True Crime Vault: Wave of Deceit

A search gets underway for the missing driver, 19-year-old Sarah Stern.

“Is it a missing person? Is it a suicide? At this point, nobody knows. Old friendships.”

Baring cash and a sinister plot that was once pitched as a movie plays out in real life. I'm Juju Chang, from 2020 and ABC Audio. Listen now to Bridge of Lives, wherever you get your podcasts. Step into the 2020 True Crime Vault. Listen to our most ripping stories. How often do you think about that tragic day? Every day, every day. I even have nightmares about it. How Laura would come off to people who was from the old sitcom, "Three's Company" is Chrissy.

The bubbly, you know, bleach blonde. She had told me for her. It was love at first sight.

We met each other at a time in our life where our marriages were falling apart. What is it with of marrying all these men? She wanted it to just be us. We're going to be together forever and try to be with anyone else ever. I was so wrapped up and tangled up in all of this. The so many red flags escaped me. I blame him. I do blame him. He knew about her past.

This case involves a love triangle. There's anger. There's resentment. It is no surprise that somebody wound up dead.

“Okay. This is the first interview you've done, right?”

Yes. And now is the right time to do it.

This is Laura Day once a soccer mom and a wife.

Now, behind bars, accused of an unthinkable crime that she says she did not commit. How would you describe your life before you got here? I lived in paradise. And then it all came crashing down. Correct. Yes.

Corpus Christi South Texas. It's the hometown of Selena, the queen of Tejano music. And just across the water from her statue is North Padre Island. What's a silent lake?

What do you see? It's not a bad place to live at all.

Corpus is a nice town. It's a fairly good-sized town, but everybody kind of knows everyone. Well, it's probably the biggest little small town there is. I could not live anywhere else. When you cross that bridge from your long day at work,

you feel like it just naturally take a deep breath in your on vacation. I worked hard for everything. Palm trees, you know, sun sets. It was beautiful. It's kind of the whole island life.

You know, the flip flops, the shorts, the shirt, you know, just pretty casual. It's just a whole different lifestyle over here. Who was this woman? That's me way back in the 90s. In the middle days, I was a bikini model.

Laura was a very visible character on the island, because, you know, she just kind of stood out a bit. It did a lot of bikini contests and also worked for an agency. But I gave it all up and decided to settle down and fell in love with English man.

Laura moved to Corpus Christi in 1997 with British born Phil Day. The next year, they marry, and their son Cameron is born. I got to meet Laura through a mom and taught's proof for Stade Home Island Momies at the time, which I was. And she just had a very, very kind of a commanding presence.

“I think that's the best way to describe it.”

You know, she was going to be noticed in a group. She was very friendly, very demonstrative. She was an attractive lady. A very personal, she was a good mother. She was very devoted to Cameron.

You know, I would see them with their son. She and her husband Phil, and just very devoted.

And I was just basically kind of a happy suburban couple.

Laura wasn't your typical soccer mom. She and her family were enjoying the highlight in their palatial mansion, reachable by boat. That's the house right there, huh? What's it like inside it?

It was pretty impressive if you like Greek pillars and remarkable and that sort of thing. Did she have any close women friends? No, I often thought she was lonely.

“I think it was difficult for her to make connections with other women.”

She would want to become your friend very, very quickly. And now sometimes I can be a little off-putting. You said that you didn't know whether she was being a friendlier or flirting with you. You know, maybe it was a little bit of both. She didn't get along with a lot of women you saved, but how about the men?

Men being visual creatures, I'm sure didn't necessarily have a problem with Laura. Laura would soon cross paths with another family, the series, David, wife Kelly, her son Sebastian, and five-year-old Taylor. That was pretty good. Kelly, she had a son already, that was a Sebastian.

He was a good little boy and it was kind of like being a dad to him. Tell me about Taylor. Oh, he was like, he was big, big personality, fearless. Breathe, breathe, not afraid of water at all. He loved the water.

The first time we took him to a big pool, his expression was big bathtub.

We were at my sister's house, running a bath for his cousin, and the next thing you know. He's fully clothed, sitting in the water. It's like, okay. Taylor was David's mimic.

“When he was with his dad, whatever his dad was doing, that's what he wanted to be doing.”

David was driving a fuel truck, putting him on the road for long stretches of time. I was gone quite a bit, especially in the early years. I'd be gone for a week or two sometime at a time. Kelly and I had moments where things were good. And then we would have long periods of things where I was unhappy.

In 2010, he started driving for a new company with better hours. They offered me home every night, two days off, and I was like, man, that's perfect. But then things with Kelly and I got worse again. And that was kind of about the time that I met Laura. I did tell my ex.

Don't bring everybody around Taylor that you're dating.

For her, it was love at first sight, and I was definitely attracted to her.

And it's first weekend to pick Taylor up. Hey, brought that woman.

“David Serring has been with his new company for just over a year.”

When a new sales rep joins the team, Laura Day. My opinion of how Laura would come off to people, or how she came off to me, was from the old sitcom, three-scumped me as Chrissy. The bubbly, you know, bleach blonde. Is he gone?

Yeah, everything's all right. No, it isn't. What do you mean? You're at all my cake. That's kind of the stereotype she came off to me as.

She was attractive. I mean, everybody noticed her. She did go as a sales rep, just with her personality. And then you're my David Serring. Yeah, we met each other at a time in our life where our marriages were falling apart.

And so we just kind of fell in love. I was going through a rough patch with the Kelly. And Laura was very friendly. She was married, too. She would explain to me the issues that she had in her marriage.

And it seemed as though, you know, neither one of us were really happy with our spouse. What attracted you to David in the first place? He was kind. They was fun. We had a lot in common. What was the attraction?

She acted if anything, probably younger than me. She was 10 years older than you. 12 years, actually. When David and Laura started dating, I was worried that David was giving up something for something that may not really be what

it was. How did it become a full blood affair? I don't know. Things just happened so fast. It was one thing led to another. I thought Laura was more about making sure that she was getting what she wanted.

It was more about her than about him as kind of how I thought personally about her. You know, you give somebody some attention that's not used to getting attention. And they will bend over backwards to do whatever you want them to do.

And I always felt Laura was that type of person.

