The Disappearance of Nicole VanderHeyden: A Close Call | My Life of Crime
Doug Detrie and Nicole VanderHeyden go out for the evening to a rock concert in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They later end up at separate bars, with Doug not answering Nicole’s calls. Nicole vanishes and is found dead in a nearby field the next day. Though the situation first suggests Doug may be the killer, evidence across the street from Doug’s house including a clump of hair and a phone cord, and the actions of a man named George Steven Burch cause police to think otherwise. Erin takes you inside the 48 Hours episode, "The FitBit Alibi”.
- Duration
- 32m
- Broadcast on
- 16 Nov 2022
- Audio Format
- other
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At California Closet's, we design for the little things. Take this moment of a woman getting dressed for an early meeting while her husband's still asleep. And now, the California Closet's version of that moment, featuring custom soft clothes drawers. Bedroom and home storage solutions by designers who get you. California Closet's, more room for what matters. It's Erin Moriarty, and we have a special episode for you today from my original podcast, My Life of Crime. I'm taking you inside true crime investigations like no one else, taking on killers and those accused of crimes. Here's an all-new episode of My Life of Crime that takes you deeper into the Fitbit Alibi. Follow along as I go beyond the scene of each crime beyond prison walls and into the killers in her thoughts. It's all on this season of My Life of Crime. Continuing coverage tonight of a death investigation in the village of Bellevue. Nicole Vanderheiden was 31 years old. She was living with her boyfriend, Doug Dietrich, and they had just had a baby together. It was Friday, May 20th of 2016, Doug and Nicole decided to go out that night. This was an opportunity for them to go out and have a great time. The night didn't end in a great time. It ended in a nightmare. Nikki walked off into the darkness that night. She just walked off. She vanished. It's shocking whenever a young woman disappears, but in Green Bay, Wisconsin, it was also inconceivable. Green Bay is a great downtown pulse, and I feel it's relatively safe. Nobody would ever think that something like this would happen in our community. But it did happen, and worse, hours later, Nicole Vanderheiden was found dead just miles from her home. But as tragic as it was, it's not just the story of Nicole's death that matters. It's how police caught the killer with Google data and how a Fitbit seemed to absolve the main suspect. I'm Erin Moriarty, 48 hours, and this is my life of crime. Around a quarter of a million people live in Brown County, Wisconsin, a rural community way north and probably best known as the home of the Green Bay Packers. But to my surprise, it's also where one of the best murder investigations I've ever witnessed took place, led by Sergeant Brian Slinger and his partner, Sergeant Rick Lopnow. That's where I wish he found. Right down this embankment. When we arrived on scene on this one, you kind of knew right away it was probably going to be different. So at the scene, that was the most apparent thing, is the trauma to the left side of the face. When you came here, there was no way to identify her. You had no idea who she was. Not right away, no. Shortly after Nicole Vanderheiden was found that Saturday afternoon in a farmer's field, her live-in boyfriend, Doug Dietrich, called to report her missing, Sergeant Slinger. Doug Dietrich, he woke up in the morning. Eventually later that afternoon, he had called the sheriff's officer 911 to report that his girlfriend did not come home from the night before. What you're hearing is the conversation with Doug that police recorded when they arrived at the couple's home. I'm here for a missing person's report. So this is that normal behavior for her? Not at all. Sergeant Slinger took me to Nicole's neighborhood. And this is where Nicole was living? Correct. Where I could see for myself why Doug Dietrich was so quickly the main suspect in Nicole's murder. And you believe that she was killed here? Correct. Across the street, in the roadway, a large quantity of blood that was determined to be Nicole's. Everything's pointing to Doug Dietrich. Yeah, so then Monday night. Nicole's body was found in a field, but police believed that she had actually been killed just across the street from her home. Right now I'm going to be taking you in custody. We felt we had probable cause to arrest Doug Dietrich. I'm a decent guy. Doug Dietrich was arrested and held on a $1 million bond. But he was never charged with murder and was eventually released. Not only due to a lack of evidence, but because of an alibi confirmed by his Fitbit, a device worn on the wrist that digitally tracks a person's movements. I think people were shocked and people are wondering could he have done it? Did Doug do it? His alibi was his Fitbit that he had been wearing all night and that supposedly
Transcription truncated.
Doug Detrie and Nicole VanderHeyden go out for the evening to a rock concert in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They later end up at separate bars, with Doug not answering Nicole’s calls. Nicole vanishes and is found dead in a nearby field the next day. Though the situation first suggests Doug may be the killer, evidence across the street from Doug’s house including a clump of hair and a phone cord, and the actions of a man named George Steven Burch cause police to think otherwise. Erin takes you inside the 48 Hours episode, "The FitBit Alibi”.