Sean Goff, the San Diego youth minister and polygamist, was an emotional wreck.  His junior wife had run off to Europe with a boyfriend, had abandoned him and their two sons.

And that other wife.

Her friends were confused. They knew she’d had some problems with Sean. Was even thinking about leaving him. But this way? It didn’t sound like Joy at all.  Especially, as she hadn’t said a word to them.

Saud, Joy’s friend: No, she would not run off without her kids.

Jill, Joy’s friend: That’s the whole reason she was sticking around—towards the end. Because she was really unhappy with Sean.

Then, out of the blue, an e-mail to a friend that seemed to explain everything.

"Joy" on why she left: I just needed some time away

On a mystery man named Jason: I’ve never been able to get Jason out of my head

On her secrecy… the reason she hadn’t warned  friends, like jill: I really can’t talk to Jill right now because she’ll be against my decisions.

Keith Morrison, Dateline correspondent: Did you try to contact her?

Jill: We did.  I called her everyday and after a while we started e-mailing her.

In e-mails, they begged her to call so they could hear her voice.

Joy’s reply was uncharacteristically angry.

Joy's email: I’ll talk to you when I’m ready.

And that’s just not how she was.  If she knew we were worried, she’d call.

Saud: She would. The e-mail was too angry at us.  She just wouldn’t have been mad at us for wanting to know where she is.

To ease their growing worry, the friends went to visit Sean at home.

Morrison: And how did he receive you, was he friendly?

Saud: He tried to be, you know.

He told them he’d spoken to Joy and she was fine. But the whole house seem, somehow, different. As if Joy had never lived there.

Morrison: What did it seem to you, what was the atmosphere like?

Joy's friend: Dark. Yeah and all I could say is dark.

Morrison: It had changed somehow?

The visit was strange. Her friends had been close to Joy’s children. They asked to see the boys and Sean refused.

Saud: After that, we were out of there, because we just knew something was not okay.

Morrison: Weird?

Saud: Very.

Jill couldn’t shake a feeling of dread. She finally brought herself to call the police—missing persons.

San Diego police investigative aide, Linda Koozin, got the case. She began by calling Sean.

Linda Koozin, police investigative aide: In talking to Sean, he was very credible what he said, “Joy didn’t want to be here anymore, she took off.”

Linda telephoned many of Joy’s friends.

Koozin: Everyone said she had plans, she wanted to go to Europe, but she wasn’t happy at home.

Sean sent police this email he said he received from Joy.

“Sean I know this is hard, but I am leaving for Europe tomorrow.”

Koozin: Again it seemed credible, she said she was leaving and he received an email that she left.

But then Linda checked Joy’s cell phone records and discovered something very suspicious.

Activity on Joy’s phone, usually almost constant, came to an abrupt halt on September 19 2003, at 9:36 p.m.

And the last call she made was to Sean.

Koozin: He never mentioned that call. That was so important.

Linda confronted Sean with that omission.  And, cornered, he revealed a little more. Sheila and the three children had been out of town, he said. He and Joy had planned a romantic weekend to rekindle their relationship. But after a candlelight dinner, they argued... and in the early morning hours he said he woke up to see Joy with two packed suitcases getting into a car with a man.

Koozin: Why leave that out? That should have been our first conversation.

Linda was also discovering that other pieces of information were missing or just didn’t fit.

For one thing, Joy didn’t have a passport.  How could she travel to Europe without a passport?

And the man with whom she’d supposedly run off to Europe? Linda found him in Boston.

Koozin: He didn’t have plans to meet up with Joy.

By now the investigator was convinced. Something had happened to Joy.  She hadn’t simply run off with a man to Europe. 

And she suspected some kind of foul play.

Linda began preparing her findings and recommended that homicide detectives get involved.

And then, a dramatic and utterly unexpected appearance. Sean Goff at the San Diego police department.

And what he was about to say was stunning.

He killed her?  Surely not.  But there he was, on tape, was confessing.

The sudden bizarre confession was over. He wanted a lawyer.

What exactly had happened?  Did they actually have a crime here?  And if Joy was dead, what happened to her body?

Sean Goff was booked for homicide and the cops began looking for some evidence that could tell them what happened.

Detective: So the first thing I was looking for was blood, somewhere in the house.

Detectives descended on the house in kensington hamlet, turned the place inside out.

Detective: And once you find a little bit of blood, the rule of thumb is you’re going to find a little bit more.

They found tiny blood spatters in Joy’s bedroom and in the bathroom.

A few drops of joy’s blood was confirmed by DNA.

But if Sean had actually killed her, as he said, where was the body?

Sean Goff sat in jail, revealing nothing.

Sheila packed up the children and went to stay with Sean’s parents out of state.

The investigation stalled.

Months ticked by...

No one in San Diego remotely aware that, deep in the Arizona desert, quite another mystery begged for a solution.

The mystery of the astonishing contents of the stone cairn out here under the Palo Verde tree…

MORE FROM BODY OF EVIDENCE

Body of Evidence Section Front

Body of Evidence Sean Goff jailhouse interviews California vs. Goff: Crime scene images California vs. Goff: Evidence When forensic anthropology meets DNA Remembering Joy Risker Producer's notes: About Sean Goff Joy and Sean's 'emails to each other' Joy Risker autopsy report 'Letters to friends' Body of Evidence Section Front   Add Body of Evidence headlines to your news reader: