Chris Watts /// Part 1 /// 269 | Forensic Files

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your first uh Chris Watts WS what's going on right now around your house right now it's got K9 units the
sheriff's department everybody's like they're they're doing their best right now to figure out like if they can get a
scent and see where they went if they went on on foot they went in a car they went somewhere and right now it's just
like they've they've been on point they're going through the house trying to get a scent and hopefully they can
pick something up to where it's it's going to lead to something what happened your wife came home me tell me
she like she came home from the airport 2: a.m. and I left around 5:15 she was still here and like about 12:10 and that
afternoon her friend Nicole showed up at the door like I had texted a few times that day called her say you know but she
never got back to me but she wasn't getting back to any of her people as well and that's what really concerned a
lot of people like she's not getting back to her like if she doesn't get back to me that's fine like she gets busy
during the day but she didn't get back to her people which was very concerning and Nicole called me when she was at the
door and that's when I came home and then walked in the house and nothing vanished nothing was here I mean she
wasn't she wasn't here the kids weren't here no nobody was here what's your wife
saying shenan s h a n a Ann what's your what's your name B and Celeste how do you spell Celeste uh c l e
s how old how old are you four bell is four Celeste is three and so how many times did you
tried calling her I called her three times texted her about three times just to say you know what's going on like I
didn't cuz after after after I called her and text her once it's like maybe she was just busy like she' just gotten
back you know like everybody's probably calling her from her trip she just got back from Arizona and I figured she was
just busy but when her friend showed up that's what was like it it registered like all right this isn't
right do you think she just took off do you think I mean right now I don't even want to just like throw anything out
there like I hope that she's somewhere safe right now and with the kids but I mean could she event could
she just taken off I don't know but if somebody has her and they're not safe like I want them back now like that that
that's what's in my head like if they're safe right now they're going to come back but if they're not safe right now
that's what that's the not knowing part like if they're not safe last night I was had every light in the house on I
was hoping that I would just get just ran over by the kids running in the door and just like Barrel rushing me but it
didn't happen and it was just a traumatic night trying to be here I'm going to ask some kind of tough
questions your relationship with your kids yeah I mean my kids are my life I mean those those Smiles light up my life
and there like I mean last night like during like at you know when they usually eat dinner it was just like I
miss them like I mean I miss telling them hey you got to eat that or you're not going to get your dessert you know
just like you're not going to get your snack after I missed that like I miss them you know cuddle up on their couches
they have like a Minnie Mouse couch and a Sophia couch that they cuddle up on and watch you know Bubble Guppies or
something and it was just like you I me I I I was it was T tearing me apart last
night and I needed that I needed that last night and for that for nobody to be here last night and to go into their
rooms and not and know that I wasn't going to turn their rain machines on and I know that I wasn't going to turn their
monitor on and know I wasn't going to kiss them to bed tonight it was it it was I I that's why last night
was horrible I couldn't do it I just I just want I want everybody just come home like wherever they're at come
home that's what I want was she gone for um she was she she was on um she came back Sunday you said
at 2 at night yeah cuz her her flight got delayed from Arizona cuz of like other storms around the the nation so
supposed to get home like 11:00 she got home at like 1:48 got in bed about 2:00 what was what was she going for a family
trip or what it was a Thrive direct sales uh it was a local event that was down there between a bunch of leaders
and in the company and that night that day she was back I mean I I left work for work early that morning like 5:15
5:30 so like she barely mean she barely got barely gotten into bed pretty much and this might be a tough question but
did did you guys get into an argument before she it wasn't it wasn't like an argument
we had an emotional conversation but I'll leave it at that but it's I just want them
back I just I just want them to come back and if if they're not safe right now that's what's that's what's tearing
me apart cuz if they are safe they're coming back but if they're not this this this has got to stop like somebody has
to come forward you spoken to her family like her parents yeah they've been in constant contact like like every hour I
mean it's I mean everybody back in North Carolina and the East Coast I mean from
Maine to Florida what is her parents saying to you like just like like if they need to
get on a flight just let them know CU I mean they don't they they feel helpless right now cuz they they're on the OB
Side of the country I mean Colorado is I mean you can't just drive around and look I mean it's just like you wouldn't
really know what you're looking for that's what the cops pretty much told that first day I was like I want to get
drive around this you w't know what to look for um last couple questions uh what is what do law enforce what have
the police or the sheriff's or your neighbors is anybody what is what's police saying to you right now this is
what they're doing right now is with the K9 in the sense I think this is the biggest thing this is the biggest thing
they've done so far because yesterday they all feder Police Department did all the searching of the house and try to
gather whatever information they could and with the detectives officers and sergeants and today it's all I mean
obviously with all the activity that's around it's it's it's it's there's a lot going on around here and I really hope
that all this can lead to something positive what did uh your neighbors did they see anything
that yourb no like we've we've uh the police Farm went door too asking like cameras and everything just like nothing
and my last question have any though we cre to St and the last question is if your wife can see this if she she can
watch this what what would you like to tell your wife your kids shanan Bella Celeste if you're out there just just
come back like if somebody has her just please bring her back I need to see [Music]
[Applause] everybody [Music] [Applause] on Monday August 13th 2018 the Frederick
Colorado 911 received a call from Nicole Atkinson around 1:30 p.m. Nicole reported that she dropped her friend
