Laci Peterson

Laci Peterson

Laci Peterson, a 27 year old wife who was eight months pregnant, disappeared

Christmas Eve, prompting a nationwide search. But when the body of the Modesto,

California, woman and her unborn child were found four months later, her husband, Scott

was charged with two counts of murder.

Laci Peterson was born Laci Rocha on May 4, 1975 in Modesto California. She

met Scott Peterson in 1995 while both were undergraduates at California Polytechnic State

University in San Luis Obispo, and they married on August 9, 1997. In the Spring of 2002

she became pregnant and named her baby Conner On December 23, 2002 Sharon Rocha

(Laci's mother) spoken to Laci and everything was fine. Laci Peterson vanished between

December 23 and Christmas Eve 2002. Peterson told detectives that he had last seen his

wife on December 24, 2002 at 9:30 a.m. when he left there home in Modesto for a fishing

trip in Berkeley. Peterson said Laci had plans to go grocery shopping and then walk their

dog in the nearby park. Upon his return he reported Laci missing. A neighbor spotted the

couples dog running loose at 10:00 a.m. and locked him in their gated backyard. Apart

from her husband the last person known to talk to her was her mother, by the phone the

day before her disappearance. Peterson said Laci's 1996 Land Rover Discovery SE was in

the driveway, her purse was hanging on the bedroom closet, including the keys. The cell

phone was uncharged and found in the vehicle. Peterson sold the Land Rover three weeks

later, but the automobile dealer who he sold it to gave it back to the family. Just two days

after Laci vanished , investigators searched the couple's home. The next day, they searched

the warehouse Peterson used for his business. Within days the family had raised a

$500,000 reward, but there still was no sign of Laci.

On January 2, 2003 they asked the public's help to verify Peterson alibi. He

showed receipts related to his trip. January 15, 2003 Modesto detectives showed Laci's

relatives recent photos of Peterson posing with another woman. One photo was dated just

before Laci disappeared. On January 17, 2003 Laci's family revealed that her stepfather

asked Peterson two weeks earlier if he had a girlfriend, and he answered no. He had

reportedly been having an affair with another woman who herself went public on January

24 ,2003. Scott had also taken out a $250,000 insurance policy on his wife prior to her

disappearance. Peterson gave a rare interview to call the allegation "a pack of lies". A

message