Talking Dateline: The Day Dee Disappeared

Hi, everybody. I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and we're all here to play Password. Wait. Sorry. Different program. I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and we're talking Dateline. Today, with Andrea. Hi, Andrea. Hey, Josh. So, we're here to talk about Andrea's episode, which is called The Day Dee Disappeared, which is actually one of the very few Dateline stories that two Dateline correspondents covered. These two. Both of us. You, for Missing in America, and me. For TV, yes. Now, if you've not seen this episode, you can watch it on Peacock, you can listen to it on the Dateline podcast feed, and then come back here. And then later, we have an extra clip about a psychic's theory about what might have happened to Dee Warner. But first, let's talk Dateline. Now, for anybody who did not see the broadcast, here's what you need to know. The victim was Dee Warner, and she was a successful farmer and businesswoman. She was reported missing in April of 2021. Now, from very early on, investigators suspected her husband, Dale, had killed her. And they ended up arresting him in November of 2023, even though they had not found Dee's body. Her body was found much later, and they found it on the property, hidden in the property. In a fertilizer tank, Dale ended up being convicted at trial, and he was sentenced to 70 years behind bars. So, you know, one of the things that I thought was really interesting about this when I was looking at it for Missing in America is, you know, it seemed impossible to imagine that Dee Warner was not on that property somewhere. I mean, everything she had was there. Her car was there. Like, she didn't just go away. She was somewhere on that property. It certainly seemed that way from the beginning. That was the thought of most people close to the case. And one person from law enforcement told us, and we didn't include this in the show, but that they had actually had an FBI profiler looking at the case at one point who said that they believed that Dee was somewhere on the property. And likely buried. So, the buried part was not accurate, of course, but the, you know, what went into this theory by the FBI certainly panned out. So, when I was first working on this story, you know, I heard about this giant property on which Dee was missing, you know, because it's not just the buildings there, but obviously, you know, many, many, many more acres around it. Yeah, it's huge. When I saw the farm, I mean, it looks like a farm, like, out of a movie. And I sort of didn't think of it as sort of that pristine and camera-ready. It's interesting what your mind does, because when I was hearing about it on Missing in America, I was like, this is some, like, giant sprawling property where the buildings are all a couple of miles apart. But that's not true. It's all kind of, the working part of it is actually concentrated, and then the fields are spread out around it. Yeah. Acres and acres and acres of land. I mean, and it's beautifully kept, as you say. Beautiful. And all of that had to be searched, because nobody knew where she was. But they strongly believe she was out there somewhere. Yeah. And that's a, you know, it's such a daunting task. You know, they used drones, they used dogs, they had the PI use drones. The state police used drones, the county police. I mean, they looked everywhere for her, and they just could not find her. And that's where Dale's diabolical plan was working for a long time, with the tank. You know, let's sort of, I mean, put yourself in his mind. What do you think the endgame was here? How was he going to get away with this? Eventually, he was going to just dispose of the tank some, you know, sometime. In the future, just drive it off the property somewhere, bury it, break it open, and move her again. I mean, I don't know. There was a search he had done for how to move, you know, a very large tank. So, like, I don't know if he was planning on moving it at some point. It was, you know, his plan was working, until it wasn't. It was, to me, it was sort of like this evil genius of, like, you know, I'm going to use my skills and, you know, I'm going to use cut this tank open and put her in. And, you know, it's pretty, oh, like, it gives you chills when you think about someone going to those lengths to hide a body. Well, it really does. And, you know, it, I mean, it had so much more impact in your story than it did to me, you know, in my story, which is, like, seeing him moving that tank around right in front of investigators, that was just, that was just absolutely chilling. I mean, he's brazen. Now, you know, no one knows 100% that D was in the tank he was moving around. That was one of the defense's argument, but they believe that it was. Because there are other tanks there, right? There are a lot of tanks. Right. If she wasn't in that one that he was moving at that moment, she was in another identical tank like that. Yeah. And, you know, it was, everything was right in front of them, the family, the police, you know, all the clues were there. They just weren't seeing them yet in the way that they needed to see them. It's just, you know how it goes, Josh, with these, the pieces aren't always put together for a while. And then suddenly the puzzle comes into focus and you put your final piece in. And that's really, that's really what happened. And it was, you know, it was Greg going back, D's brother, and saying, you know, I remember Dale working on a tank, you know, and Parker said the same thing. And then kind of hit them years later. They were like, wait a second. What if, you know, what if the tank is, has something to do with this? And then I found it so interesting how law enforcement