It's around the beginning of the new year when David reveals to his wife Kelly that he's been having an affair. And by May 2012, their marriage is over.

“How dachrimonious was the divorce between you and David?”

Hmm, it was not easy. I was still very much in love with him. It was very angry. How was Taylor affected by the divorce? He was heartbroken.

What would he say? He just started crying. He just sat in my lap. And we tried to reassure him that both love you very much.

You know, that's never going to change.

At the time, Laura begins dating David Searing. Her son Cameron is very much in the picture. And at a certain point, Laura's relationship with Cameron becomes strange. She says that you're going to live with your father, fill up day, who really didn't live very far away.

“But it left her with David alone in the house.”

Barely a few months after the divorce is finalized, David and Laura visit the wedding capital of the world. Las Vegas. Got married in Vegas. What was that like? Oh, it was fun. It was like, let's just go to Vegas and get married. You know, you got divorced.

And then married pretty quickly divorced in May of 2012. Correct. And then married in August 2012. Three months later. Yes. Now, part of that was, in my divorce decree, Kelly had wanted it to be put in there

that there was to be no overnight guests. I wasn't married to a round Taylor. He had a morality clause at his divorce. That meant that Taylor couldn't spend the night

“if I was in the house, which kind of rushed our marriage along.”

Taylor was a very, very sensitive age of six. So it's perfectly understandable that Kelly would say, "Look, uh, not until you're ready to introduce a woman who's actually your wife. I do not want to confuse my son further." I mean, we felt like we wanted to get married.

Maybe not quite that soon, but I wanted Taylor to be around Laura and Laura to be around him. What was Taylor like? Oh, very adventurous and he had no fear. Okay, go. We had a big pool in the back yard.

Woo! Awesome! I guess he was learning to swim. He knew how to swim, uh, we taught him. And he was a pretty good swimmer. Say hi, everybody!

Hi, everybody! He was learning to swim, uh, a little too quick for my taste. I recorded it so your mommy can see it, your grandpa, everybody. He loved the water and it was a little scary how fast he was going with it. You want to do another one?

Okay, one minute.

And I always made sure that he had a light jacket on.

But he loved the water and he loved the pool. One, two, three, four. It is a beautiful house. What do you think Laura got the money? Uh, she told me of some internet businesses, uh, selling images and whatnot.

Well, there were stories in this neighborhood of filming going on of adult. Oriented productions. Looking back, the theatrical elements to their home kind of lens itself to the movie set, right?

I've heard that some adult films were made. Um, not by us, but I did own an adult content business. And I purchased images and some films from professional photographers. And sold it on the internet and made a really good living at it. But you weren't in those pictures.

No. You met her, said hello. No.

I never met her in person.

Never did. You were the mother of this baby? I know. I didn't handle things properly with the way our relationship ended. But there was issues because it seemed like Kelly wanted to make it hard,

especially for Laura. Kelly did not want Laura pickin' Taylor up from school, and Laura was fighting, you know, saying,

“hey, you know, you need to, uh, let her know that I am gonna be pickin' him up from school.”

What did you think of his wife, Kelly? Um, I really didn't get a chance for an opportunity to get to know her better. I wanted to. You were caught in the middle. Uh, yes.

And Laura was afraid that given my close bondness to Taylor,

that I would eventually one day maybe go back to Kelly. You weren't worried that Taylor would bring his parents back together again. No, absolutely not. As a matter of fact, David hired an attorney we both did to get full custody of Taylor. David claims that there was a dispute over his medical care that prompted David and Laura to try to get full custody over Taylor.

We had been instructed that it was gonna be hard to try to get grounds that were serious enough to get custody. Laura knew that Taylor was David's world. Regardless of what else happened, Taylor was David's world. I was very secure in my relationship with David at the time. I was not jealous of anybody.

“Taylor left me more than you left Kelly.”

I loved you a lot more than you tried. Despite, you know, me telling her, over and over that, you know, I was there with her. I loved you.

She wanted it to just be us.

The show is supported by Chime. Chime is changing the way people bank. It's a smarter way of banking that eliminates all the fees your sick of paying. To your traditional bank. That's right.

No more overdraft fees, minimum balance fees, or even monthly maintenance fees. Because it's built for you, not the 1%. There are also game-changing features like my pay, which gives you access to up to $500 of your paycheck any time. You can get paid up to two days early with direct deposit. And with Chime card, you can build your credit history with your own money and get rewarded every day.

No annual fees, no interest, and no strings attached. If you're working toward better money habits, this might fit into that. Chime's not just smarter banking. It's the most rewarding way to bank. Join the millions who are already banking fee free today.

It takes just a few minutes to sign up. Head to chime.com/20, spelled out TW-E-N-T-Y. That's chime.com/20. Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services, a secured chime visa credit card, and my pay line of credit provided by the bank

or bank and a, or strike bank and a, my pay eligibility requirements apply. And credit limit range is $20 to $500. Optional services and products may have fees or charges. See chime.com/feedinfo, advertised annual percentage yield with chime plus status only. 1.0% A-P-Y applies, no man balanced required.

Chime card on time payment history may have a positive impact on your credit score. Results may vary. See chime.com/feed details and applicable terms. 2020 is partnering with vibes, open year, wireless headphones. That's Vy-B-Z.

If you listen to a lot of true crime, you probably like to listen with a good pair of headphones. But it can be tricky to find a pair that provides great sound quality that's not too overwhelming. Because when you're out with a podcast during a late night dog walk or pre-do on run, you don't necessarily want noise cancellation that blocks out the sounds around you.

“That's why you'll want to get yourself a pair of vibes.”

You're a perfect companion in audio. They're designed for maximum comfort with ultra lightweight earbuds that sit just outside the ear canal. And they offer crystal clear audio. So no matter what you're listening to, whether it's your favorite song or a sound rich true crime podcast, it'll come across loud, clear and silky smooth.

The battery lasts up to 10 hours per charge and they come in a range of sleek modern colours and styles. So what are you waiting for? Order now and you'll be listening to better sound with better headphones before you know it. For a limited time, our listeners can get more than 60% off a pair of vibes, wireless headphones, just go to abcsecretsavings.com/2020.

