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

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[Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Chris Watts w8 ETS right now it's got canine units the Sheriff's Department
everybody's like there they're doing the best right now to figure out like if they can get a scent and see where they
went they went on foot they went in a car or 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 scent and hopefully they can pick something up to where it's it's
gonna lead to something what happened Jude night 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
she had a few times that day called her say you know but she never got back to me but she wasn't get back to any of her
people as well and that's what really concerned a lot of people's like she's not getting back to her like she doesn't
about to me that's fine like she gets busy during the day by seeing it 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
it's vanished nothing was here I mean she wasn't it she wasn't here the kids weren't here nobody was here your wife
Sam she nan sha and Ana belén Celeste Celes de for in the fellas for Celeste is three and so how many times you try
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 I could after that for the after I called her and text her once it's like no maybe she
was just busy like she just got back you know like everybody's probably calling her from her trip she just got back from
Arizona and I figured you this busy but when her friend showed up that suppose like that it registered like alright
this isn't right I mean right now I don't even want to just like throw anything out there like I hope that she
is somewhere safe right now and with the kids but I mean could she have been cuz
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 am I like if they're safe right now they're gonna 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 just at 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 kids are my life I mean those those smiles
light up my life and there's like I mean last night like Darren let you know when
they usually dinner it was just like I missed them like I mean I miss to tell them hey you got to eat that or you're
gonna not gonna get you're just certain you know and just like not gonna get your snack after I missed that like I
missed them you know cuddle up on their couches they have like a Minnie Mouse couch and Sophia couch that they cuddle
up on and watched you know Bubble Guppies or something and it was just like you know I mean I've I was
historian tearing me apart last night and I needed that I needed that last night and for that nobody to be here
last night and to go into their rooms and not and know that I wasn't gonna turn the rain machines on I know that I
wasn't gonna turn their monitor on no I wasn't gonna kiss him to bed tonight it was it was like
that's why last night was horrible I couldn't do it that I'm I just want I want everybody just come home right
wherever they're at come home that's what I want she came back Sunday sin it's you and yeah cuz her flight got
delayed from Arizona cuz like other storms around the nation so you're supposed to get home like 11:00 she got
home at like 148 down a bed about to what was she gone for that family trip it was a thrived wrecked sales it was a
local event that was down there but between a bunch of leaders and in their company then they she was back now let I
left work for work early that morning like 5:15 5:30 so like she barely let me she barely got barely got into bed
pretty much it wasn't it wasn't like an argument we had 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 because 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 yeah they've been in constant contact 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 their parents saying to you know just like hey if they need to go on a flight just let them know because I mean
they don't maybe they feel helpless right now cuz they they're on the opposite side of the country
I mean Colorado is I mean 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 dream of talking about that first day I was like I want to get out and drive
around this you won't know what to look for questions what is what as law enforcement with that police or the
sheriff's or their neighbors is anybody was was was police say right now this is
what they're doing right now is with the k-9 in the sense I think this is the biggest thing this is the biggest thing
they've done so far because yesterday that all federally experimented all the searching of the house and try to gather
whatever make information they could and with the detectives officers and sergeants and today it's I mean
obviously with all the activity that's around 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 know like we've we've the police final went door-to-door asking
like cameras and everything just like nothing last question if your wife can see this she if she can watch this
Shannon Bella Celeste sure out there just just come back like somebody has heard please bring her back I need to
see everybody 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 Shannon 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 Shannon now Shannon is diabetic and 15 weeks pregnant so this is just adding to
her friends concerns Shannon missed a doctor's appointment that morning and was not responding to
calls or texts and this was very much out of character Nicole and her teenage son Nicholas went over to Shannon's home
to look for her Nicholas on occasion dogs 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 Shannon's white Lexus SUV parked inside Nicole knew the code to
the front door but upon attempting to open it she found the 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 shannon was wearing on the plane right inside the front door now she always wore these flip-flops
Nicole contacted Shannon's husband Christopher Watts on his cell phone he was at work she asked him to come home
to check to see if Shannon was okay Chris didn't seem overly concerned and told her Shannon 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 playdate wouldn't she reply to the text messages
or the phone calls yes so she had Nikolas tried to force open the garage door she
knew that this would trigger the house alarm and hopefully if Shannon 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 concern that Shannon 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 OBGYNs office where Nicole knew
Shannon had an appointment at 10 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 Nikolas 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 in response to
Nicole's call officer Scott Coonrod was dispatched the Watts home on Saratoga Trail this is in a subdivision of new
homes about ten minutes away from Frederick yeah they're roughly three hundred and fifty four hundred thousand
dollar houses nice neighborhood yeah Nicole and Nicholas were waiting for him outside of the house
the officer opened the front door just the couple of inches because remember we got the latch inside 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 Shannon 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 Shannon's
husband was somewhat unclear as to what time he would be arriving at the house although Shannon 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 Shannon had a low blood sugar incident 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
four year old and a three year old yeah you would think at some point you'd hear
some kind of noise inside the house yes unless it was like naptime or the children were frightened for some reason
you would think you would hear something going on inside right so Nicole Nicholas
and the officer are standing outside of the Watsons home Nicole is calling all of Shannon's
friends and her parents to see if they have heard from her nobody's heard anything and meanwhile after obtaining
Chris wants his 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 five
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 Shannon 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's what they did find they found
Shannon's small black suitcase still sitting at the bottom of the stairs Chris found Shannon's wedding ring on a
nightstand Chris and Nicholas went upstairs and Nicholas found Shannon's cellphone on
the couch in the loft area 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
Chris authorized the officer to look through her phone he observed no calls were made that
morning and there were a lot of missed calls and unresponded 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 back yard after taking the family dog outside the
police documented what they found this included Shannon'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 I'm 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 should walk too far she has two girls with her maybe somebody came and picked her up the tricky thing to
captain it sounds like there's ways to access this home without a key you know we referenced 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 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 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 returned 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 I also doesn't seem like
they're questioning Chris much about this so call playdate 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 because Nicole told the police that Shannon worked from home and she would
never leave without her cell phone yeah I believe they call it like direct sales
mm-hmm or you you sell to your friends and family and potentially other people and Seward Fur Company I believe is
called level I have thrive nutritional supplements but I mean it could be level could be
the parenting company right often there's different 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 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 texts yes and this with both these phones being at the home
Shanaya not there that's impossible so regarding the little girls this is disturbing too 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 observed 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
body cams but the cops did note that the master bed was stripped bare down to the
mattress the comforter fitting 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 Shannon got home last night he was in the master bedroom officers
noted a ring doorbell camera Chris told them the only persons visible on it were
Shannon arriving home from her trip and Nicole and Niklas when they showed up that day looking for her right the
authorities canvassed the neighborhood to see if anyone saw anything one neighbor in particular is named in
the police report Nathaniel trennis ditch 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 and 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 oh and because it was issued by his employer the truck has GPS
on it as well so the police are gonna eventually be able to track his whereabouts using the GPS monitoring on
the truck well let's talk about Chris Watson 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 officers 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 Shannon had a
work trip to Arizona Chris said Shannon 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 148
a.m. Chris was asleep in the master bedroom he woke up at 4 a.m. and started getting ready for work and woke shenana
yeah he claims because they're having some marital problems that he claims it they had an emotional conversation about
their relationship and talked about selling their house and moving towards a divorce before he left for work 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.
Shannon was in bed he went to work at a job site and Oilwell location to check on it he was alone there for a few hours
chris was an operator for Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Colorado's largest oil and gas producer he worked on oil
wells and equipment Chris told police that Shannon 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 six 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 conversation [Music] [Applause]
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[Applause] [Music] all right we're back cheers mates cheers to you captain a big garage cheers
everybody out there all right some alarm bells are going off here right wait out
there and out there and over there in the back seat 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 know
Karen of 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 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 you scroll through YouTube and
try to there's 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 the 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 one when you
look at behavior science and just his demeanor constantly he is crossing his arms almost like you know like he's
defensive mm-hmm 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 know