shannan Watts off at her home at 1:48 a.m. that morning after a business trip to Arizona Nicole was very concerned
because she had not heard or been able to reach shenan now shanan is diabetic and 15 weeks pregnant so this is just
adding to her friend's concerns shanan missed a doctor's appointment that morning and was not responding to calls
or text and this was very much out of character Nicole and her teenage son Nicholas went over to shannan's home to
look for her Nicholas on occasion dog sat for the Watts so he was very familiar with their home through the
garage windows apparently captain the teenage boy had to stand on top of his mother's car to look into these
windows it sounds like they're quite high they could see Shan's white Lexus SUV parked inside Nicole knew the code
to the front door but upon attempting to open it she found that inside the latch
was engaged on the door this prohibiting it from being opened more than just a couple of inches Nicole could see the
flip-flops shenan was wearing on the plane right inside the front door now she always wore these flipflops Nicole
contacted shanann's husband Christopher Watts on his cell phone he was at work she asked him to come home to check to
see if shenan was okay Chris didn't seem overly concerned and told her shanan went on a play date with a friend Nicole
felt that he wasn't being appropriately responsive to this situation one also she was fearing because her friend is in
constant contact with her so if she was on a play date wouldn't she reply to the
text messages or the phone calls yes so she had Nicholas try to force open the garage door she knew that this would
trigger the house alarm and hopefully if shenan was inside you know she's kind of
assuming at this point that she might be incapacitated inside the home and she's
hoping that the alarm will you know bring her back to you know reality and answer the door or check in with her
friend but Chris Watts disarmed this alarm from his phone earlier this was at 12:41 p.m. so concerned that shanan and
the girls did not appear to be at the house and they're not reachable Nicole and her son left and actually went to
the OB gyn's office where Nicole knew shenan had an appointment at 10:00 a.m. that morning she wanted to see if they
had shown up to this appointment and found out that she did not again this was completely out of character Nicole
and Nicholas returned to the Watts home and called Chris Watts again they then told him that they were calling the
police Chris told Nicole not to do so and that he was on his way home but she had already called 911 by this time in
response to Nicole's call officer Scott krod was dispatched the Watts home on Saratoga Trail this is in a subdivision
of new homes about 10 minutes away from Frederick yeah they're roughly $350 $400,000 houses a nice neighborhood yeah
nle and Nicholas were waiting for him outside of the house the officer opened the front door just a couple of inches
cuz remember we got the latch inside mhm he called out to see if anyone was inside the home but saw no one and heard
no one who we are looking for is shanan and her two daughters Bella and Celeste ages four and three
all of the windows on the ground floor were locked as was the sliding glass door at the back of the house Nicole
told the officer that Chris Watts shannan's husband was somewhat unclear as to what time he would be arriving at
the house although shenan was not known to pass out or have seizures due to her diabetes Nicole was concerned that she
may be ill or have had an accident upstairs and needed help shanan had a low blood sugar in in Arizona just a few
days prior right but even so I mean you're calling out to people even though you can't get the door open you have a
4-year-old and a three-year-old yeah you'd think at some point you'd hear some kind of noise inside the house yes
unless it was like nap time or the children were frightened for some reason you would think you would hear something
going on inside the home so Nicole Nicholas and the officer are standing outside of the Watts's home Nicole is
calling all of shannan's friends and her parents to see if they have heard from her nobody's heard anything and
meanwhile after obtaining Chris Watts's cell number from Nicole the officer called Chris and asked for the code to
enter the home through the garage using the exterior keypad Chris said the code didn't work from the outside and he
would be home in 5 minutes when Chris showed up he accessed the home using his car garage clicker then entered the home
all of them entered the home together to be clear yeah Chris gave consent to check the entire house for any sign of
shenan and the girls so they find no one in the home they didn't find a note or really any indication of where this
young mother and the two little girls could be but here is what they did find they found shanann's small black
suitcase still sitting at the bottom of the stairs Chris found shannan's wedding
ring on a nightstand Chris and Nicholas went upstairs and Nicholas found shanann's cell phone on the couch in the
Loft area yeah it was actually kind of stuffed in the cushions Chris did not know the password to his wife's phone
but apparently Nicole did it was the due date for the baby that was on the way MH
Chris authorized the officer to look through her phone he observed no calls were made that morning and there were a
lot of Miss calls and un responded to messages the officer called in a detective to investigate further so they
thoroughly searched the house with Chris's permission now while they're searching Chris said that he was going
to go for a walk around the neighborhood to clear his head but he ended up staying just outside of the home on the
deck to the backyard after taking the family dog outside the police documented what they found this included shanann's
purse sitting on the kitchen counter containing her wallet cash ID credit cards a second cell phone and
medication we already know that they found her vehicle this was with the keys on the center console and the remote
garage door opener on the visor well and at this point it's like where would she
go I mean she doesn't have a car she's pregnant so we wouldn't think that she'd walk too far she has two girls with her
maybe somebody came and picked her up the tricky thing too Captain it sounds like there's ways to access this home
without a key you know we referen the keypad to the garage which Chris says is not working then the keypad to the front
door which you can't use because it's latched from inside right so I'm I'm having trouble here because we we have
her keys it says her car keys on the center console in her vehicle most people myself I carry my house keys on
my car key ring yeah key fob yeah so I'm kind of wondering here the only really thing I could think of that could happen
here is that somebody would have picked them up they went somewhere or that they
went for some kind of walk and maybe something happened that delayed their return but how were they going to access
the home you know did she have or could she have had any type of keys with her to get into the home it sounds like no