Again, that's abcsecretsavings.com/2020.

Okay, go! David and Laura have been married for two months and are adjusting to life

“as a new family with little Taylor visiting on the weekends.”

It almost seemed perfect at first. We both cared for each other, you know, we making sure that each other was happy. As a stepmom, what was Laura like with Taylor? She seemed to care for him like he was her own.

They would be cookies together, she was always trying to think of things to do as a family.

We went everywhere together, movies, Chuck E. Cheese. I mean, I took him to Taekwondo and just we did everything. We talked of, you know, what we would do for Taylor to give him a better life. I had bright future for him. We even talked about saving money and putting away for college like I did my own son, so we had high hopes.

You loved this little boy? Yes. Tell me about that tragic day, October 5, 2012. Right. How did it begin? What happened?

I began on a Friday and picked Taylor up from school. And we didn't have any set plans as to what to do. Because we got Friday, you know, daddy still at work. What would you like to do? He said he wanted to have a picnic on the beach. It was to be my weekend with Taylor, Laura from my understanding was going to pick him up.

I had soul custody. He got him every other weekend. Normally, under their divorce agreement, David would pick up Taylor on Saturday mornings, but in this particular occasion, Kelly agreed to allow him to pick up Taylor on a Friday. He wasn't supposed to have on that day, but I started thinking, Taylor would be upset with me. He knew his dad wanted to pick him up.

So I agreed that he could have him that Friday. So Laura picked him up from school. They would, you know, maybe stop to get one of their regular fruit smoothie drinks and, you know, head to the house.

“He likes to try different ones all the time, so he tried some blueberry I think it was.”

And I think wanted chicken nuggets, so we got the chicken nuggets and we cruise on home. And I said, well, we're going to have a picnic on the beach. I got to get it all a beach gear. So was this an impromptu visit to the beach with Taylor or was it planned? No, it was a spur of the moment decision.

You had spoken to Laura on the phone. And she mentioned that she might take him to the beach.

She had mentioned going to McDonald's and getting him a happy meal, but never to the beach.

We went home, we got the beach gear. And we just went across the street to the beach in my car. And I could believe it. The beach was so packed or Friday. My first thought was, don't these people work?

So I went down quite a ways. And you went far away just so that to be less people. To less people because it was really crowded and to get our own space on the beach. When we stopped, even though there were people over to my left that were fishing a couple, they had a dog and the dog was on the leash.

So I said, you know, let's go down a little further.

“Did you plan to put him in the water or do you want it to go swimming?”

He wanted to go. Yes, he wanted to go to the beach. I was his idea.

Because I personally never saw him swim on the beach.

I made him wear a life jacket. And when I did that, he complained about it rubbing on the back of his neck. It was giving him a rash, clearly. I said, if you can show me that you're okay and you feel safe enough to dive under the waves, and you're feel comfortable, then I'll let you swim in the, you know, play in the beach

and the shallow water without your life jacket.

And he was squealing, having a good time going diving under the waves.

“You know, like kids do, and anyway, so as soon as I felt comfortable with him being alone,”

I went back right to the water's edge. How far out did he go? I don't know exactly, but you can go out far before the water gets deep. And just a few minutes later, something pulled him out and sucked him under.

At first, I didn't understand.

I thought maybe dive down to the wave and he was swimming. But then I realized he didn't surface. And I ran in the water to where he was. He was gone. And then I saw him floating based down.

He came up again. He has he was floating based down a ways away from me where I was. And I ran out to him. Were you yelling, calling for help? I, I screamed his name. And, uh, I turned him over.

“And he was, and there was the life in him.”

He was, he wasn't breathing.

And all I thought was that I had to give him air.

So I came in air in the water while I was at him in my arms. And he was lifeless. So I took him back to the beach and I panicked. And I tried to get the water out of his lungs. And it just wasn't coming out.

I didn't know why. But you knew CPR. Why not do that? I panicked. And I was disoriented. I wasn't thinking clearly. And that panic caused you to take off.

Go straight to the hospital. Yes. I was born and raised in South Texas. And I remember coming here as a child.

“And I remember being warned about the undertoes and the power of the reptile.”

You see the power of those waves. Anything could happen. I was headed home. And I hadn't heard from Laura in a while. And that was unusual.

And so I tried calling her. And several phone calls, no answer.

Finally, a nurse answers a phone.

And I heard the frightening words. It's Taylor. [Music] It's early fall in Corpus Christi. And a trip to the beach appears to have gone terribly wrong.

Describe that drive to the hospital. Just going very fast. [Music] And I'm just trying to get there as quickly as possible. My first call was to Kelly, to let her know,

to get to the hospital immediately. After about 20 minutes, Laura arrives at the hospital with Taylor. She came in, screaming that she needed help. And then everybody went and tried to get the patient inside. And we immediately started to try to resistate.

He did not have a pulse. And he did not have spontaneous respirations. We've got the breathing tube in. It's quickly as possible. And put an IV to access to give medications.

When I walked into the hospital, I could clearly see the doctor's trying to resuscitate him. Doing everything you can and knowing that you're not going to have a good outcome is a very sad situation. [Music] What happened at the hospital? I have to the hospitals.

They tried to revive him, but he was already gone. Playing there, lifeless, blue, grayish blue. As soon as I saw him, I knew he was gone. When the back of my head, I may have known, but my mind would not let me believe that I had just lost my boy.

And what is Laura doing? She was standing there, just not doing anything. Not crying, nothing, just standing there. As if she had the right to be there. Didn't try to comfort you?

No. It's probably a good thing she didn't. And all I could do was just cry.

He was gone.

And she just stood there.

[Music]

“I don't remember exactly where Miss Day was.”

I know I talked to her at one point to get a history of what happened. And I was still very confused, disoriented, and still very hysterical and upset, not thinking clearly. She told me just that he drowned,

and she found him and put him in the car and drove him in. She didn't have a lot of emotion on her face, but sometimes people can be reacting to horrible news or horrible situation. And that's the way they react. We had a little...

[Music] Get together of family members.

I don't recall her being involved in it.