was afraid to open the tank because, you know, what's in there? Is it going to explode? You know, are we going to die from chemical fumes? And, you know, and Dale had even talked about those chemicals during the early days, trying to keep, you know, saying, keep the cadaver dogs away. There's chemicals here. And I will say he, he did a good job of misdirection there because, you know, I mean, the cops are certainly listening very carefully for anybody who says, yeah, you can search the entire property, but don't look in there, whatever you do. Right. I mean, they're trained to sort of pick up on that kind of thing. And he did a very good job of saying like, look, I'm, you guys do what you need to do, but be careful. There are chemicals here, you know, with the dogs. He even talked about his dogs, that they had issues with their paws, you know, stepping in the chemicals. And so, you know, here they are, they've got this, this tank that is now sticking out like a sore thumb because it's freshly painted. It has the decals on it. It's like been, you know, moved to this barn. And so what do they do? They put it on a flatbed and haul it to the ambassador bridge because where can you x-ray giant items, but at customs at the Canadian United States border? At the border. Right. And they did it. And, and then there was the silhouette. You know, of, of Dee, which, whew, I mean, I like, I haven't seen many stories, cases like this, where you make a discovery like that. And someone was that diabolical and there she is in a tank in her pajamas. Yeah. No, it's, that was, I, that outline of her body is, is, is, is chilling because the thing is like a lot of times when law enforcement finds a body, it doesn't really look like a body anymore, you know? Yeah. But this did. She was preserved. This looked like exactly like the silhouette of a body. She, she didn't have the elements, you know, that, that bodies usually face, you know, they, who knows, I don't know if the chemicals preserved her at all, but being in that tank, she was pristine. I thought your, your interviews were really good in this story. Thank you. Your interview with the family, I thought was really, really great. Yeah, they were. They were, they were good. Really nice down home. You know, farmers, as you would expect, business people, really great, really great people. We did have an incident outside of the barn where I was trying to interview Greg and Dale's brother was out in the field doing plowing the field and the tractor came by the interview and coated us with a very, very heavy coating of dust to the point where we had to stop the interview and I was breathing in dust and it was going in my eyes. And I was coughing. I was like, my eyes hurt. But yeah, that, that was the first time I've been dust bombed by someone involved in a story. Did you like my plaid dress, Josh? I liked you. I thought you had exactly the right wardrobe for this story. I kind of just, you know what? I was like, why not try something different? Now, of course, Greg and Shelly, Greg shows up in a suit and Shelly's dressed beautifully and I'm in the plaid barn dress. And you look like, you look like a country and western star. You know, this is a, uh, uh, this might be interesting for, uh, Dateline viewers. and listeners, which is, you know, what to wear in interviews is sort of an ongoing discussion at all times with all correspondents. You know, you don't want to look much more formal than the people you're interviewing, right? I mean, if they're wearing t-shirts, you don't want to come in, you know, wearing a suit and tie, right? You know, you also don't want to look sort of disrespectfully casual to people who, you know, might be, maybe have dressed up for their only lifetime TV appearance. But like, you know, when I, generally when I'm interviewing defense attorneys or prosecutors, it's always safe to wear a suit and tie, right? Oh, yes, absolutely. Yeah. Much harder is when you're in the home or you're sitting across from the family of the victim. You want to wear something that doesn't make them feel uncomfortable, you want to feel, you know, accessible and approachable. And sometimes a suit can be kind of a barrier to that. So I sometimes don't do that. I mean, you know, not all of us can, you know, throw on, you know, Converse All-Stars. I mean, you know, some people, you know. Who are we talking about here? Look, it's a personal call for all of us at Dateline. Well, almost all of us, let's just say. Yes. We love you, Keith. Love your style. It's, you know, it's what makes him Keith, Josh. It is what makes him Keith. It's people love the Converse. He's cool. He's cool, right? He is cool, though. And I'm not saying that to be, like, I'm actually saying, I think he's cool. Oh, no. Keith is effortlessly. It's Keith's world. We just live in it. Always. Yes. Okay. So when we get back, we have an extra clip. It's about a psychic's visit to the Warner's house and what she believes happened to Dee inside. So let's talk a little about Dee and Dale. You know, I love the idea that she was both sort of, you know, rugged and, you know, perfectly comfortable, you know, in boots and Carhartt and also, you know, dressed up. Dressed up in a boardroom. Yeah. And also leopard print, right? Cheetah, leopard everywhere. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, didn't you love the image of that Dee wouldn't, you know, go to the gas station without full hair and makeup? Yeah. And she had her daughter, her little mini-me, who also wore the cheetah and, you know, and Dee just sounds like a riot on the, like, on the farm. So often on Dateline, I hear about the people who are no longer with us. And as their family and friends are describing them, one of the things I think to myself is, man, I wish I knew them because they sound like a blast. And Dee is one of those people, like, I am positive that, like, if we all sat down for lunch, we would have a terrific time. Yeah. I'd like to have, like, a strawberry daiquiri with Dee. You know, just, like, have a drink, talk. I think we'd have fun. And swap some stories. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Fashion advice. So, so she and, uh, she and Dale both left their spouses to marry each other. And then their spouses who had been dumped end up marrying each other. And then, you know, and then Dee and Dale are together and she's sort of the, the, the doing the business part of it. And he's kind of handling the hands-on part of it. And they build this, like, very successful multi-business empire. Yeah. And it was, it was struggling there near the end. Um, they, cause Dale did a lot of the, you know, the, the hard labor, the farming. Dee handled the employees. She handled the trucking company, which was hers, uh, her baby. Um, but, you know, well, while they had a lot of land, so they were, they were definitely rich with property. The, the farming side of the business was struggling. And that's why Dee was ready to just get out. She was just done. And I, what I remember is that she was telling people that if she left, she was going to take the trucking business for herself since she had sort of built that herself. And that was, that was the part of the business that was making the most money. Yeah. And I think there's, there's definitely some more reporting to do on that because I don't think it was quite that simple because they were married. I don't know that there was a prenup. So Dale might've been entitled to some of that. I'm not really sure. You know, how many searches, uh, how many times they searched that property before somebody figured out, like, maybe we should like drag that tank to the Canadian border and, and x-ray it. I mean, I'm sure they've, they probably lost count of how many times they searched. The, the one person who the family says did not, did not search was her husband, Dale. So. I will say, I mean, that is, that is sort of the brightest of red flags in a lot of episodes of, of Dateline. It's not just who searches for the missing person, but who does not. Who does not. You've seen that. I know I've seen that. I've seen that before and I know you have too. Right. Or who doesn't show up to the press conference, you know, with the family who's, you know, trying to get help from the public. That's always a red flag to me too. I mean, if you, if you love, if you love this person and this is your, your spouse, the mother of your child, you know the farm better than anybody. It's your farm and you're not looking according to the family. I mean, that's just unacceptable and bizarre. Right. So, uh, let's talk about hiring a psychic. Now, I, you know, in law enforcement, there's a lot of things that we don't know. I mean, there's a lot of things that we don't know. There are times when it's very much not in vogue. And then there are times when you hear, uh, investigators, particularly lead investigators say, I don't really want to leave any stone unturned here. And we've tried a bunch of things. I mean, it's certainly not the first thing you do, but it is something that investigators sometimes do when they feel like they're kind of coming up blank on all the usual things. And I think that's a good thing. Yeah. I mean, I don't know how effective they are. I certainly wouldn't turn it down if I had a loved one missing and a psychic wanted to help. I probably would welcome any help I could get, I think. Um, but I don't, I think, I think that I would be saying to police, if I was my family, I'd be like, wait, that's where we are now. You know, we're, we're turning to the supernatural. You guys are, you're out of bullets. That's it. But on the other hand, there is no question. And anecdotal evidence of psychics actually helping in investigations. And there's also plenty of evidence that they, they were wrong about things, but. Right. I mean, I, I, I say it can't hurt, right? In this case, the psychic reached out to the family and the family felt like, you know, we're desperate at this point. We're happy to hear what you have to say. And we actually have some extra sound with Dee's nephew, Parker, who talks about the psychic coming on the farm. Let's listen to that. Put in contact with, um, a lady named Kathy. And I said, Kathy, I said, I'll be just completely honest with you. I don't want to offend you. I said, I just don't, I've never had any psychic experience or never really believed in it, to be honest. But I said, I will tell you that I am so desperate to find my aunt that I'll do anything at this point. And so my mother and I went down to Dee's house with her and she said, you can record me, but you can never guide me. She said, I don't want you to guide me. I don't want you to say a word. She said, you have to be completely honest with me. So I said, okay. And so I turned on my recorder on my phone and we just followed her. And my mother before this had even happened, had this theory of what happened to Dee. And the theory was that something happened upstairs by the Murphy door. She was either pushed or shoved or drugged down the stairs. And then she was drug out the sliding glass door. And we didn't know the point. Well, Kathy walks in this house and completely reiterates that story without even knowing it. She said, why do I feel drug out that door? The very door that we said that we thought she was drug out. And so this woman became Dee. I can't even explain it. We got through kind of that reading and she would go upstairs and she felt lots of pain to her head by the Murphy door. Um, basically