Sneak peek: The Pretender | Forensic Files

[Music] There was nothing that was important to her as much as those kids. Those kids
were her world. But the last time we got together, I noticed she wasn't the sister I
knew. You thought she was in danger? I knew she was. It started on December 19th, 2001.
Um, we got a report of a child in the bay. My first thought was that he had wandered away from someone's house and
had fallen in the water and drowned. My name is Trish Miller and I'm the lead investigator. We did a neighborhood
canvas of that area. We knocked on every door. Every child in the 2,000 person town of
Baldwart was checked upon. No one was found missing. It was a complete mystery. We thought that maybe there was a car
accident and that a vehicle had gone in the water. and we would find the rest of the
family. A sheriff's office dive team was sent to investigate the waters where the body
was found and they discovered a second child. This was a little girl and she was waited
down in the water uh with the rock. The feeling in town was of confusion, grief and of fear. Nobody knew if a
killer was living amongst them. Identifications were made. I know ABC. The boy was named Zachary Michael Longo.
He was a few months shy of his fifth birthday. The young girl was named Satie Anne Longo. She was 3 and 1/2 years
old. About a week after the first body was found, the bodies of Mary Jane Longo and Madison Longo were found at the
bottom of a bay. [Music] Once we found Mary Jane and Madison, we knew that our focal suspect was going to
be Chris Longo. The whole family's dead. And he's nowhere to be found. It was discovered that Christian Longo
had caught a plane to Cancun, Mexico. My name is Michael Finkele. I was a writer
for the New York Times magazine. I had a personal connection because I learned that while Christian Longo was in
Mexico, he was pretending to be a writer for the New York Times. In fact, he was
pretending to be me. Thank you for seeing me, Mr. Long. Call me Chris. So, why me? I followed your
whole career. I guess I felt like I knew you. I want to tell you my side of this.
Only you. Maybe at this point it doesn't matter. The truth always matters. It always seems to matter to you.
[Music] I just looked him straight in the eye and I said, you know, Chris, did did you
do what you're accused of doing? And he was as always completely unruffled, never portrayed a moment
of micro panic, nothing. And looked at me and said, "Uh, I think you know." And just like gave me a little wink.
[Music]

A family murdered, the husband’s on the run posing as a New York Times reporter. He’s playing cat and mouse with the real reporter. Maureen Maher has the true story behind a new Hollywood movie, Saturday, March 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.

Brief Summary

The episode details the Longo family murders and the manhunt for Chris Longo, featuring insights from investigator Trish Miller and writer Michael Finkele.

Key points

The Mystery Unfolds. A child is found in the bay, leading to a search for answers.
Tragic Discoveries. The bodies of two more children are found, deepening the investigation.
The Impostor. Christian Longo pretends to be a writer for the New York Times while in Mexico.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

The truth always matters.

A reflection on the importance of truth in the narrative.

3:18WatchMar 26, 2015

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