She was pretty well trying to stay away from Kelly, because Kelly was screaming and yelling at Laura from, you know, across the lobby area. [Music] When I got to the hospital,

I thought that Taylor had been with Kelly, and I asked Laura, I said, "Where were Kelly and Taylor at?" And she goes, "Oh, no, Paul, he was with me." And before I even said anything,

the police officer that was standing there told me that I shouldn't have any conversation. So I went back across the parking lot, and I noticed that they had another police officer in Laura's vehicle,

taking pictures and video inside of her Toyota. I started thinking, "Okay, this is kind of weird. If it's an accident, why would I not be able to control or talk to her friends of mine,

“and why are they taking all these pictures and videos?”

And why is that caught continuously just standing there?" I remember it so well, because I don't remember a drowning patient coming in that way.

They always came in by EMS.

[Music] That hospital you took him to, though, was 12 miles away. That was the closest hospital to the beach. It was a firehouse nearby, with EMS technicians, that maybe they could have revived him or tried to.

Perhaps possibly, but when it comes to saving somebody's life, do you really think of a fire department? Do you? If he was a lifeless when she pulled him from the water, you can't waste all that time driving

when you could be doing resuscitation, if the brain is not receiving oxygen after about 46 minutes, then you have brain death.

“So there was no way that that child was going to survive”

after that drive. So on Friday, October 5th, I received a call from Detective Pena. She reached out to me to say, "I'm here at Bay Area Hospital.

There's a young boy who's drowned, and I just don't have a good feeling about this." And she said, "I want to take Laura Day, and David Serring to the main station, and I want to interview them."

And I said, "If you have a bad feeling, then do what you need to do." I still remember that drive. I prayed to God. I was praying.

I was praying for you. I was praying for you. I was praying for you. And I said, "I don't care. Be it God or the devil.

I don't care what happens to me, my eternal soul." Please, don't let this be reality. As far as I know, it was an accident. On the night, when David Serring was interviewed.

"There's no question in your mind that she would do anything to hurt him and all right." "He said several things." "I'm a doubtful person. You're a doubtful person."

During the interview, they were interesting. Tragedy has hit the close-knit community of Corpus Christi with a death of six-year-old Taylor Serri. "He was brave." "Brave."

"Humble." "Caring."

"When I dropped him off at school,

that would play game with him." "Give me a hug and kiss."

“"And then I would go, "Oh wait, I need my hug and kiss."”

"And the last day he did it to me." "Because I need my hug and kiss, Mom." "Okay." "Oh, Mom, I need my hug and kiss." "On October 5th."

"Mm-hmm." "And that was the last you saw." "Mm-hmm." "That evening, David, Kelly, and Laura are interviewed by the police." "My name is Detective Daniel.

This is my partner, Detective Michael C.

and this is normal procedure."

"I'll start off on the very starting for what you're having to do." "I just assumed that this was kind of just routine and I wanted to be able to help anyway. I could just to make sure they had all the information that they needed." "It is not unusual for the parents to be brought in for questioning."

“"You have a six-year-old who is dead and they need to understand the circumstances of his death."”

Sitting off camera, Taylor's mother Kelly is distraught. "Do you have any questions for me?" "Yeah." "I don't have to get out of this picture." "No, I don't have to get out of this picture."

"I don't have to get out of this picture." "I don't have to get out of this picture." "I don't have to get out of this picture." "Did anybody tell you you're in custody?" "No, but I felt like I was."

"And what about David?" "I don't have to get out of this picture." "I don't have to get out of this picture." "I can't go out of here." "I can't go out of here."

"There were crying type noises, but no evidence that there were any tears." "And she had to be asked to repeat herself quite a bit when answering questions." "At one point the detective had to say, "Look at me." "Look at me." "She has a long blonde hair and it's covering her face."

"And it's like, wait a second. We got to get through this."

"We got to push through this for Taylor," he says. "It's the police thought you weren't crying. What do you tell him?" "The nerve of them." "I mean, it's what I did to you." "You want me to get you?"

"You want me to get you." "You want me to get you?" "They knew I was crying. David knew I was crying." "And the reason I'm asking some of this stuff, I want to get an idea of the family dynamics and what's going on." "And the outside."

"I told them the difficulties we were having with Laura and Kelly and trying to get custody of Taylor." "That's the relationship between you and Kelly." "Not good." "See, we didn't speak to me tonight or before." "That ever, ever since we were set of wars."

"We said you wanted to have a picnic on the beach." "And I said, well, that sounds like fun." "We can do that." "I have to have Lauren." "I'm learning about her."

“"But I think she did some room until later."”

"I think I could learn not before." "But that was me." "And he did mention that she was at the beach with her mother." "I think she's responsible for my current self because she was there." "No, you're hurt. You're hurt."

"You're hurt." "I'm not hurt." "I'm not hurt." "So can you tell me how you did to be our hot partner?" "I can't."

"I can't." "And you didn't do chest impressions because you thought." "But I didn't want to hurt him. I didn't. I panicked." "If she was trained in CPR, she wouldn't know that she had to start ventilations and compressions immediately." "And you also want somebody to call 911."

"Well, here's an order to remember how people wanted me to start moving back." "Yes, they could be." "Okay. He's not very tall." "So how do you do chest impressions?" "So can you be?"

"Okay." "I would say overall, I didn't have any specific red flags from my interview." "But nonetheless, it was interesting because when Detective Ilsey would ask questions, "you would see that she would look up and make eye contact with him." "When she answered, but she wasn't doing that for Detective Pena."

"I don't know how he got hurt. I don't know how he got hurt." "Why don't we drag him and take you quick?"

"However, when David Serring was interviewed at the police station,

"he said several things during the interview that were interesting." "So, David and I were out of the wrong with everybody. "I don't care about him." "I'm sure you got along with him, because there's no question in your mind "that she would do anything.

"You know, I'm purpose to hurt him at all right." "I'm a doubtful person." "You're a doubtful."

“"You told the police, I believe it was an accident,”

"but I want to know the truth." "Yes, I said, if you find out anything, "if you find out otherwise, if it's not an accident, I want to know." "I'm the reason I say this is because I want to know for certain, "I know that our world extremely jealous of Kevin."