that the garage door was open and my phone tells me this next we also have Nicole in the neighbor who both told the
officer that they who knew Chris well believe he was acting extremely nervous and you referenced some of his
mannerisms at that time yeah cuz at some point they're gonna go next door to the
neighbor's house mm-hmm I think to ask for the footage because they enter 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 his arms and 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 start
doing some erratic stuff but when you're 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 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 neighbors telling you like this is a guy that might like him and he's
saying do this to sacked and weird yeah and the feeling I got when I watched that video with the way that you talked
about Chris moving a bizzle 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 yeah it's 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 heard Chris yelling loudly action an
numerous times in the past and finally the officer notes that while at the Watsons home he received a phone call
from Shannon's mother who he says quote was adamant that Christopher did something and they should check the GPS
on his truck now just trust stop you right there because one her friend has a gut feeling and does not stop we need to
get into the house mm-hmm she does now the mother has a gut feeling and and you'll see that time and
time again in this case where people follow their gut feelings in fact Shannon'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 ask Chris to check for any activity in their bank accounts but
Chris said he could not log on to the accounts because Shannon handled the finances right he agreed to call the
banks to find out he couldn't verify if Shannon had any missing credit cards because the two used separate cards so
he says he wasn't certain which cards she carried he also did not know where she kept her passport the officer
ordered a bolo a be on the lookout for Shannon and the girls right so we have a pregnant mother and her two small
daughters have vanished leaving behind all of Shannon's personal items the girl's medication and their car word of
this spread among their family and friends like wildfire the police report says Shannon's phone was blowing up with
texts and calls from concerned friends and family Shannon 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 and 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 like hey honey we're gonna make this video for not only the people that work because 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 hmm
it's very similar to a pyramid marketing scheme yeah they have nicer they have nicer words for but that's essentially
what it is you're making money off of your sales as well as your team's sales yeah 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 hmm but then you have to you know make these Facebook videos and should have Chris if 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 hmm 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 those videos well a little background on the
Watts family so Chris and Shannon met on Facebook in 2010 Shannon had been married before both of them were from
North Carolina and that's where they met Shannon 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 and understanding of her health issues was okay what was interesting to me was he actually tried
to add her on Facebook I know you're not picked with the social media so he tries
to add her she deletes him so did he died but she just went through a breakup 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 requests figured on
ever talk to this guy again he'll just be one of the friends on my facebook and that's what it'll be right a 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 Shannon at some point he started working a job as a
mechanic at a local Ford dealer and Shannon 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 Shannon 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 mm-hmm so when they go to Colorado they're gonna have a house
built and that house is worth about $400,000 hmm so you're talking about a pretty hefty mortgage well they start
racking up credit card debt and things of that nature and they end up filed for bankruptcy which is I think well over
$400,000 they found for bankruptcy Shannan was described as the ultimate helicopter mom and Chris doted 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 Shannon says that she
was controlling a little OCD 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 Shannon 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 Shannon'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 pounds well by all accounts 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 Cup ain't no that sounds like an American
couple to me somebody hates somebody's parents yesterday with two adorable little girls and a boy on the way back
to August 13th by 348 some of Shannon's friends in a group text we're commenting
that the cops needed to take a look at Chris's cell and his computer now two of Chris's buddies Jeromy and David came
over to the wadis 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 Shannon 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 Thayer's but by the morning
of the 14th when no one had heard from Shannon for more than 24 hours things were starting to take a different turn
no 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 disappearance broke nationally Chris decided to give public interviews you 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 good reason
because if you watch the video very carefully you can see that someone is actually moving along crouched 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 reeked 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 guests who have been smeared mascara or
eyeshadow 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 Shannon'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 very odd Chris texted shenana around 7:40 that morning 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 some time
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 Shannon was away in North Carolina this she actually went there for a couple weeks without him
yeah she was gonna take a trip is six weeks long and he wasn't gonna he wasn't gonna 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 the
investigators were hearing from Shannon's friends and family we know you know with her social media life that
Shannon was a very communicative person with a lot of her friends very open and her actual text back and forth with
multiple friends during the few weeks prior to her disappearance 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 Shannon had always been a very
good marriage always had a wonderful marriage he was very affectionate yeah he was a caring father and husband
Shannon and Chris found out they were expecting a third child a boy sometime in late May Chris didn't seem
thrilled at this Shannon went to North Carolina with the girls 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 hmm okay if that doesn't make you no 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
mm-hmm so who knows yeah well Shannon 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 Shannon 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 in North Carolina that made
her sever ties with them there was a bunch of cousins over at the Watsons grandparents home when Shannon and the
girls were that where they were staying at the time Shannon 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
other in-law purchased ice cream with nuts and served it to all of the children oh that's great
CC didn't get the ice cream as Shannon stepped in but it's thought that the intention was to make a statement that
either Shannon was crazy or CC was coddled or both one this made me wonder a little bit because I had a friend that
dealt with 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 because it
seemed like everybody in their family except for Chris had medical issues yeah but I'm gonna take a little bit of 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 Shannon left her
in-laws home in a rage and she went to her parents her father-in-law unfriended her on Facebook in retaliation for this
event that took place very mature Shannon expected Chris to take her side he was sympathetic but his reaction was
not as strong as Shannon would have liked there are many texts 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 hmm now it is evident that in general Shannon may have been a little bit
belittling of Chris who was known to be chill in comparison to her strong type-a
personality well his chill but he couldn't find his balls yeah well anyway following this event
Shannon began to notice that Chris was somewhat stint from her he never asked how she
was feeling you know she's pregnant how's things going with the pregnancy well anything is he looking for his
balls yeah and and she also was telling friends that he was not doing any of the
normal lovey-dovey stuff right so while at the beginning of her stay in North Carolina she said that they had engaged
in phone sex this tapered off dramatically and Chris seemed like he was pulling away from Shannon Shannon
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 mm-hmm and it seemed but 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 could actually read his text messages
before he gets there and 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 because he was missing his
children but that that's kind of where he was almost where he was gonna try to reconnect once he got down there mm-hmm
well his behavior in North Carolina in the early part of August was described by Shannon as completely cold and
distant he wouldn't touch her when 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 Shannon there was no doubt from the correspondence that Shannon genuinely
loved her husband but he was rejecting her the kids and their life together this was a complete shock to Shannon now
she did at this time cancel their gender reveal party that the two had planned the Watts family flew back to Colorado
on August 7th and Kris slept in the basement the two continued to talk the next day at Shannon's insistence and
Shannon got Kris 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 Kris could be having an affair well Shannon said no because he's got no game she did not think that Kris
would write so he needs to find his balls and he has no game yeah okay she didn't think that Chris would cheat on
her but she was concerned enough to be checking the charges on the credit card that he was using
now that weekend she was sitting with her friends on Saturday night when she saw a charge for over 60 dollars 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 men
you for the restaurant she noted that his bill should have been more like $20 and remember what I said before about
gut feelings her friend following the gut feeling her parents following gut feelings she
had a gut feeling and maybe she's 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 or at least Shannon question 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 really super mellow he was considered to be 100% reliable at
work and he was the quote go-to guy according to his colleagues yeah he's seem like the husband that most women
would want and really the father that most women would want their husbands to be even Shannon'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 and 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 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's your passcode it opens it up and you can store files in there it's a completely
different folder altogether yeah don't ask me how I know all about this well it would only be a matter of time before
law enforcement texts would crack this system that he set up now and coming forward and seemingly quote doing the
right thing 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 a second because he is gonna be she is
downplaying so totally correct about that and we're gonna know we're gonna get all this information out of her
because not only is she willing to talk she's turning over 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 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 in the - 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 the 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
which again is fishy to because were later gonna find that with Google searches she was searching 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 the other 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 Shannon believed Chris would
have been at this time well I think this is during the five weeks that she's in the Carolinas oh that would make much
more yeah because basically that whole five weeks that she's gone and remember how she was like all of a sudden now