also doesn't seem like they're questioning Chris much about this so-called play dat yeah and a special
note here this was interesting officers determined that someone would have had enough time to press the button from
inside the parked vehicle and run out the closing garage door right and but but again the garage was the only way
someone could have exited the home since the other doors were all locked now finding the two cell phones was very
disturbing disturbing because Nicole told the police that shanan worked from home and she would never leave without
her cell phone yeah I believe they call it like direct sales M where you you sell to your friends and family and and
potentially other people and she worked for a company I believe it was called level I have Thrive nutritional
supplements but I mean it could be level could be the parenting company right um
often there's different uh names associated with these direct sales businesses but I think the key thing
here in what her friend is going to point out to the officer is and keep in mind her friend worked with her or did
had the same similar line of work right the key thing here is being available to
her customers via phone 24/7 right or text yes and this with both these phones being at the home shenan not there
that's impossible so regarding the little girls this is disturbing too because because what police found was
they found asthma medication for one of the girls as well as an EpiPen for one of the other girls you know this girl
she needed to have this with her at all times in case of an allergic reaction the police report States quote we
observe nothing suspicious inside the residence vehicles or garage that gave the appearance of an altercation what's
so interesting about this case is you can actually watch all of this footage yeah this comes from the police Poli
body cams but the cops did note that the master bed was stripped bare down to the
mattress the comforter fitting uh fitted bottom sheet and pillows were on the floor right there was no sign of the top
sheet the girls beds in their bedrooms were unmade in the unfinished basement they found an unmade bed with sheets and
a blanket Chris told them that he slept in the basement on occasion but when shanan got home last night he was in the
the master bedroom officers noted a ring doorbell camera Chris told them the only
persons visible on it were shanan arriving home from her trip and Nicole and Nicholas when they showed up that
day looking for her right the authorities canvased the neighborhood to see if anyone saw anything one neighbor
in particular is named in the police report Nathaniel trenis Stitch lived next door and he has a home video
surveillance system this shows Nicole's car leaving at 1:48 a.m. as she told police then at 5:27 a.m. on August 13th
the video shows Chris Watts in a black shirt walking out the open garage door and then shows his brown extended cab
Ford F250 pickup truck backing into the driveway up to the garage with the rear of the truck in the garage the view of
the rear of the truck was obscured from the camera so Chris was parked at the street but backed up to the garage and
is seen on the video loading a red gas can into the truck bed yeah he claims he's loading tools for work yes the
video showed no other vehicles coming or going in the bed of the truck police found a fire extinguisher a large hose a
shovel a gas can and multiple toolboxes this pickup truck was issued to Chris by
his employer well and because it was issued by his employer the truck has GPS on it as well so the police are going to
eventually be able to track his whereabouts using the GPS monitoring on the truck well let's talk about Chris
Watts's story because it's it's pretty clear from the police report that the cops were suspicious of Chris from the
get-go yeah in fact the officer's report says this here is what Chris told the detectives on that day he said that the
family had just returned from a vacation in North Carolina where they both had family they flew home on August 7th on
the 10th shanan had a work trip to Arizona Chris said shanan got home from this trip that Sunday night which was
really early Monday morning August 13th at around 2: a.m. we now know this was because her flight was delayed so she
arrived home later than planned Nicole drove her home arriving at 1:48 a.m. Chris was asleep in the master bedroom
he woke up at 4: a.m. and started getting ready for work and woke shenan up yeah he claims because they're having
some marital problems that he claims that they had an emotional conversation about their relationship and talked
about selling their house and moving towards a divorce before he left for work yeah he says this conversation
lasted about 30 to 40 minutes and as you stated it was emotional but he was clear
that they were not arguing he said they were discussing a separation for a few weeks then at 5:27 a.m. Chris backed his
truck up to the garage to load up some tools and left for work when he left around 5:45 a.m. shanan was in bed he
went to work at a job site an oil well location to check on it he was alone there for a few hours Chris was an
operator for anad Darko petroleum Corporation Colorado's largest oil and gas producer he worked on oil wells and
Equipment Chris told police that shanan intended to spend the day with the kids at the house of a friend but he didn't
know who this friend was he didn't know the name of the friend right he told police they were married for 6 years and
that this disappearance was very unusual behavior he said that he blamed himself
for her leaving because it clearly was the result of their [Music] conversation this show is sponsored by better help do
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today [Music] [Applause] [Music] all right we're back cheers mates cheers to you Captain a big garage cheers to
everybody out there all right some alarm bells are going off here right wait and
out there and out there and over there and in the back seat and over there all around the world so let's talk about
some of the alarm Bells here right we have a missing woman two missing children and we have the husband that
seems to have a no caring in the world yes yes thank you and the officer notes that Chris's demeanor was quote
nonchalant it's very strange I mean again I I will try to get like clear footage of this and post it on our
website at True Crime garage so if you haven't seen it that you don't have to scroll through YouTube and try to
there's a a ton of them out there and the I believe the exact wording that the officer gave was that he didn't seem
that Chris did not seem overly concerned about the fact that his wife and little
girls were missing yeah now I understand that you're having marital problems so maybe you're not so worried about your
wife but she's also carrying your unborn child your unborn son and then you have
your two lovely daughters you'd think you'd be concerned about their whereabouts the other thing too is like
and I can't really emphasize this enough the little girls are nowhere to be found
