They dated on and off while there, and after two years, they both decided to leave the school. It's still an open case. I'm really grateful to know that we know the answer, Saxton said. The trial was then scheduled for July 2019, but Lucas' lawyers said they had new scientific evidence and needed more time to review it. Suhr said she never fell in love with Lucas and never saw him again, only reaching out to him to tell him she was ending their relationship. Since the trial is over, and Kelsie still hasn't been found I've just felt very, very lost and very empty, Saxton said in the week following the trial. Prosecutors confirmed that Wilkins and Martinez were the same person. Investigators have said he took $400 out of her account on that day. Lucas and Schelling continue to exchange texts throughout the day of Feb. 4, beginning before her OBGYN appointment. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 2023 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. They alleged that when she left Lucas at the Walmart, she was going to meet up with a drug dealer. Roxann Martinez was shot and killed at the intersection of E. Kenyon Dr. and S. Wabash St. at 11 p.m. on Feb 25. She wanted to see what I was going to do if I was going to leave her, try to help her, a whole bunch of crazy stuff., He said Schelling visited him around 2 a.m.Feb. 5, after shed driven to Pueblo and met him near his grandmothers house. Sinnema said Lucas also did not mention dropping Schellings vehicle off at St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center on Feb. 7. They asked the family to deliver $50,000 in cash to the same McDonalds in Vancouver, where a man named Marcus wearing a red hat would be waiting. Saxton was the first witness to testify. Lol, Torres said Donthe replied. 13M subscribers Kelsie Schelling goes to see boyfriend, never seen again: Part 3 Schelling left work and headed to Pueblo, Colorado, where her boyfriend Donthe Lucas asked her to meet. wordlist = ['!', '$.027', '$.03', '$.054/mbf', '$.07', '$.07/cwt', '$.076', '$.09', '$.10-a-minute', '$.105', '$.12', '$.30', '$.30/mbf', '$.50', '$.65', '$.75', '$. Lucas insisted to the man, who later testified about the incident in court, that he wouldn't be convicted of that crime but in the end, it seemed to seal his fate. Months turned to years without answers. We did not have a body that would've told us location No modus operandi of how she died. In December 2017, investigators believed they finally had enough evidence to charge Lucas with the first-degree murder of Schelling, even though her remains have, as of this report, not been recovered. Lucas was sentenced to. Text messages showed the emotionally abusive relationship Kelsie was in. The prosecution asserts Kelsie was killed sometime between midnight the night of Feb. 4 and before 3 a.m. the morning of Feb. 5. However McCarthy said, there was no deals made about charges he would get to plead to, time he would get to serve. I grabbed my mother very tight and held her very close, Kelsies brother, Colby Schelling, said. After that, she moved to Washington in spring 2017 and never spoke to Lucas again. It was now up to the jury to make a decision. Introduction: Managing the World; 1. Using cell phone data from Lucas and Schellings phones, the prosecution believes both phones were in the same location as the texts were being exchanged. Its hard to explain, Torres said, Its definitely a person, emotional bond. Eric Bravo said. Now that she is gone, Ive had to turn into a fighter, Saxton told 20/20.. Chostner says there was more evidence to work with in 2017 versus 2013, and enough that gave him the confidence to press charges. Saxton rallied the Pueblo community and led her own searches for her missing daughter around the city. Tate testified that after her appointment concluded, Schelling scheduled her follow-up appointment for March 4, 2013, but never showed up. This verdict came after the prosecutors shined a light on Donthes relationship with Kelsie and argued that he lured her to Pueblo to kill her after learning about the pregnancy. In May 2016, just after 20/20 covered Schellings case, Pueblo Police Capt. He told her that he and Schelling would do drugs together, like cocaine. Lucas and Schelling seem to allude to a trip Lucas was planning on taking that day, seemingly to Kansas, on which he asked Schelling to accompany him. Tate said Schellings medical records did not indicate she was at any risk of a miscarriage. While in jail for this offense, Lucas told an inmate about his involvement with Kelsie Schelling, saying no one would ever find her body (via KRDO). Schelling was eight weeks pregnant when her friends and family last heard from her on February 4, 2013, when [] PUEBLO, Colo. CBI Investigator Kevin Torres remembers it like yesterday. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. @KOAA. She reached out to a private investigator, but they were also stonewalled by PPD. You dont have to have a happy little family with me. Lucas tells her to, Just stop wasting time and come.. Schelling was reportedly traveling from Denver to Pueblo to talk to Lucas about the pregnancy. 