilty of first three
verdict. After this verdict was delivered, the judge went directly to sentencing Jeff
Spence, and he received a mandatory life sentence. Okay. And Rachel, what about
Caitlin, what happened with her sentencing? On Monday, Caitlin Spence was sentenced to 20 years
suspended, so she won't be serving any more time behind bars. She'll just be under supervised
probation for the next five years.
Was this an unexpected sentence for her?
It was not. So the prosecutors recommended that the judge stick to the terms of their agreement, saying Caitlin did testify and it did lead to a conviction. So that's what the judge did.
And finally, we are off to Ohio, where a former American Idol contestant is back in court this week.
Back in February, Caleb Flynn was arrested after his wife, Ashley, was found shot dead in the couple's home.
Rachel, just give us a quick reminder about this case.
Sure, so Caleb Flynn was a contestant on Season 12 of American Idol, which aired back in 2013.
In his interview for the show, he talked about how much he loved his wife.
I love my wife more than anything.
She is very, very pretty.
Just, ooh, I love her.
Caleb Flynn made headlines in February 2026 when he was charged with his wife's murder.
And according to authorities, on the night of February 16th,
Caleb called 911 to report an intruder saying that someone broke.
into his house and shot his wife in the head. But after processing the scene, investigators concluded that Caleb had staged the scene and was responsible for killing his wife.
Oh, Rachel, since we last talked about this case, he was hit with several more charges, right?
Yeah. So originally he was arrested and charged with Ashley's murder, felony assault, and tampering with evidence. He pleaded not guilty. But then, following a grand jury indictment on March 18th, he was hit with a waterfall of new charges, including,
aggravated murder and intimidation of an attorney, victim, or witness.
As for who Flynn is accused of intimidating, the indictment doesn't say, but it did say that this
happened between February 16th through February 18th, so the days surrounding his wife's death.
Now he faces a total of 11 charges, and he has yet to enter a plea for the new charges.
Okay. And this week, he had a pretrial hearing, right? So what happened there?
Well, we learned that his court date has been set, so it's April 28th.
That trial is expected to last two weeks.
Okay. And I know that we will continue to follow that one as well.
Rachel, thank you so much.
Thank you for having me.
For our final story, I wanted to talk to a dad who's heading to the Indiana State House this week
to lobby for new legislation that he believes could help protect children.
He's speaking out after suffering a truly unthinkable loss, the alleged kidnapping and death of his own daughter.
This dad's name is Bo Busby.
On January 5, 26, Bo said goodnight to his 17-year-old daughter, Haley.
And the next morning, when he woke up, she had vanished.
Police say a missing 17-year-old is now considered to be an endangered missing juvenile.
Within days, investigators figured out Haley had been communicating for more than a year
with a man that she'd met through an online gaming platform.
That man's name, investigators say, is 39-year-old Tyler Thomas.
Authorities St. Thomas picked Haley up from her Indiana home on the next day.
night she disappeared and took her to Ohio.
Nearly four weeks later, Thomas led investigators to her remains.
Tyler Thomas has been federally charged with sexual exploitation of a minor and with traveling
across state lines with intent to engage in illicit sexual conduct.
He has not been charged with Haley's death.
His attorney told NBC affiliate WTHR that he plans to fight those charges.
Since Haley's death, her father, Bo, has set out to change the law in Indiana to close what
PCs as gaps in the current alert system for missing teens and to set up safeguards to protect
kids from people they meet online. Bo joins us now to talk more about it. Bo first, thank you so
much for joining us today. I am, I don't have enough words to say how sorry I am for your loss.
And I really, really appreciate you speaking with us today. Thank you. Before we dive into our conversation,
Bo, I just want you to tell me about Haley. I want to know more about your little girl. Tell me about her.
Sure.
Yeah, Haley was a very kind and loving, smart girl.
Such a special child with one of the sweetest spirits.
Such a special girl to so many.
I could only imagine.
Well, I mean, I think that what you're about to describe is something that lives in the fear of every parent.
So if you could just walk me through what happened, how did you realize she was missing and what happened after that?
Sure. You know, it's a good day on that Monday night. Followed a lot of our normal family, I'll say daily routines, traditions. We usually end the night with her tucking in her little sister before bed. And then before we go to bed, stop by her room till her good night one more time. Nothing really stood out the next morning. We realized that she wasn't home.
We knew something was very wrong.
We immediately reached out to law enforcement
and then started working hard and diligently to find her and bring her home.
So, Bo, you reported Haley missing right away,
but initially the police classified her as a runaway
because she had left a note telling you not to come looking for her.
So what that meant then is that an alert didn't go out right away
notifying the public that she was missing.
and police then waited a day before issuing a press release.
I know that you've said that you believe this cost you valuable time.
In Indiana, I think this applies across most states.
We have the amber alerts.
We have the silver alerts.
But they're so outdated and they don't reflect today's reality or risks
because she wasn't physically abducted, you know,
because that's sort of the laws that were still,
working under, you know, physically taken, you know, you get, you get the runaway category assigned
and predators depend on that delayed response to take your child further away from you.
Well, you're now pushing for what's being called Haley's Law in the state of Indiana, and it includes
what's called a pink alert. Explain that to me. What is that and how would that work?
So it's looking at risk.
What are these things that we see in today's world where we know these are high risk situations
in applying those to our response?
It's not just looking at, well, this kid decided to leave the house.
It's, well, what else are we seeing?
We know how these predators, these experts online, you know, their tactics.
And so let's look for those.
And if we start to see some of those, maybe you'll get some type of public notification within 24, 48 hours.
It needs to be more timely.
I know that a big part of Haley's law, and I think this is so important, is helping prevent situations like this before they happen.
Let's talk about the education piece.
You know, in Indiana, we have our education requirements.
We have cyber bullying, we have trafficking, but we don't talk about predators or we don't talk about
groomers.
That's nowhere in the law.
Grooming is so often that first contact point, that first interaction.
It makes sense that we start there and teach our kids what to look for and how to respond and
and our parents as well.
So that's what we're trying to do there with the required education.
Well, Boma, I just want to end with this.
Is there anything that you want to say to parents who are listening
about warning signs, red flags that you wish you'd watched for
or something that you would like parents to know today?
We have to become stronger advocates for our children
in their safety because there are so many gaps.
You know, Haley wasn't like the,
stereotypical gamer. I mean, she wasn't in her room all day with her doors closed,
you know, just gaming. Our kids are just too accessible and the companies and the platforms
that, you know, want to be in our homes. I don't feel like they're doing their part of it
to ensure that they're being responsible and looking out for the safety of well-being of those
users that are using their platforms. Absolutely. Bo, thank you.
Thank you.
That's it for this episode of Dateline True Crime Weekly.
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And we've got some very exciting news.
Dateline's Missing in America podcast has been nominated for a Webby Award in the Crime and Justice Podcasts category.
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We've included the voting link in our episode description.
And coming up this Friday, I have a brand new episode that I've been working
on for the past few months, it is truly an unbelievable story that's been on date lines radar
and mine from the very beginning. It's about a murder plot involving an affair, a fetish website,
and a live-in au pair, and we have exclusive footage from her very first police interrogation.
He was going to do something, then I shot him also. I did. You can watch Temptation this
Friday at 9-8 Central on NBC, or you can stream it starting Saturday on Peacock.
I hope you'll join us.
Thanks as always for listening.
Dateline True Crime Weekly is produced by Carson Cummins,
Caroline Casey, and Keani Reed.
Our associate producers are Ellery Gladstone Groth and Aria Young.
Our senior producer is Liz Brown-Korloff,
production and fact-checking help by Audrey Abraham's.
Veronica Maseka is our digital producer.
Rick Kwan is our sound designer.
Original music by Jesse McGinty.
Paul Ryan is executive producer,
and Liz Cole is senior executive producer of Dateline.
Thanks, everybody.