he's like really cold and distance he's not returning my texts and all that stuff that's because 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 sixty dollar 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 well hold on there might actually be
some truth to this 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 slimeball way of basically saying yes I know I'm having fun with you but it's a
possibility I'm gonna stay with my wife and my kids and so did she say hey if you guys work things out fine just let
me know she might have been a cool person like that and what she claims is that when he went to the Carolinas and had
that emotional conversation where he claimed where we know that he basically said hey I want a divorce I want to sell
the house blah blah blah hmm and then eventually turns back around and says well maybe we'll stay together Yeah
right when 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 hmm 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 gonna 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 Shannon 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 Shannon was
pregnant but the baby was not his well she said she didn't really believe him and then the next morning she went to
the police well I'm thinking about this way you have this guy that you're seeing
he's bitching about his wife he's saying all this stuff that she didn't do or doesn't like bla bla bla bla bla
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 gone 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 I mean it's becoming a little more we're
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
Shannon's friend the one that shows up to the home calls police because she nan is missing right then we have the other
Nicole who is the mistress they're not the same person right okay we also have Nicolas who was Shannon's friend's son
we have Nick Thayer who is one of Chris's friends this is where he stayed on the 14th and then on top of all of
that Nikko was going to be the baby's name that Shannon was pregnant with right I think she just made all that
more confusing for me now well the most the best thing to understand here is that the two nicole's are different
Nicole's right but this case it feels familiar and if it feels familiar gone girl Scott Peterson mm-hmm it feels very
similar but what's interesting about this case is where the Scott Pearson case a lot of things come out they trick
Wow this stuff is like a flood right and the technology that we have today all the
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 we have no evidence of them leaving the house 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 gonna track down and they're going to go
to this job site well let's go through that real quick because as you pointed 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
in off now Anadarko 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 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 serving ranch 47 miles away now this
is a huge cattle ranch that had leased a number of oil wells on the ranch property to Anadarko 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 7:00 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 in 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 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 Shannon's
family and friends including Nicole her friend Nicole saying that no one could find his wife yeah so police are gonna
go out to the scene and like you said there was these two giant like oil pumps and Hanks like yeah yeah and there's
there's these lids on top which looked like McMahan hole covers basically and so when police go out there and they see
searching around they're also having scent dogs and stuff but they also find 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 we have people close to this girl saying hey this guy is suspicious we got the
neighbor saying this dudes acting weird and they're gonna bring in they're gonna
bring him in for questioning but they tell him the day before hey are you cool with doing a polygraph test he
says yes I said okay we'll set it up for tomorrow yeah and the FBI actually interviews him
on the 14th and then Kris 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 pretest interview video is available online and
Chris gives some personal background information in the course of this pretest his dad Ronnie was a parts
manager for a Ford dealership where his mother worked as a secretary he has an older sister named Jaime 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 Anadarko now the actual polygraph consisted of just three questions one
did you physically cause Shannon's disappearance to which he answered no to are you lying about the last time you
saw Shannon he says no three do you know where Shannon is now Chris Watts says no
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Source: https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-3qnci-a3efba

Christopher Watts /// Part 1 /// 269 Part 1 of 2 www.TrueCrimeGarage.com 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 Ring in the New Year with some great offers… www.Madison-Reed.com - use code GARAGE for 10% off and FREE shipping www.HelloFresh.comGarage80 - use code GARAGE80 for $80 off your first month.

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Brief Summary

Shannon Watts and her daughters vanished, leading to a complex investigation revealing Chris Watts' suspicious behavior and extramarital affair.

Key points

Perfect Beer Rating. This week's beer of the week is Hazed by Treehouse Brewing, receiving a perfect score of 5 out of 5 bottle caps!
Desperate Plea for Family. Chris Watts expresses his deep concern and longing for his missing wife and children.
Suspicion Arises. As police investigate, they begin to suspect Chris Watts due to inconsistencies in his story.
Alarm Bells Ringing. With a missing woman and two children, the investigation takes a serious turn.
Chris's Nonchalant Demeanor. Chris's behavior during the investigation raises eyebrows as he appears unconcerned about his missing family.
Strange Behavior After Disappearance. Chris's actions after his family's disappearance raise suspicions among friends and family.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I mean those smiles light up my life.

Chris expressing his love for his children.

6:36WatchJan 9, 2019

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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