"And she was afraid that one day I would try to get back "with her even though there was no chance that I would... "she was fearful of that town." "He made it very clear in that interview "that Laura Day was extremely jealous of Taylor's mother

"and they had discussed getting custody of Taylor "and moving far, far away." "And she wanted... once we did get to take her, "she wanted, we would just leave Corpus and move away from our bodies."

“"You know, there's a hole behind the window.”

"But none of those might be like that, "but I have to do something for sure." "It's anything else that any other concerns need to know about." "She can't hear me dancing." "I told the police what I had found

"because it had just been that week." "I did it in that search and typed in her name." "It wasn't that I was really searching for something on Laura, "I was just curious to see what it would say." "Her name was Laura Fines, did her birthday."

"And when all these charges popped up, "I was just like, wow, what is this?" "17 Laura Fines, child killer boy for 1922." "It said that she had a previous murder charge. "I was shocked, I was like this can't be.

"The Laura that I know." "How would you describe your life before you got here?" "I lived in paradise." "It almost seemed perfect, at first." "Laura was more about getting what she wanted."

"She knew that I would never leave Taylor."

"She knew that that bond was there." "Tell me about that tragic day." "It was like you got stuck under a ventilator. "It was very strange. There was no life in here." "But you knew CPR. Why not do that?"

"I panicked." "The woman I thought I knew." "Would not have been capable of something like that." "I don't care. Be it God or the devil. "Don't let this be reality.

"That my son is not here." "This is partly his fault." "He knew about her past." "Laura's name was connected to a series of crimes, including theft, fraud, and murder."

"I had discovered it that week and by the weekend, my son was dead." "Corpus Christi, it's a beautiful place. "Bobhall Pier is a very popular area." "Waterways, put your boat in the water, you'll fishing." "A lot of things going for Corpus Christi."

"I've seen other parents out here with other children." "And they're all very close." "Just can't imagine letting a child wander off that far." "It's like the third wave out there coming in."

“"That's how far the little boy Taylor was from Laura."”

"Tragically, for David and Kelly Cering, "this stretch of beach, some of the Bob Hall Pier "as become a place of nightmares."

"That was always one of my biggest fears of him drowning."

"I couldn't explain it. I just always had that fear." "And I was always extra cautious anytime he was around the water."

"before returning to their homes later that night."

"But this point no charges have been filed." "It was an interview to figure out what happened "because Laura really in essence was the only witness "that they were aware of at the time." "It was just a tragic accident."

“"That night I lost what was most important to me."”

"I mean, I wasn't really in the mood to be talking." "My life just didn't seem to matter any more without that." "That thought of going on without Taylor." "As soon as I saw him, I knew he was gone." "But Taylor's tragic death is not David's only concerned."

"Did it Internet search after we were married?"

"And typed in her at her name."

"Pername was glorified as her birth name." "A week before Taylor dies, David is doing an Internet search "looking for information that might be helpful "concerning the cussie just to be with Kelly "when he comes across information concerning Laura."

"Laura's name was connected to a series of crimes and murder." "I had discovered it that week while I was working "and by the weekend, my son was dead." "You know, I told her what I found." "I said, "You know, murder?"

“"She goes, "I don't know. That's not me."”

"She assured me that this was not her."

"And there were things in there that I knew were obviously wrong

"because it said that she was Middle Eastern." "So I took her word for it." "Laura did ask me what I had told the police "and when I told the police what I had discovered about her past." "She just, I can't believe you would tell them that."

"And I told them I said, "I had nothing to hide "and I didn't think that you did either." "And she gave me an explanation as to these circumstances "and gave me explanations that seemed believable and plausible." "And I believed her."

"Maybe he just didn't want to know too much "but he does confront her with that and she denied it." "But it turns out it was her.

“30 years ago, Laura was living in another paradise.”

This one in California. Laguna Beach. Laguna Beach is one of the most beautiful places in California. Really cool mixture of surfers, surf community. You've got a lot of artists, everybody's hanging out together.

It's hard to complain about anything when you have the ocean at your doorstep. In May 1982, Laura was 17 years old and she was named Laura Ficed at the time. That was her maiden name.

Laura has already left home and is dating 21-year-old college student James Kendall. James also known as Jim is a local boy from a well-respected family. Now, the things started off pretty good, it would end tragically.

"I'm Jason Kravitz. I'm a retired police captain with the Luguna Beach Police Department. Laura and Jim Smith and I at Jim Kendall's house and Luguna Beach. Jim had told her the night before

that he, quote, did want to go study any more and wanted to break up and see other women." "But when he tells Laura he wants out, things go horribly wrong." He, the next morning, drives her to her home to get a change of clothes so she can go to high school.

So Laura got out of the truck and she's walking this direction across legion street. And she goes over to where she lit, her landlord kept the handgun inside of his home. She knew that.

She steals the handgun. She goes back over to the truck where Jim is inside, smoking and listening to the radio. The passenger door is open. He must have seen the gun for the last minute.

But she fires, shoots him. After she fired the gun, he says you shot me and she responded back to him, "Yeah, I did." She apparently decided that she didn't want him to go on living without her.

She didn't want to live without him.

This would not be the last time that Laura's passionate self-interest

“would turn other people's lives upside down.”

I have looked her, my whole life. What is it with marrying all these men? It's a long story. I have great news. Malcolm in the middle is back.

My life is fantastic now. The four-part event. All I had to do is stay completely obeyed for my family. Your biggest problem is that we exist. Everyone's invited to the campus reunion of the year.

This family's behavior is toxic to me. You'll just take turns fighting and creating disasters. That's what families do!

Malcolm in the middle, life's still unfair.

Now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+ for Buddle subscribers. Terms apply for the TV-14L. Sunday nights on ABC.

“What happens when the person you love the most?”

Turns out not to be who you think they are. Everything he told me was a lie. I was betrayed from the number one true crime podcast. The trail. He's been living a secret double life.

My marriage ended with a 911 file. The tape is blood curdling. The trail. Secrets and lies. So many people are living with their own portrayal.

Sunday nights at 10/10 on ABC and stream on Disney+ in Hulu. Laura was 17 years old and she had a boyfriend James Kendall. Well, James was breaking up with her. And she was not happy about it. And how did she deal with this?