their medication that is very much needed medication we mentioned the EpiPen right that would terrify me
that's what would terrify me if I were Chris in this situation well when you look at behavior science and just his
demeanor constantly he is crossing his arms almost like in a like he's defensive MH W without even talking he's
defensive the other thing too is Chris told the officer three times that he left the garage door open and received
the alarm on his phone notifying him of this around 12:40 now the officer thought that Chris's emphasis of this
was unusual and when Nicole got there we know that the garage door was closed right so it seems to me like I mean he
really keeps going back to this the no the garage door was open and my tells me this next we also have Nicole and the
neighbor who both told the officer that they who knew Chris well believed he was
acting extremely nervous and you referenced some of his mannerisms at that time yeah cuz at some point they're
going to go next door to the neighbor's house MH I think to ask for the footage because they know they're viewing it
together kind of you know with Chris there the neighbor there the officer at some point Chris is like bending down
and then leaning forward and Crossing in his arms and it's it's very strange because I could understand movements
like that if you're like oh man I just don't know where she's at this is driving me crazy and you you start doing
some erratic stuff but when your your demeanor it's it was almost like he's having little freakout moments but he
knows he has to try to keep it together at some point you can see from the police body cam Chris walk outside of
the neighbor's house and the neighbor ber says something like he's he's really acting strange don't you think yeah I
mean that's to me that's like such a like the neighbor is telling you like this is a guy that might like him and
he's saying dude this dude's acting weird yeah and the feeling I got when I watched that video with the way that you
talked about Chris moving about well it's it looked to me like a guy that wanted to jump out of his own
skin and it wasn't it didn't appear to me to be because he thought they should be out there looking around the
neighborhood or searching for his wife it seemed like he wanted to jump out of his skin because he didn't want to be in
that room he was very uncomfortable you've seen this time and time again you'll see where the husband will go
like why are you talking to me we should be out there looking for him and he never does that no it's like he's never
seen the Hallmark Channel well the neighbor told police that he had heard Chris yelling loudly
at shenan numerous times in the past and finally the officer notes that while at
the Watts's home he received a phone call from shanann's mother who he says quote was adamant that Christopher did
something and they should check the GPS on his truck no I'm just going to stop you right there because
one her friend has a gut feeling and does not stop we need to get into the house mhm she does now the mother has a
gut feeling mhm and and you'll you're going to see that time and time again uh in this case where people follow their
gut feelings in fact shanann's mom Sandra she also called another officer the next day and said that Chris was
acting very odd and she and her husband suspected that he had done something to the family officers asked Chris to check
for any Act ity in their bank accounts but Chris said he could not log on to the accounts because shenan handled the
finances right he agreed to call the banks to find out he couldn't verify if shenan had any missing credit cards
because the two used separate cards so he says he wasn't certain which card she carried he also did not know where she
kept her passport the officer ordered a bolo a be on the lookout for shenan and the girls right so we have a pregnant
mother and her two small daughters have vanished leaving behind all of shanann's
personal items the girls medication and their car word of this spread among their family and friends like wildfire
the police report says shannan's phone was blowing up with text and calls from concerned friends and family shenan had
a very active social media life her role as a Thrive sales representative required her to quote live the lifestyle
and she typically posted videos multiple times daily showing her and the kids and
Chris in their daily life yeah both she and Chris would be wearing their thrive patches visibly in these videos they
were quote selling the brand yeah one of my favorite videos there's actually quite a bit of them online but one of
them is Chris is almost like made to stand in the back mhm like hey honey we're going to make this video for not
only the people that work cuz normally how it works is you get a team of people so you're selling to people but your
team is also selling to people M it's very similar to a pyramid marketing scheme yeah they have nicer they have
nicer words for it but that's essentially what it is you're making money off of your sales as well as your
team's sales yeah and so part of the thing though is that you get to work at home and then you get to spend time with
your family so there are some perks there but then you have to you know make these Facebook videos and she would have
Chris you want you know smile on the video Chris and he's in the background and there's one time where he just like
turns the dog's head to like keep the dog looking more towards the camera and she kind of snaps at him like don't
choke him you know and so if you watch those videos I it's it's a false Narrative of how their relationship was
but you can see some inner workings there if you watch this videos well a little background on the Watts family so
Chris and shanan met on Facebook in 2010 uh shanan had been married before both of them were from North Carolina
and that's where they met shenan was a year older than Chris she was diagnosed with lupus fibromyalgia and migraines
and told friends she and Chris hit it off immediately and that he was very considerate in understanding of her
health issues what was a okay what was interesting to me was he actually tried to add her on Facebook MH I know you're
not big with the social media so he tries to add her she deletes him she de but she just went through a a breakup um
she just went through a divorce and then she's dealing with being sick and and and trying to overcome those battles and
then her friend kind of pushed her like hey this guy's a good guy and she said Okay accepted the friend request figured
I'll never talk to this guy again and he'll just be one of the friends on my Facebook and that's what it'll be right
couple weeks later they go out and she instantly kind of Falls for this guy yeah and by all accounts it seems like
Chris was head over heels for shenan at some point he started working a job as a
mechanic at a local Ford dealer and shanan worked in the sales department yeah they were married in 2012 and moved
to Colorado where in 2015 Chris got the job with the petroleum company shenan worked at a school for a little bit and
then at a local children's hospital before she got on with this direct sales Marketing Group but this is where it
starts going wrong though mhm so when they go to Colorado they're going to have a house built and that house is
worth about $400,000 M so you're talking about a pretty hefty mortgage while they start
racking up credit card debt and things of that nature and they end up filing for bankruptcy which is I think well
over $400,000 they filed for bankruptcy shenan was described as the ultimate helicopter mom and Chris doed on his
girls they had two girls as we mentioned and he took care of them after school both parents were very Hands-On and both
little girls had various health issues like asthma and serious allergies everyone who knew shenan says that she
was controlling a little OCD uh the house and the kids ran on a very strict schedule but the family seemed happy the
only black mark known to friends was that shanan didn't get along with Chris's parents they did not like her
apparently and refused to attend their wedding Chris started using the Thrive products from for shanann's business in
early 2018 he started watching his diet running and working out with weights he lost a lot of weight going from 245 to
185 lbs well by all accounts uh they were the All-American couple I guess I shouldn't say all accounts I don't think
his parents would have said so but the All-American couple with two hey no that sounds like an American couple to me
somebody hates somebody's parents that's right with two adorable little girls and
a boy on the way back to August 13th by 348 some of shanann's friends in a group
text were commenting that the cops needed to take take a look at Chris's cell and his computer now two of Chris's
buddies Jeremy and David came over to the W's home that night to check on him they found him vacuuming the police were
gone at this point Chris said he planned to stay in the house that night in case
his family came home he told his friends that the house was very strange and quiet without his kids Chris had a
strong support group he and shanan had a lot of friends after the first night alone in the house he spent the next
night at the home of their friends the THS but by the morning of the 14th when no one had heard from shenan for more
than 24 hours things were starting to take a different turn note a police officer called Chris in the middle of
the night to ask some more questions Chris Watts failed to ask the officer whether there was any news about his
family yeah now when the news of the strange disapp disappearance broke nationally Chris decided to give public
interviews you heard heard one in our trailer there as mentioned police body cams recorded Chris viewing the neighbor
surveillance footage capturing Chris backing his truck up into the garage as you stated Captain his body language was
very tense and stressed and this is for a good reason because if you watch the video very carefully you can see that
someone is actually moving along Crouch down on the other side of the truck away
from the camera so that's a big red flag here's some more red flags after the initial search of the home by police
Chris vigorously cleaned the place and washed the kids sheets when authorities returned with a warrant and dogs to
conduct more thorough searches and seize evidence the house rre of cleaning chemicals in a second search of the home
the cops found the master bedroom top sheet and some pillowcases in the kitchen garbage can all of these had
stains that were guessed to have been smeared mascara or eyes Shadow the fitted sheet was missing Chris washed
all the kids Linens and made the beds back up prior to the cops second search of the home this search also turned up
shannan's missing Apple watch it was on the couch in the Loft area where her phone was found well this both of these
are misfortunes because if she would have had a phone on her or her Apple watch you would think that they might be
able to track her GPS location August 13th was supposed to be the kids first day back at their preschool they
had even picked out their outfits but Chris called the school that morning around 8:15 to tell them that the girls
would not be attending and said the family was considering moving away this could have been a major slip because
apparently Chris didn't realize that while still on the phone after he reported that the girls weren't coming
in he asked they aren't there are they yeah that's just very odd mhm Chris texted shenan around 7:40 that morning
uh and sent a few more texts later but never raised the alarm when they didn't when she never responded to him and he
called her phone at 8:25 as well now sometime on the 13th he searched the web for the lyrics to a Metallica song
called battery some of the lyrics are smashing through the boundaries lunacy has found me and pounding out aggression
turns into Obsession cannot kill the battery cannot kill the family get your lighters out in a phone interview with
officer Matthew James of the Frederick PD Chris told him that while shanan was away in North Carolina this she actually
went there for a couple weeks without him yeah she she was going to take a trip is 6 weeks long and he wasn't going
to he wasn't going to join them until the last week yeah he said the two of them quote fell out of love for each
other he said there was a disconnect between them and after being asked Chris denied
that he was seeing anyone else now this story contradicts somewhat the stories that investigators were hearing from
shanann's friends and family we know you know with her social media life that shenan was a very communicative person
with a lot of her friends very open and her actual text back and forth with multiple uh friends during the few weeks
prior to her dis appearance these are all available in the case File but what she told her friends and what they in
turn told police was this that Chris and shanan had always been a very good marriage you always had a wonderful
marriage he was very affectionate yeah and he was a caring father and husband shenan and Chris found out they were
expecting a third child a boy sometime in late May Chris didn't seem thrilled at this shenan went to North Carolina
with the girl in June for a multi-week visit well it's weird though because there was a video where she was going to
videotape his reaction and she is wearing a shirt that says oops we did it again okay if that doesn't make you go
you know but did she set up a video camera did she tell him hey I'm going to set this up I need you to play pretend
with me so we can post this on social media so then we can sell some more products mhm so who knows yeah well
shenan spent time with her parents and her brother when she was in North Carolina and until there was a falling
out she even spent time with Chris's parents now even though she didn't get along with them she wanted the girls to
know their grandparents on their dad's side right Chris's parents had initially disliked shenan saying that they didn't
trust her and thought she was a schemer but they were attempting to act nicer for the sake of the kids but then there
