Sneak peek: The Blue River Murder | Forensic Files

[Music] Stephanie and I did a dance [Music] together and it was a dance about love
and loss and it was an empty chair on the stage the empty chair symbolizes the loss of a loved
one I thought how ironic is this that we do this dance and now Stephanie's the one that's in my empty
[Music] chair my name is Jennifer vakis and Stephanie is my best friend I think about Stephanie every day
every time I dance she's with me it was the Monday before Thanksgiving in Silverthorn very small town
Colorado it was dark night was a blizzard that night and very cold temperature was 1° with wind chill ofus
20 or lower Stephanie roller Bruner mother of three while her young children are
asleep she supposedly goes out for a walk on this cold snowy blizzard night and she disappears Into Thin
Air my job was to find Stephanie and if I couldn't find Stephanie I felt like I would
fail my name is Teresa Burger I'm a detective for the Silverthorn Police Department I was hoping for the best but
I was thinking of the worst Summit County Colorado it can get very cold and it can be very
dangerous first 24 hours is the most imperative when finding a missing person I didn't find
her the scenario that you hope happens is that Stephanie would be found safe and unhe hurt
somewhere I'm Mark Robert and I'm the district attorney up here in Su County and we were called in early on in the
case because up here every missing person we look at is possibly a homicide each day that we looked into
Stephanie's life we learned many things we learned that Stephanie had secrets she was very scared she was
scared for her life I don't know what it is about beautiful kind women who fall into these
kind of traps that's the biggest question now is [Music] why

A mother of three is found dead. She had secrets -- did she name her own killer? Tracy Smith reports Saturday, Aug. 16 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

Brief Summary

The episode details the mysterious disappearance of Stephanie Roller Bruner during a blizzard and the ensuing investigation.

Key points

The Empty Chair Dance. A poignant dance symbolizes love and loss, reflecting on a friend's absence.
The Disappearance. Stephanie goes missing during a blizzard, prompting a desperate search.
Secrets and Fear. Investigators uncover that Stephanie had secrets and was scared for her life.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I thought how ironic is this that we do this dance.

Reflecting on the dance about love and loss

0:28WatchMar 5, 2014

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