She shot him. She has, like, maybe a warp sense of relationships. It's 1982. Orange County, California.

“Officers have arrived at the scene of a shooting.”

The male victim was already in grave condition. He had suffered a gun shot through the middle of the chest and wasn't speaking. She was. Rather than shooting herself in the chest or shooting herself in the head, she ends up shooting herself in the shoulder.

So it's really almost like a superficial wound. We found a card inside the car from a local jeweler. She wrote on the card that she wanted Jim and herself buried together and that everything she owned should go to her mother. She told the investigators that while he was driving her to this location

from his house that morning, she was riding that note. Essentially, she's riding a murder suicide note with a man that's driving her where he thinks to change and go to school while she's planning out this whole attack and assault on him. But this is how despondent apparently or angry she was

at the idea that her boyfriend would break up with her. But as things settle down and she realizes that she's going to survive this gun shot wound, she's in jeopardy of potentially spending the rest of her life in California State Prison. Her story begins to change and the story turns into her

effectively being a victim of abuse. She told us that he claimed he was going to kill himself. And it reached a point where every time she opened her mouth, the story changed significantly. She tells investigators that she was acting in self-defense.

One of them had to do with possibly being battered by him. These various claims were all dismissed pretty quickly. There was no indication that he was anything other than a very nice young man who picked the wrong person to date.

Laura leads guilty to second-degree murder in the death of James Kendall.

When you were just 17 years old in California, you were convicted of shooting your boyfriend, killing your boyfriend. James Kendall. I'm not supposed to talk about that.

You know? My attorney told me not to. And then the judge made the decision that it would be appropriate to censor to the California Youth Authority rather than to prison.

And I'll pretend to not give him too many people to demonstrate that she could change. And that she could salvage her life. But while in jail, it just 18 years old Laura meets another inmate two years younger than her.

And falls in love again. So we were in the 30 together probably two and a half years. I fell in love with her the way only a teenage boy. Can fall in love with a woman who would eventually become a serious model. She was so beautiful, so far outside of my idea of the girl that I was going to get

that I was just completely immersed in love with her.

and after serving only five years of her sentence

“was released from the California Youth Authority.”

Laura and I got married in Tijuana, Mexico. It was crazy, but it was awesome. Every thought I had included Laura Lee. She dazed me when she would just come over and hold my hand with her soft little fingers.

Oh my gosh, I couldn't think for an hour. However, she could see that I was messed up. And to her credit, Laura said, I can't be with you. You're going to bring me down. You're ruining your life. You're not ruining mine, too.

I have loved her. My whole life. And then she had yeast and continues at a life of crime. In the years leading up to her meeting David Searing, Laura would change her name several times. And she would also re-marry three times.

She accumulates this laundry list of various accusations and various convictions over the years.

“Including that fraud, burglary, bigger me.”

In 1993, you were convicted of bigger me. I know. What is it with a marrying all these men? How many times have you been married? Several.

Five? Yeah, well, if you don't, you're not supposed to count the enrollment, right? There it was. And then the one in Mexico didn't really count,

because I was told we needed to register it here

in the United States, and we never did.

For more than a decade, between husbands four and five, Laura manages to stay out of trouble with the law. But now, in October 2012, all that is about to change again. You came today for what reason? When a witness comes forward saying he was on the beach with Laura

on the day the tailor drowned. Coming exactly what you've done. First miles from here to year. Six-year-old tailor-serie has drowned after spending and afternoon on the beach with a stepmom, Laura Day.

You have this loving mother who just lost her six-year-old child. Oh, like I do, was just lay my head on my son's bench's cry. He was gone. Mm-hmm. It's etched in my mind very vividly.

It haunted me and continues to. My name is Montenegro and I'm with the Pope's Creepy. Police Department and I work with the crimes against children. Laura has been interviewed by the Corpus Christi Police, but despite being allowed to return home,

the investigators still have suspicions about her. We went through Laura Day's statements.

The detail that first really caught my attention

and concerned me was the location, where she chose to take a six-year-old boy for a picnic on the beach. She says when she gets to the beach, she sees that it's kind of crowded.

So she went south. It gets pretty desolate out there. It made no sense to be at all that she would take a young boy for a picnic in an area where no one else is around,

especially when the spot at which she entered the beach there were actually several picnic tables. She did not administer CPR to the child after he had drowned. She did not call 911.

She did not ask for anyone around her on the beach to help. She just takes Taylor and puts him in the car. And then she drives essentially 12 miles to a hospital. That is a textbook example of child in the danchement for criminal negligence.

Detective Pena saw a warrant for Laura Day's arrest on those charges. They had asked Laura to come to the police department. I was going to go with her and she said no. She had given me a few pieces of her jewelry that she didn't want to take with her.

“And I remember thinking that was a little odd.”

And Laura Day was arrested on that day. You did nothing wrong. No, I didn't. I mean, it's sad that I panicked. The tragic accident happened.

I tried to save them. You know, I figured that the police may have had some questions or doubts. I couldn't see it as anything other than an accident. You know, especially the way she described the events.

I think that she exhibited indicated that there was anything other than this kind of suburban mom.

Bond is set at $50,000.

“And Laura posts it less than 24 hours after her arrest.”

She's back at home with David. Laura was just trying to get back to life as usual. Trying to figure out whatever it would take to keep me happy. Talking about the possibility of us packing up and moving and going to Florida. Trying to get me to get past my feelings.

Trying to get me back the acting normal, which seemed a little strange to me. I mean, just so sudden. Local coprosquistine news station, K Triple I, continues to cover the story. If it helps trigger your memory, please say the stepmother and the child were in a white Toyota FJ Cruiser that night. Did our best to cover it as best we could.

From both the standpoint of Kelly and the police department, they wanted anyone who saw anything who knew anything to come forward.

“The news shout out for witnesses, pays off.”

The man made contact with the Corpus Christi Police Department, saying that he had information about this case. You came today for whatever you think. He's a little boy. And what would wear when packing up? I want to get around now. Tell me exactly what you want.

Rennie Ruiz coming forward was a huge gift for the prosecution. Because he is really their only witness. I'm walking to the back of my drug and she's like real high as like, you know. And I'm like, you know, like, why? I don't remember when seeing the little boy period.

You know, but I do remember clearly that when she left, she left a little bit faster than normal.

The most upsetting, troubling, telling thing that Rennie Ruiz said is that when she ultimately left the beach,

now remember according to her, she has a dying boy in the back of her heart. She waived and smiled at him as she drove off the beach. It's November 2012 and Laura has been living at home under strict bond conditions for nearly a month. Part of her bond requirements was that she was not allowed to be around young children, churches, malls. So she tells David, "I want to go to the mall."

And David says, "We can't go to the mall. You're on bond. This is a condition of your bond." She decides to thermonose at that. She puts on a wig and is an incognito and heads to the mall.

“Why would anyone in the world risk breaking the bond conditions?”

She figured she could get away with it. Well, it was not her lucky day. Detective Penny is working off-dating at the mall. She sees a woman who is consistent with Laura Dave's body type next to David's hearing. It realizes it's David and Laura and Laura is wearing a wig like Uma Thurmond in Pulp Fiction. I mean, you know, you can't make this stuff up.

On December 4th of 2012, her bond was revoked. Laura was back in jail. If things are starting to look pretty bad for Laura, they're about to get worse. We're gonna be together forever and you're not gonna be with anyone else ever. We start listening to calls. I'm glad everybody's gone.

I'm just feeling me now. Well, what? She wanted Taylor out. Laura was waiting trial and was now back in jail because she violated her bond order. It certainly was a very big news story. As a news reporter, you cover tragedies all the time every day,

but when it does involve a child, it affects people on a whole different level. I saw one newspaper headline that called you the evil step mind. I ain't that horrible. And can they do that? I mean, is it legal for them to do that?

This was so out of characters, so different from what you would expect of someone who was in your home. And we were in their home.

Here's what we wanted you to tell me.

I love you. I'm on my way to you. I love you. I love you. We were in the middle of a full-on investigation,

So we said you wanted to have a picnic on your feet.

“So according to Laura Day, she took Taylor to the McDonald's,”

got him a happy meal, and they were headed to the beach,

but they had to stop off at her home first because this was Taylor's idea.

So she needed to get towels. One of the things that bothered us both very much were the contents of the vehicle. They found Taylor's underwear in the side of his pants, which means Taylor changed into his bathing suit in the car. So why would Taylor change in the back of the car?

She didn't change in the car. Why wouldn't he go into the home and put on a swimsuit? Laura's attorney would later argue that Taylor is simply stayed in the car and finished his happy meal while Laura went inside the house. Laura Day had told Detective Pena and I'll see that it was Taylor's idea to go to the beach that day.

“And that was very important to her story that it was never her idea.”

It was always Taylor's idea.

We start listing to personal calls that she was making from the New Ases County jail. And she says something like, "We never even went to the house that day." "We never even went to the house." And it just clicked, it clicked at that moment, that matched the evidence. That was huge because at that point we knew that almost every bit of the story that she initially told

to anyone who would listen was a lie. This was always her idea. It was never Taylor's idea. In January 2013, Laura is charged with capital murder in addition to child endangerment. It suggests to me that in order to be charged with capital murder, Laura would have had to plan what happened at the beach that day.

For me it was hard to accept that this wasn't just an act of desperation that came about in the moment, but that was me. While the prosecution continues to build their case, investigators are contacted by a drowning expert. Since 1989, I've been looking at body-found and water cases and have reviewed well over 3,000 cases. Right, people left, they didn't even tell you what to stop.

The cases I've worked well over half of them started off as accidents suicide during the tournament. Detectives in myself and Andrea's affairs all went out to the area in order to check the conditions and just kind of look at the beach and wanted Andrew's affairs to have seen it in person because she was going to testify at trial. She looked at Noah's information regarding the water conditions that day.

There was a long-shark heart, because that's the courage that pull you sideways or a long-shark heart. It's like she got stuck down there and sent me how far to 50 yards. 50 yards, that's 150 feet. When Laura Day stated that Taylor's hearing's body sunk and then popped up 50 yards to the right, the problem was that was the wrong direction based on the conditions and the wind and everything else that day, it would have gone left and not right.

She said things that just how did they happen? It didn't make sense they happened at all.

“I think we would have for the medical examiner said that children don't float that they sink.”

It is highly improbable that she would have been able to locate him quickly unless she was right next to him. Everything was all lies.

A trial date is set for June 5, 2013 and then she finally goes on trial for murdering your son.

Yes, what was that like? I was just so caught up, everything that we had going on to really stop and think. Remember putting all my faith in God? Like God deal with it. Walking into a trial in a case like this, it's nerve-racking, knowing how dangerous she was. It was important to go into that courtroom and make sure that she didn't kill a third person.

The case against Lord Day isn't just about what happened to Taylor Serring back in October.

She loves an animal she decided she was going to lay out on a towel on the beach.

“And the evidence will show that any reasonable person would have expected Taylor Serring's life to be an enemy danger at that moment.”

Left, approximately 100 feet from the shore by himself in the Gulf of Mexico. While her returning acknowledged in his opening statements that mistakes were made, he said she pulled him out of the water. Did what she could at the beach then went straight to the emergency room. So we had a six day trial. I wanted to make sure that this jury understood this was not an accident.

The evidence was presented. This was an intentional act and the jury needed to see that. The jury needed to see what really happened here.

The jury considered it and she was convicted of first degree capital murder in the state of Texas.

I can see panicking and not doing CPR. But you had a cell phone wanting to call 911. Every minute that she didn't do CPR didn't call 911 didn't get help to that child. I didn't do CPR. Laura is now serving life in prison for murdering his son.

But what does David do? The next step was to focus on the appeal. He finds a new expert to help free her. He was smart. Outgoing.

Give a mic. Would you have taken from us? I don't think you even have comprehend it. Laura has found guilty of capital murder and sentenced to life without parole. I will say that based on the evidence that has been presented, I do believe she is guilty.

And what happened to little Taylor was just, I mean, evil. Taylor's mom, I mean, broken. They come back with a guilty verdict. How did you feel? Relieved. Just because, you know, she won't ever say the lie today.

She said that she's the most hated woman next to the woman who kills Elina and corpus Christi. Mom, sexed to be her. I was shocked then too. I mean, I was, I guess I was seeing something different in the courtroom than whatever body else was seeing. She did everything wrong.

She did nothing right.

“And the only thing that lets me be okay with it is because she can never hurt another child.”

Because she's in prison.

I'm a victim against the justice system, shouldn't have charged me in the first place.

I mean, you go around charging every parent for when their child drowns in an accident. I mean, come on. My next thought was what we had to do next. She was concerned that I was going to leave her. You know, and we were the next step was to focus on the appeal.

To cover legal fees, they sell that waterfront mansion. And still convinced of her innocence. David finds Laura a new attorney.

“And immediately I'm thinking, how is that a capital murder case?”

What kind of intent could the prosecution show? You can't keep your eyes on your children every minute or every one. It was obviously an accident. To counter testimony given by Andrea Sepharagus, Angela Moore finds drowning prevention expert John Friedamire. Depending on the direction the ways are coming, the long-sure drip can go in either direction.

And that's a common factor of feature of most features.

What about her testimony stuck out? We're very simple concepts. I'm not sure how anyone could disagree with him. Before his successful, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals could order Laura a new trial. But for now, all she can do is sit and wait.

David, you said to me that you blame me for letting him die possibly. You cannot blame me for that. Why?

You will never find another Laura. I will never find another David.

I know if I were home, I could turn you around and snap you out of it. That's just typical Laura. She doesn't take responsibility for what she's done and only sees that she's the victim. She has never apologized. She has never said sorry for what she's done. I feel so stupid to have been just naive and to have stuck by her as long as I did. How do you feel about Laura now?

I believe she's where she belongs.

“I believe that this is probably the worst punishment for her to be in prison.”

David and Laura are now divorced. David supported you. He defended you. Yes, we knew because he knew what happened. Yes. And now David's hearing your ex-husband feels your guilty. Does he? Who says?

David, you knew you didn't feel that way. No. He never showed that to you. No. He stood by me for years.

And would, I mean, no. Any message for Laura? Nothing to say to her. Nothing to say to her. Despite losing David's support, Laura Day may be down. She's not out.

There's a new man on the sea. And I certainly plan on being there for and she gets out.

“Why don't you have to choose your own destiny?”

What's the new Hulu Original Series? The Testaments, streaming on Hulu and Hulu and Hulu and Disney+ for Bibles subscribers, terms apply. Road to the NBA finals is happening now on ESPN and ABC. It's make a break now. Best on best now. Watch 'em sit with his chest now. This is up for grabs. In the world is what?

On the home of the NBA finals. The NBA playoffs presented Baguud began Saturday on ESPN and ABC. This is where Taylor's at. I come every year to put flowers. We have Valentine's Day set up for the July. Sometimes a little Christmas tree.

Come out here periodically and just spend a little bit of time. How often do you think you come out here? I pass by on the road almost daily.

And I can always spot his flowers.

I always look by and give a hello. It's been more than 10 years since Taylor's series drowned after a trip to the beach on Padre Island.

“Is it possible to forgive your ex-husband David and Laura?”

Well, have forgiven Laura. That doesn't mean she needs to come out of jail. And if that, why should she get so off so easy? She could spend the rest of her life in a jail, so miserable. And as far as my ex-husband,

yeah, I think that's gonna take a miracle too. I was so wrapped up and tangled up in all of this that so many things.

I don't know if it was just, you know, the trauma of losing my son. I don't know if it was her being a great manipulator. I can't explain it. I blame him too. I do blame him.

This is partly his fault. He knew about her past.

I would have never have let him go with her ever.

If I don't know.

“Can you ever move forward from something like this?”

Life will never be the same. You can only try to make the best of what you have. Just try to move on. How do you commemorate Taylor's life? This last year for his birthday,

I went and camped out in the National Forest in Colorado with some friends. Uh, that new Taylor. And uh, that a great time. And it wasn't time, actually. You do things that Taylor would have liked to do.

I'm going to celebrate his life. I'm not going to mourn it. Because he said he was a big personality, big life. Laura continued to write David until 2019, but when he stopped writing back, she found someone else who would.

“But maybe a new man in your life, william Irwin?”

Yes. What is that all about? He's great. How did you meet? We met through a Penn Powell website.

Girl relationship has evolved quite a bit since we first met.

We talked two or three times a day. I really care about Laura a lot. She's a, she's a wonderful person, and uh, the more I get to know her and her story. You know, I realize, uh, and fully believe in her complete innocence, and that she would wrongfully convicted.

It's not all, uh, an attraction or a sexual relationship. It's all about personality and things that you haven't common. I'll be right there. Pick her up as soon as she walks out of there. We're going to figure out where we want to live.

Either, uh, we pretty much decided on a Salt Lake City or Florida. Would you dare thank you, Mike, Mary, him? After all this difficulty with all these other men. I really would like to see how things go for a while. Now, I'm in no rush.

To this day, I have a picture of Taylor steering on a shelf directly across from my desk. I see him every day while I'm working. And I do that because the justice that the case team and I were able to get for him

“was one of the more incredible things I think I'll ever do in my career.”

I know it was tough for you to decide to sit down with us.

Why did you finally agree to talk to us?

Because if it all keep Laura in prison, then what wouldn't you do for your kids? [music playing] I have everybody. One, two, three, four. Go for it.

Taylor's parents, David and Kelly have not spoken to each other since their son's funeral back in 2012. Laura Day is serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. That is our program for tonight. Thank you for watching. I'm David Björ.

And I'm Deborah Roberts from all of us here at 2020 and ABC News. Goodnight. You've been listening to the 2020 True Crime Vault. Friday nights at nine on ABC. You can also find all new broadcast episodes of 2020.

Thanks for listening. Hello, darling. It's Lisa Vanderpump. My Hulu original reality series Vanderpump Villa is back in England. Where the standards are high and the chaos are unavoidable.

And if you think I start this old drama, wait until you meet the guests. Love Island Rational Nation. This is the white lotus of reality stars. Witness the reality star crossover event you won't want to miss. News season of Vanderpump Villa premieres April the 16th on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus.

For Bundle Subscribers, herems apply.