was an incident and North Carolina that made her sever ties with them there was a bunch of cousins over at the Watts's
grandparents home when shenan and the girls were that where they were staying at the time shenan told her
mother-in-law that CeCe was violently allergic to nuts and could not have them even near her despite this and maybe
deliberately her mother-in-law purchased ice cream with nuts and served it to all
of the children oh that's great CCE didn't get the ice cream as shenan stepped in but it's
thought that the intention was to make a statement that either shenan was crazy or CCE was coddled or both well this
made me wonder a little bit because I had a friend that dealt with um longtime girlfriend but she became very OCD but
also became a hypochondriac so when you hear that the mother has all these ailments and then so do the children you
wonder do they have them right or you know cuz it seemed like everybody in their family except for Chris had
medical issues yeah and but I'm going to take a little bit of uh a stance on this
just because I feel like if you if you feel that maybe something's made up almost it it
seems awfully dangerous to try to prove your point in this way because as we all
know exposure to nuts for someone who is allergic can be could be fatal well it's
very dangerous and very irresponsible well when this happened shenan left her in-law's home in a rage
and she went to her parents her father-in-law unfriended her on Facebook in retaliation for this uh event that
took place very mature shenan expected Chris to take her side he was sympathetic but his reaction was not as
strong as shenan would have liked there are many text back and forth between the
two where she refuses to take the blame for his family disliking her and asking him to step up to the plate she even
told him at one point to find his balls now it is evident that in general shenan may have been a little bit
belittling of Chris who was known to be chill in comparison to her strong type A
personality well he's chill because he but he couldn't find his balls yeah well anyway following this event shanan began
to notice that Chris was somewhat distant from her he never asked how she was feeling you know she's pregnant
how's things going with the pregnancy bu looking for his balls yeah and and she also was telling friends that he was
not doing any of the normal lovey doy stuff right so while at the beginning of her stay in North Carolina she said that
they had engaged in phone sex uh this tapered off dramatically and Chris seemed like
he was pulling away from shenan MH shanan didn't like it when he wouldn't answer her calls but this seemed to be
happening more and more now this went on for the rest of the time that she and the girls were in North Carolina she
continually texted him asking what was wrong why he showed no emotion or interest so on and so forth and you
think at this point that he would be pretty excited because they are having a boy and it seemed by by all accounts
that he wanted to have a son well he would respond to her text by simply saying things like I don't know
where my head is at or I'm sorry for the way that I've been acting it's probably
where his balls are yeah he told her that she didn't do anything wrong he just didn't feel for her anymore then
Chris came to North Carolina to join her as planned and this is when things went
really South yeah but what it's strange though is you can actually read his text
messages before he gets there and it almost like he turns around a little bit like he's starting to say hey I love you
can't wait to see you a lot of people have speculated well that might be cuz he was missing his children but that's
kind of where he was almost where he was going to try to reconnect once he got down there m mhm well his behavior in
North Carolina in the early part of August was described by shenan as completely cold and distant he wouldn't
touch her wouldn't kiss her wouldn't hug her they slept in different rooms he would barely talk to her she continually
confronted him about his change and he was evasive finally when she got him to talk he told her they weren't compatible
anymore and he wanted to consider separating he wanted to sell the house and he wasn't sure he wanted the new
baby he was happy with just the two girls he refused to enter marriage counseling with shanan there was no
doubt from the correspondence that shenan genuinely loved her husband but he was rejecting her the kids and their
life together this was a complete shock to shenan now she did at this time cancel their gender reveal party that
the two had planned the Watts family flew flew back to Colorado on August 7th and Chris slept in the basement the two
continued to talk the next day at shanann's insistence and shenan got Chris to agree to counseling and a
getaway trip to Aspen the following weekend August 17th through the 19th then on the 10th she left on her trip to
Arizona feeling a little more optimistic about her marriage while there her friends who were also Reps for Thrive
say she was not herself she was sad and preoccupied and told them that there's some trouble in their marriage and she
was confused about the whole situation right they started to talk about whether Chris could be having an affair well
shanan said no because he's got no game she did not think that Chris would all right so he needs to find his balls and
he has no game yeah okay she didn't think that Chris would cheat on her uh but she was concerned enough to to be
checking the charges on the credit card MH that he was using now that weekend she was sitting with her friends on
Saturday night when she saw a charge for over $60 from The Lazy Dog Saloon back at home she knew Chris was supposed to
be at a Colorado Rockies baseball game with his buddies he had gotten a sitter for the
girls and he went out around 5:30 p.m. until about 10:30 p.m. she texted him and asked about this charge he said he
ordered salmon and a beer but when she looked up the menu for the restaurant she noted that his bill should have been
more like $20 remember what I said before about gut feelings her friend following the gut feeling her parents
following gut feelings she had a gut feeling uh and maybe she was just making some snarky remark well he has no game
but he obviously had something if you're checking up on him in this manner yeah and there's also some question question
or at least shenan questioned how late Chris got home that night now one of the reasons that the public is so fascinated
by this case is that everyone knows everyone that who knows Chris says he is a totally upstanding guy a great friend
devoted father and husband he doesn't have a temper he's like super mellow he was considered to be 100% reliable at
work and he was the quote go-to guy according to his colleag yeah he seemed like the husband that most women would
want and really the father that most women would want their husbands to be even shanann's parents have spoken
publicly saying they adored him and he was wonderful to their daughter but then a 30-year-old brunette named Nicole
