Talking Dateline: The Day Dee Disappeared

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1:02Hi, everybody.

1:02Andrea Canning:I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and we're all here to play Password. Wait. Sorry. Different program. I'm Josh Mankiewicz, and we're talking Dateline. Today, with Andrea. Hi, Andrea. Hey, Josh. So, we're here to talk about Andrea's episode, which is called The Day D Disappeared. which is actually one of the very few Dateline stories that two Dateline correspondents covered. These two, both of us. You, for Missing in America, and me. For TV, yes. Now, if you've not seen this episode, you can watch it on Peacock, you can listen to it on the Dateline podcast feed, and then come back here. And then later, we have an extra clip about a psychic's theory about what might have happened to Dee Warner.

1:50Andrea Canning:But first, let's talk Dateline. Now, for anybody who did not see the broadcast, here's what you need to know. The victim was Dee Warner, and she was a successful farmer and businesswoman. She was reported missing in April of 2021. Now, from very early on, investigators suspected her husband, Dale, had killed her. And they ended up arresting him in November of 2023, even though they had not found Dee's body. Her body was found much later, and they found it on the property, hidden in a fertilizer tank. Dale ended up being convicted at trial, and he was sentenced to 70 years behind bars. So, you know, one of the things that I thought was really interesting about this when I was looking at it for Missing in America is, you know, it seemed impossible to imagine that Dee Warner was not on that property somewhere.

2:48Andrea Canning:I mean, everything she had was there. Her car was there. Like, she didn't just go away. She was somewhere on that property. It certainly seemed that way from the beginning. That was the thought of most people close to the case. And one person from law enforcement told us, and we didn't include this in the show, but that they had actually had an FBI profiler looking at the case at one point who said that they believed that Dee was somewhere on the property and likely buried. So the buried part was not accurate, of course, but what went into this theory by the FBI certainly panned out. So when I was first working on this story, I heard about this giant property on which Dee was missing, because it's not just the buildings there, but obviously many, many, many more acres around it.

3:52Andrea Canning:Yeah, it's huge. When I saw the farm, I mean, it looks like a farm like out of a movie. And I sort of didn't think of it as sort of that pristine and camera ready. It's interesting what your mind does. Because when I was hearing about it on Missing in America, I was like, this is some like giant sprawling property where the buildings are all a couple of miles apart. But that's not true. It's all kind of, the working part of it is actually concentrated, and then the fields are spread out around it. Yeah, acres and acres and acres of land. I mean, and it's beautifully kept, as you say, beautiful.

4:37Andrea Canning:And all of that had to be searched because nobody knew where she was. But they strongly believed she was out there somewhere. Yeah, and that's a, you know, it's such a daunting task. You know, they used drones. They used dogs. They had the PI use drones, the state police use drones, the county police. I mean, they looked everywhere for her and they just could not find her. And that's where Dale's diabolical plan was working for a long time with the tank. Like, you know, let's sort of put yourself in his mind. What do you think the end game was here? How was he going to get away with this? Eventually, he was going to just dispose of the tank some, you know, some time in the future.

5:22Andrea Canning:Just drive it off the property somewhere, bury it, break it open and move her again. I mean, I don't know. There was a search he had done for how to move, you know, a very large tank. So, like, I don't know if he was planning on moving it at some point. It was, you know, his plan was working until it wasn't. It was, to me, it was sort of like this evil genius of like, you know, I'm going to use my skills and cut this tank open and put her in. And, you know, it's pretty, oh, like it gives you chills when you think about someone going to those lengths. Well, it really does. To hide a body. And, you know, I mean, it had so much more impact in your story than it did to me, you know, in my story, which is like seeing him moving that tank around right in front of investigators.

6:19Andrea Canning:That was just that was just absolutely chilling. I mean, he's brazen. Now, you know, no one knows 100 percent that the D was in the tank he was moving around. That was one of the defense's argument. but they believe that it was. Because there are other tanks there, right? There are a lot of tanks. Right. If she wasn't in that one that he was moving at that moment, she was in another identical tank like that. Yeah. And everything was right in front of them, the family, the police. All the clues were there. They just weren't seeing them yet in the way that they needed to see them. It's just, you know how it goes, Josh, with these, The pieces aren't always put together for a while.

7:00And then suddenly the puzzle comes into focus and you put your final piece in. And that's really what happened. And it was Greg going back, Dee's brother, and saying, I remember Dale working on a tank. And Parker said the same thing. And then kind of hit them years later. They were like, wait a second. What if the tank has something to do with this? and and then i found it so interesting how law enforcement was afraid to open the tank because you know what's in there is it going to explode you know are we going to die from chemical fumes and and you know in and dale had even talked about those chemicals during the early days trying to keep you know saying keep the dog the cadaver dogs away there's chemicals here like

7:50Andrea Canning:And I will say he did a good job of misdirection there because, you know, I mean, the cops are certainly listening very carefully for anybody who says, yeah, you can search the entire property, but don't look in there, whatever you do. Right. I mean, they're trained to sort of pick up on that kind of thing. And he did a very good job of saying, like, look, you guys do what you need to do, but be careful. There are chemicals here, you know, with the dogs. And he even talked about his dogs, that they had issues with their paws. stepping in the chemicals. And so here they are. They've got this tank that is now sticking out like a sore thumb because it's freshly painted.

