Divorce and child custody battles can be brutal, but they rarely end in murder. In February, 2002, Alan Bates and his wife Terra were excited to pick up his two daughters from the home of his ex-wife, Jessica McCord. His relationship with Jessica had been acrimonious since the divorce, but he loved his girls and would not give up on them. The couple was planning to take the girls to his parents’ home for a weekend visit, a rare and happy event.

When Alan and Terra failed to show up at his parents’ house, his family was worried. Alan’s father called the police, who handled the call as a routine case of overdue motorists. It happened all the time. People made plans, and something along the way held them up. But this wasn’t like Alan and Terra. The longer family members waited, the more panic began to set in.

Join us at the quiet end for Overdue Motorists: Alan & Terra Bates. Alan’s ex-wife Jessica and her police officer husband, Jeff McCord, would claim that Alan and Terra never showed up to pick up his children. But investigators were concerned. Their story didn’t add up. Soon, the McCords became prime suspects. They refused to let the police search their home after they had pulled up carpet, re-wallpapered the walls, and hauled away furniture. They were hiding something, and what investigators found would expose an evil plot carried out by cold-hearted morons.