HOW WERE INVESTIGATORS ABLE TO OUTSMART A KILLER TO FIND THE BODY OF A WOMAN HIDDEN FOR 15 YEARS?

A Mother Refuses to Bargain with Her Daughter's Killer in "48 Hours: The Search for Christie Wilson"

Saturday, Jan. 30

Debbie Boyd spent an agonizing 15 years wondering where convicted killer Mario Garcia hid the body of her murdered daughter Christie Wilson. Through sheer will and wit, and the help of two determined investigators, she finally got her answer. Correspondent Erin Moriarty and 48 HOURS explore Boyd's journey on "The Search for Christie Wilson" to be broadcast Saturday, Jan. 30 (10:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

It's a heartbreaking story of the death of a young woman and her family's determination to find her body and get closure that Moriarty and 48 HOURS have been covering for 15 years. It's also an example of a case that didn't end once a jury rendered a verdict. The killer was known, tried, convicted and sent to prison. With him, however, was the secret of where he left Christie Wilson.

"Was she in an ocean? Was she in a ditch?" asks Boyd. "And for 15 years, I never went to bed without wondering 'where is she? Where did Mario Garcia put her?'"

"We wanted to find her to show Mario, you're not going to win, you're not winning this," says investigator Don Murchison. "We're going to find her and bring her home to the family."

Garcia met Wilson in a casino in 2005. It was the last time the 27-year-old woman was ever seen. Garcia denied having anything to do with Wilson's disappearance.

"What happened to her, Mario? How could she simply disappear after she was with you?" Moriarty asked Garcia in 2006. "I don't have answers for that," he replied.

A jury disagreed. Years passed since he was convicted and in 2018, Garcia let Boyd know he wanted to be released early from his 59-year sentence. Boyd considered negotiating with him.

"I was sitting there thinking, 'What on earth are you doing, Debbie? Get a grip,'" she says. "This would be such a disgrace. ... He will not use my daughter's body as a bargaining chip."

Last summer, investigators working for the district attorney in Placer County, Calif., got a tip from an unlikely source that led them back to Garcia's former home. There they started digging until something emerged from the ground.

"And we stopped everything," says investigator Nuno Tavares. "We froze everything."

"We found Christie," says Boyd. "This is a day that we had hoped for. My prayers have been answered. We can now move forward without the torment of the last 15 years."

48 HOURS and Moriarty report the story of Boyd's search for her daughter through interviews with the dedicated mom, investigators, friends of Wilson's and more. 48 HOURS: "The Search for Christie Wilson" is produced by Paul La Rosa and Dena Goldstein. Greg Fisher is the development producer. Jud Johnston, George Baluzy and Joan Adelman are the editors. Peter Schweitzer is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Judy Tygard is the executive producer.

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