meaning like she had been beaten. And then she said, why do I feel drug down these stairs? And why do I feel drug out these doors? And she just went all around the house and, and just had this reading of, of Dee. Wow. Well, Dee, they did the, the medical examiner said Dee had blunt force trauma to the head. And they also believe that, um, the, a front loader vehicle, pulled up to the doors of the house. This is what they believe Deputies saw big tracks by the door, so they think that Dale pulled her out of the house and put her in the front loader and took her to the barn where the safe was, put her in the safe, this giant safe, and then eventually moved her to the tank. So this information was not out when the psychic was there. Right. And it does fit. It does fit. It's certainly provocative. Years and years ago, here in Los Angeles, this is like going back more than a quarter century, a friend of mine told me that she was going to go to a psychic reading and ask if I wanted to come along. And I was like, sure. So I went, and we walked in to this place with this psychic, and this woman did not even know my name. And I was on local television in L.A., but I mean, this was way before Dateline. I was not a well-known face. I'm pretty sure she didn't know me or what I did for a living. And she told me a bunch of things that were going to happen in my life, none of which have happened yet. But also, they haven't been disproven either. I'm not going to go into what they are. They were not important. Wait, why? Well, they were not important major things, but they were sort of smaller, smaller things that might or might not be true. But one amazing thing happened was she said to me at the end, is there anything you want to ask me? And I said, well, my car got stolen the day before yesterday, and I'm kind of interested as to whether or not— Where's my car? Yeah, I'm going to get my car back, because also my briefcase was in the car. And so I lost a lot of valuable stuff in there. I wasn't as concerned about the car. And I didn't even tell her anything about, like, what kind of car it was or where it was, right? And she said to me, in front of Aardvark's, which was the name of the children's clothing store in Hollywood where I had parked it. And I was like, yeah. And she said, yeah, there's a balcony above Aardvark's for some other store. She goes, they were— They were standing up there, and they were watching you as you parked. Oh, my gosh. And so, of course, I went back there, and there is a balcony up above Aardvark's, and maybe somebody was there. That, I got to say, was weird, and there's absolutely— There is no way she could have known that otherwise. Did you get your car back? I did get my car back, but I didn't get my briefcase back, and the car had been significantly damaged by the time I did get it back. I went to a psychic with my mom. I was single, and I think the question was like, will I, you know, find someone or whatever? And the psychic said, your future husband is up in the air. And I was like, oh, well, that's nice. I mean, that's vague, right? Come on. Josh. Josh. I married a fighter pilot. I know. Come on. He was up in the air at that time. Yes. Yes. He probably literally was up in the air. So, that was kind of cool. Come on. That's perfect. Yeah. Now, you know, the only thing that the psychic said is that you will one day work with a tall, white-haired man who will resent you deeply and try to undermine you at every turn. And he'll wear Converse. Did they say that he would wear Converse? I think they did mention that, actually. Yeah. Yeah. She could really see into the future. All right. Anyway, back to real life here. Dale was arrested before Dee's body was found. Yeah. They really went out on a limb arresting him without the body. I mean, that was a bold move by the prosecutor, but the family wanted the prosecutor to go forward. The prosecutor felt that they could do this. And, you know, it was a miracle that they found Dee. It obviously just helped their case immensely and propelled them into that trial, you know, to a guilty verdict. So, when we come back… We're going to answer some questions from social media, but we're going to be answering them with the producer of this episode, not with you, because let me guess, you're going up in the air with your husband. I am going on assignment, Josh. I'll be shooting a new Dateline. That'll make viewers and listeners very happy. Andrea, thank you. Thanks. Coming up next, I will be joined by Dateline producer, Sergey Ivanov. To talk about this episode and to answer your questions from social media. Welcome back, and we're joined by Sergey Ivanov, producer of this episode. And let's go right to social media. Here's an audio question. So, let's listen to that. My name is Jen Smith. I've been a longtime watcher, and I was struck by the initial responding officers. It seems like he responded to the call and questioned Dale and seemed to accept what Dale was saying at face value. So, my question is, did he walk through the house? Did he walk through the outbuildings? Because since D was determined to have not been placed in the tank for a number of days, it seems like if he had shown up willing to treat the initial missing persons call, he would have been placed in the tank for a number of days. If he had not been placed in the tank for a number of days, he would have been placed in the tank for a number of days. in cases. First two episodes are out now, and you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. podcasts. And also for more on Dee Warner's case, you can check out season one, episode six of Missing in America. We'll have a link to that in the description of this episode. We'll see you Fridays on Dateline on NBC.