8:29It has the decals on it. It's been moved to this barn. And so what do they do? They put it on a flatbed and haul it to the Ambassador Bridge because where can you x-ray giant items but at customs at the Canadian-United States border?

8:47Andrea Canning:At the border. Right? And they did it. And then there was the silhouette, you know, of Dee, which, whew, I mean, I haven't seen many stories, cases like this where you make a discovery like that and someone was that diabolical and there she is in a tank in her pajamas. Yeah, no, that outline of her body is chilling. Because the thing is, a lot of times when law enforcement finds a body, it doesn't really look like a body anymore. But this did. Preserved. This looked exactly like the silhouette of a body. She didn't have the elements that bodies usually face. Who knows? I don't know if the chemicals preserved her at all.

9:34But being in that tank, she was pristine.

9:37Andrea Canning:I thought your interviews were really good in this story. Thank you. Your interview with the family, I thought, was really, really great. Yeah, they were. They were good. Really nice down-home farmers, as you would expect, business people, really great people. We did have an incident outside of the barn where I was trying to interview Greg, and Dale's brother was out in the field plowing the field. and the tractor came by the interview and coated us with a very, very heavy coating of dust to the point where we had to stop the interview and I was breathing in dust and it was going in my eyes. And I was coughing.

10:21I was like, my eyes hurt. But yeah, that was the first time I've been dust bombed by someone involved in a story. Did you like my plaid dress, Josh?

10:33Andrea Canning:I thought you had exactly the right wardrobe for this story. I kind of just, you know what? I was like, why not try something different? Now, of course, Greg and Shelly, Greg shows up in a suit and Shelly's dressed beautifully and I'm in the plaid warm dress. And you look like a country and Western star. You know, this might be interesting for Dateline viewers and listeners, which is, you know, So what to wear in interviews is sort of an ongoing discussion at all times with all correspondents. You know, you don't want to look much more formal than the people you're interviewing, right? I mean, if they're wearing t-shirts, you don't want to come in, you know, wearing a suit and tie, right?

11:22Andrea Canning:You know, you also don't want to look sort of disrespectfully casual to people who, you know, might be maybe have dressed up for their only lifetime TV appearance. But like, you know, when I generally when I'm interviewing defense attorneys or prosecutors, it's always safe to wear a suit and tie. Oh, yes, absolutely. Much harder is when you're in the home or you're sitting across from the family of the victim. You want to wear something that doesn't make them feel uncomfortable. You want to feel, you know, accessible and approachable. And sometimes a suit can be kind of a barrier to that. So I sometimes don't do that.

12:04Andrea Canning:I mean, you know, not all of us can, you know, throw on, you know, Converse All-Stars. I mean, you know, some people, you know. Who are we talking about here? Look, it's a personal call for all of us at Dateline. Well, almost all of us, let's just say. Yes. We love you, Keith, and we love your style.

12:31You know, it's what makes him Keith, Josh.

12:34Andrea Canning:It is what makes him Keith. People love the converse. He's cool. He's cool, right? He is cool, though, and I'm not saying that to be—like, I'm actually saying I think Keith Horst is cool. Oh, no. Keith is effortlessly—it's Keith's world. We just live in it. Always. Yes. Okay, so when we get back, we have an extra clip about a psychic's visit to the Warner's house and what she believes happened to Dee inside.

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14:40Andrea Canning:So let's talk a little about Dee and Dale. You know, I love the idea that she was both sort of, you know, rugged and, you know, perfectly comfortable, you know, in boots and Carhartt. and also, you know, dressed up in a boardroom. Yeah. And also leopard print, right? Cheetah, leopard everywhere. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, didn't you love the image of that Dee wouldn't, you know, go to the gas station without full hair and makeup? And she had her daughter, her little mini-me, who also wore the cheetah and, you know, and Dee just sounds like a riot on the, like on the farm. So often on Dateline, I hear about the people who are no longer with us.

15:24Andrea Canning:And as their family and friends are describing them, one of the things I think to myself is, man, I wish I knew them. Because they sound like a blast. And Dee is one of those people. I am positive that if we all sat down for lunch, we would have a terrific time. Yeah. I'd like to have a strawberry daiquiri with Dee. Just have a drink. Talk. I think we'd have fun. And swap some stories. Absolutely. Yeah. Fashion advice. So she and Dale both left their spouses to marry each other. And then their spouses, who had been dumped, end up marrying each other. And then Dee and Dale are together, and she's sort of doing the business part of it, and he's kind of handling the hands-on part of it.

16:24Andrea Canning:And they build this very successful multi-business empire. Yeah, and it was struggling there near the end, because Dale did a lot of the hard labor, the farming. Dee handled the employees. She handled the trucking company, which was hers, her baby.

16:47But while they had a lot of land, so they were definitely rich with property, the farming side of the business was struggling. And that's why Dee was ready to just get out. She was just done.

17:01Andrea Canning:And what I remember is that she was telling people that if she left, she was going to take the trucking business for herself since she had sort of built that herself. And that was the part of the business that was making the most money. Yeah. And I think there's definitely some more reporting to do on that because I don't think it was quite that simple because they were married. I don't know that there was a prenup. So Dale might have been entitled to some of that. I'm not really sure. You know, how many searches, how many times they searched that property before somebody figured out, like, maybe we should, like, drag that tank to the Canadian border and x-ray it?

17:47I mean, I'm sure they probably lost count of how many times they searched. The one person who the family says did not search was her husband, Dale. So.

17:58Andrea Canning:I will say, I mean, that is sort of the brightest of red flags in a lot of episodes of Dateline is not just who searches for the missing person, but who does not. Who does not. I've seen that before and I know you have too. Right. Or who doesn't show up to the press conference, you know, with the family who's, you know, trying to get help from the public. That's always a red flag to me too. I mean, if you love this person and this is your spouse, the mother of your child, you know the farm better than anybody. It's your farm and you're not looking according to the family. I mean, that's just unacceptable and bizarre.

18:39Andrea Canning:Right.

18:43Andrea Canning:So, let's talk about hiring a psychic. Now, you know, in law enforcement, the use of psychics is one of those things that's kind of cyclical. There are times when it's very much not in vogue. And then there are times when you hear investigators, particularly lead investigators, say, I don't really want to leave any stone unturned here. And we've tried a bunch of things. I mean, it's certainly not the first thing you do. But it is something that investigators sometimes do when they feel like they're kind of coming up blank on all the usual avenues. Yeah. I mean, I don't know how effective they are.

19:27I certainly wouldn't turn it down if I had a loved one missing and a psychic wanted to help. I probably would welcome any help I could get, I think.

19:36Andrea Canning:I mean, I think that I would be saying to police, if it's my family, I'd be like, wait, that's where we are now? You know, we're turning to the supernatural. You guys are out of bullets. That's it. But on the other hand, there is no question. And there's plenty of anecdotal evidence of psychics actually helping in investigations. And there's also plenty of evidence that they were wrong about things. But... Right. I mean, I say it can't hurt, right? In this case, the psychic reached out to the family and the family felt like, you know, we're desperate at this point. We're happy to hear what you have to say.

20:11And we actually have some extra sound with Dee's nephew, Parker, who talks about the psychic coming on the farm.

20:18Andrea Canning:Let's listen to that. I was put in contact with a lady named Kathy. And I said, Kathy, I said, I'll be just completely honest with you. I don't want to offend you. I said, I just don't. I've never had any psychic experience or never really believed in it, to be honest. But I said, I will tell you that I am so desperate to find my aunt that I'll do anything at this point. And so my mother and I went down to Dee's house with her and she said, you can record me, but you can never guide me. She said, I don't want you to guide me. I don't want you to say a word. She said, you have to be completely mute.

20:54And so I said, okay. And so I turned on my recorder on my phone and we just followed her.

21:01Andrea Canning:And my mother before this had even happened, had this theory of what happened to Dee. and the theory was that something happened upstairs by the Murphy door. She was either pushed or shoved or drugged down the stairs and then she was drug out the sliding glass door and we didn't know the rest of the story at that point. Well, Kathy walks in this house and completely reiterates that story without even knowing it. She said, why do I feel drug out that door? the very door that we said that we thought she was drug out and so this woman became D I can't even explain it we we got through kind of that reading and she would go upstairs and she felt lots of pain to her head by the Murphy door and basically meaning like she had been beaten and then she said why do I feel drugged down these stairs and why do I feel drug out these doors and she just went all around the house and and just had this reading of of d wow well d okay they did the the medical examiner said d had blunt force trauma to the head and they also believe that um the a front loader vehicle pulled up to the the doors of the house this is what they believe because some deputies saw big tracks by the door so they think that dale pulled her out of the house and put her in the front loader and took her to the barn where the safe was put her in the safe this giant safe and then eventually moved her to the tank so so the the you know this information was not out when the psychic was there right so and it i mean and it it does fit It does fit.

22:56Andrea Canning:You know, it's certainly provocative. Years and years ago, here in Los Angeles, this is like going back more than a quarter century, a friend of mine told me that she was going to go to a psychic reading and asked if I wanted to come along. And I was like, sure. So I went. And we walked in to this place with this psychic. and this woman did not even know my name. And I was on local television in LA, but I mean, this was way before Dateline. I was not a well-known face. I'm pretty sure she didn't know me or what I did for a living. And she told me a bunch of things that were going to happen in my life, none of which have happened yet.