kessinger walked into the Frederick police department but before doing so she deleted all records of Chris Watts
from her phone including all text phone calls photos and even his contact information in contrast Chris Watts had
all his messages with and pictures of her including naked selfies of both of them hidden in a secret calculator app
on his phone yeah this is ingenious so it looks like if you just look at the person's phone it it looks like a
calculator app but when you open that up I think you have to type in a certain number into the calculator that your
passcode it opens it up and you can store files in there it's a completely different folder Al together yeah don't
ask me how I know all about this well it would only be a matter of time before law enforcement text would crack this
system that he set up now and coming forward and seemingly quote doing the right thing Nicole was protecting
herself and she was heavily downplaying to the police the nature length and extent of her relationship with Chris
but well hold on on a second cuz she is going to be she is downplaying so you're
totally correct about that and we're going to know we're going to get all this information out of her because not
only is she willing to talk she is turning over um her technology Computers phone to the police so they can go
through it with a fine tooth comb yeah and she I mean she did throw him under the bus in the sense that she came
forward and told police that Chris lied to her and and if he had done that she was wondering what else he could be
lying about right Nicole and Chris met in June of 2018 at work where Nicole was a contract employee working in the main
office Chris would come in every morning before heading out into the field and the two started chatting and flirting
Nicole says she knew Chris was married but he told her he was separated and that they were filing for divorce she
did not know that he had two kids until later when Chris told her now she says that she thought this was cute that he
was a dad she told cops that she didn't even know his wife's name now we know that Nicole has an agenda of
self-preservation and so we don't know how much to believe in how she characterizes the nature of their
relationship but she says that Chris was more into her than what she was into him
right but she says that she doesn't know Chris's wife's name but we also know that she searched Chris's wife's name on
her computer after The Disappearance no before The Disappearance well she told police that
that he had said I love you like pretty quickly in their relationship she did say that she said it back to him a
couple of times but again she's trying to point out a picture or paint a picture of him being much more into her
and that their relationship was not all that let's say which again is fishy too because we're later going to find that
with Google searches she was searching uh like kind of vacation destinations for
couples and also wedding dresses and and things of that nature well Chris and Nicole according to her had a very
active sex life she said that they sometimes did it up to four times a day but they really didn't go out into
public much instead staying in at her apartment yeah they didn't have any time they did go on a camping trip together
at Great Sand Dunes National Park now I'm a little off on this because I don't know where shanan believed Chris would
have been at this time well I think this is during the five weeks that she's in uh the Carolinas oh that would make much
more s yeah because basically that whole five weeks that she's gone and remember
how she's like all of a sudden now he's like really cold and distance he's not returning my text and all that stuff
that's cuz he spent pretty much every day with his new girlfriend well on one of the few times that they actually went
out this was on August 11th when they went to the Lazy Dog Saloon for that $60 dinner right they also had sex both
before and after the meal Nicole says that she was encouraging Chris to make up with his wife and try to work on his
marriage but this seems unlikely given that we know you know what she was Googling right but hold on there might
actually be some truth to this and and here's why because during that time when they're spending all this time together
it kind of becomes like well yes we're separated but he kind of lets her know there is a chance that we could work
things out and I think that was his slime ball way of basically saying yes I I know I'm having fun with you but it's
a possibility I'm going to stay with my wife and my kids M and so did she say hey if you guys work things out fine
just let me know MH she might have been a cool person like that and what she claims is that when when he went to the
Carolinas and had that emotional conversation where he claim where we know that he basically said hey I want
to divorce I want to sell the house blah blah blah mhm and then eventually turns
back around and says well maybe we'll stay together yeah right when he he he ends up texting his girlfriend Nicole
and at some point actually calls her and says that they actually might try to work things out mhm so if those
statements are true I think there might be some truth to that she's like okay well it's nice that you're married and
it's cute that you have kids but if you do want to work it out with your wife I'm not going to stop you from that
right well Nicole says that she chose to come forward or go to the police because
Chris had lied to her by Omission by not telling her that his wife was pregnant she learned this on the news on Monday
the 13th when shenan disappeared right she talked to Chris on the phone for 52 minutes on Monday the 13th when his wife
and kids were gone he told her it was true that shenan was pregnant but the baby was not his she said she did really
believe him and then the next morning she went to the police well and think about this way you have this guy that
you're seeing he's bitching about his wife he's saying all the stuff that she didn't do or doesn't like blah blah blah
blah blah that might seem okay and you're going okay well you guys are separated
so it's okay that we're hanging out but then you find out that she's pregnant and then he's going well it's probably
somebody else's and you know that's probably a [ __ ] lie now it's becoming a little more
greasy you know what I mean it's becoming a little more where now you're not feeling so great about the actions
and the actions of hanging out with him and possibly having sex with him well real quick before we move on in case
anyone's out there scratching their heads there is something that's a little difficult about this case to follow
along in the story here because there are a lot of people in this case with the name based off of the name Nick
right so we have Nicole who is shannan's friend the one that shows up to the home
calls police because shanan is missing right then we have the other Nicole who is the mistress they're not the same
person right okay we also have Nicholas who was shannan's friend's son we have Nick the who is one of Chris's friends