21-year-old Kelsie Schelling was two months pregnant when she drove from Denver to Pueblo to see her former boyfriend Donthe Lucas. Then, prosecutors played Lucas interrogation tape for the jury. Saxton got choked up when identifying her daughter's birth certificate, passport, and an expired passport from when #Schelling was "just a little girl." However, 20/20 learned that in March 2013, a woman named Roxann Wilkins reached out to Schellings mother through the Facebook page, saying she used to date Lucas and he had confessed to her that he killed Schelling and where her body was. Donthe took that away from me.. She texts again at 11:24 p.m., saying Where are you? On Monday, he was sentenced to life in prison. RELATED:Opening statements in murder trial begin in case of Kelsie Schelling's disappearanceDonthe Lucas murder trial will begin WednesdayLong-awaited murder trial to begin in the case of Kelsie Schelling's disappearancePrevious coverage: The Kelsie Schelling Case_____, KOAA News5 on your time, streaming on your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and AndroidTV.News5 App | First Alert 5 Weather App | Youtube | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter. Lately shes been like threatening to leave to California. 20/20 was there when Marcus went to collect the cash in 2015 -- with Lancaster and an undercover reporter using a hidden camera and microphone. So, lets find out more about where he is today, shall we? Michelle Chostner, the lead prosecutor in Schellings case, confirmed that investigators interviewed Martinez but could not comment on anything that wasnt admitted in trial. At the end of the day, I said, I think we have enough here to go forward. However, Kadie, Megan Lancasters sister-in-law, did make her meeting. Schelling's body hasn't been found.Opening statements were set to begin just after 8 a.m. Wednesday, and KRDO's Dan Beedie is in the courtroom gathering information as the trial takes place. DENVER A woman found dead in Denver's Hampden South neighborhood on Feb. 25 was scheduled to testify in the murder trial of Kelsie Schelling, the Pueblo County District Attorney's Office . It said, Where are you? Around that time, Torres said, is when Schellings car was parked at the South Side Walmart, as evidenced by surveillance video of the parking lot. Sinnema said he spoke to Lucas that evening and Lucas told him Schelling had come to see him in the early morning hours of Feb. 5. Its getting harder to come back, I dread the trips but I know I have to do it, she said. Binet said, Not that I remember.. As freshmen, while she was a psychology student, he was an athlete who dreamed of being a professional basketball player. PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Years after Donthe Lucas' arrest following the disappearance of his pregnant girlfriend, Kelsie Schelling, jurors are hearing the case against him in court Wednesday.Lucas is accused of killing Schelling and has been charged with first-degree murder. A recording of their conversation was introduced as evidence. KOAA News5 on your time, streaming on your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and AndroidTV. YouTube: Body parts found in suitcases, luggage tags lead to suspected killer; Kelsie Schelling update - TCDPOD, TRUE CRIME DAILY: THE PODCAST covers high-profile and under-the-radar cases SUBSCRIBE: APPLE PODCASTS / SPOTIFY / STITCHER / GOOGLE PODCASTS / YOUTUBE. Schelling, and Hegel. Once the money was exchanged, then this courier person would go and get Kelsie and bring her back to the McDonalds, Saxton said of the instructions she received. Im very grateful that our paths crossed and God took us to this moment.. Binet said there were several red flags in Schellings case that led him to believe she was more than just missing. In the back of my mind, I always kept that he is potentially a murderer.. You probably wouldnt believe me if I told you anyway so you can see for yourself.. / CBS Colorado. Synopsis:Kelsie Schelling disappears one night after leaving work, leading family and investigators on a four-year hunt to find the pregnant 21-year-old; cell phone records reveal what happened to . Let me get her out of here. He has this way about him that makes you feel so sorry for him. NR | 03.26.21 | 01:20:44 | CC more episodes 42:55 It was scary. ABCs 20/20: Kelsie Schelling, as the title suggests, is an episode that chronicles the 2013 disappearance and murder of 21-year-old Kelsie Schelling from Denver, Colorado. Her. Sinnema said Lucas told him that he and Schelling went to Parkview Medical Center later that day and that Schelling emerged from the hospital a short time later saying she was no longer pregnant. Schelling didnt show up to work on Feb. 5, and her worried co-worker Savannah Heggie tried calling her. Kelsie Schelling with her mom Laura Saxton. He was sentenced immediately after the verdict by the judge to life in prison without parole. She said that domestic violence does not always escalate from mental and emotional abuse into physical abuse, but said changes in power dynamics such as a new pregnancy could lead to an escalation of abuse. I had no clue anybody was supposed to be exchanging nothing for a human being If I did know, I would not have been involved in this situation," the man told "20/20.". Kelsie Schelling was over the moon. I called Doug, her dad We all drove up to Denver that day, went into the apartment. She drove to Pueblo that night to meet him, explaining that he had told her to come. The co-worker received a text message, supposedly from Schelling, saying she wasnt having the baby anymore because it was growing in the wrong place.. I felt like I was [in] pretty deep. And even if it's not the answer I wanted, the community heard it and they know what happened., The jury reached a unanimous decision on their first vote, a juror later revealed to 20/20.. He comes off so lost and hurt. Our Colette Bordelon will be there every day and will have coverage both online and over the air. I have no idea about no Megan or no kidnapping or anything like that, the man told 20/20. I had no clue anybody was supposed to be exchanging nothing for a human being If I did know, I would not have been involved in this situation..