this is where he stayed on the 14th and then on top of all of that Nico was going to be the baby's name that shenan
was pregnant with right I think you just made all that more confusing for me now
well the the the most the the best thing to understand here is that the two Nico
are different nicool right but this case it feels familiar and if it feels familiar Gone
Girl Scott Peterson it feels very similar but what's interesting about this case is where the Scott Peterson
case a lot of things come out they trickle out this stuff is like a flood right and the
technology that we have today all the um police officers body cams that we can see of Chris so we basically get to see
almost minute by minute of these people's actions but then once they get phone records text records we get to
see exactly what these people Googled right it's very fascinating and so with that technology we have a piece of
evidence that the cops are now really honing in on is yes we we know that the girls went missing between roughly
around this point M we have no evidence of them leaving the house right so then they start assuming they left in his
truck where did his truck go cuz he didn't go to work he went to a job site and they're going to track down and
they're going to go to this um job site well let's go through that real quick because as you point out the work truck
the F250 was equipped with GPS apparently very high-tech GPS this recorded every trip in the vehicle it
also recorded when it was started up and turned off now anad Darko was all too happy to cooperate with the cops and
they handed over the GPS records immediately and here's what the police learned Chris started the engine on his
truck at 5:18 a.m. on the the morning of the 13th when he backed it into the driveway it ran idle for 28 minutes at
5:46 a.m. Chris started driving and headed directly for the servy ranch 47 miles away now this is a huge cattle
ranch that had leased a number of oil wells on the ranch property to anad Darko Chris's truck parked at site
number 319 this is a pump site with two 400 Barrel oil tanks on it Chris stayed there from 6:53 a.m. until about 8:30
a.m. and other employees showed up to join him at the 319 site after 7 a.m. they said that when they arrived Chris
was parked in an unusual spot near the tanks and appeared to be finishing digging a hole his coworker Troy McCoy
noted that Chris was wearing a very old he's wearing very old baggy clothing and
an old pair of boots which he thought was very strange after this Chris went to some other locations on the ranch and
then stopped at a convenience store now we've seen this video on TV and in the video you can see that he's now wearing
an orange shirt MH he bought a breakfast roll and he's chatting casually with the
cashier he's smiling he was at another site when he began to receive calls from shannan's family and friends including
Nicole her friend Nicole saying that no one could find his wife yeah so police are going to go out to the scene and
like you said there was these two giant like oil pumps um and tanks like yeah yeah and there's there's these Lids on
top which look like like manhole covers basically and so when police go out there and they start searching around
they also have scent dogss and stuff but they also find a a part of the land that
looks like where he would have been digging and so now it's time where they go hey we now
know that this guy is not the husband we thought he was MH we have people close to this girl saying hey this guy is
suspicious we got the neighbor saying this dude's acting weird and they're going to bring in they're going to bring
him in for questioning but they tell him the day before hey are you cool with doing a polygraph test he says yes they
said okay we'll set it up for tomorrow yeah and the FBI actually interviews him on the 14th and then Chris agreed to go
down to the station on August 15th to take a polygraph test but this would be after picking his father Ronnie up at
the airport now the entire pre-test interview video is available online and Chris gives some personal background
information in the course of this pre pre test his dad Ronnie was a parts manager for a Ford dealership where his
mother worked as a secretary he has an older sister named Jamie Chris attended NASCAR school which is where he learned
to work on engines he worked at various Ford dealerships until 2015 this of course when he landed his job with anad
Darko now the actual polygraph consisted of just three questions one did you physically cause shanann's disappearance
to which he answered no two are you lying about the last time you saw shenan he says no three do you know where
shanan is now Chris Watts says [Music] [Applause] no and check out our show off the record
on Stitcher premium available now now and this week we discussed the very important update in the terror grinstead
case yeah the arrest of Bo dukes and we will see everybody back here in the garage tomorrow until then be good be
kind and don't [Music] litter [Music] the Angie's List you know and trust is now Angie and we're so much more than
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Chris Watts /// Part 1 /// 269

Part 1 of 2

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The perfect family. Loving parents, adorable little girls, a baby on the way, an idyllic home life in a Colorado suburb. Family and friends of the couple say they had a perfect marriage and their daughters were the light of their lives. They promoted a healthy lifestyle brand and enjoyed fulfilling careers. They had everything going for them. Until, out of the blue, the adoring, reliable husband and father suddenly morphed into a monster. This week we discuss one of 2018’s most talked about cases. Beer of the Week - Haze by Tree House Brewing Garage Grade - 5 out of 5 bottle caps

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Brief Summary

The episode details the disappearance of Shanann Watts and her daughters, focusing on Chris Watts's suspicious behavior and the ensuing investigation.

Key points

Desperate Search for Shannan Watts. On August 13, 2018, Shannan Watts went missing after returning from a trip, prompting a frantic search.
A Father's Heartbreak. Chris Watts expresses his deep longing for his missing wife and children, revealing his emotional turmoil.
Unusual Silence Raises Concerns. Friends and family grow worried as Shannan fails to respond to calls and texts, which is out of character.
Chris Watts's Suspicious Behavior. Chris Watts's demeanor during the investigation raises red flags for authorities.
Missing Medication Raises Alarms. The absence of the children's medication adds urgency to the search.
Shanann's Mother's Gut Feeling. Shanann's mother expresses strong suspicion about Chris's involvement.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

This isn't right.

A friend expressing concern over Shannan's uncharacteristic silence.

5:44WatchNov 16, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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