It was a night to remember, a lavish birthday party atop Atlanta’s Hilton Hotel.
The man being celebrated was Lance Herndon, a respected leader and CEO.
He was on top of the world.
But all that would change just four months later...
On August 8, 1996, one of Lance’s employees, Holly Stueber, pulled up to Lance’s property where he ran his successful computer business.
She unlocked the door and walked inside around 8:00 a.m. She was surprised to see no sign of Lance, who was usually in the office around 5:00.
Holly thought perhaps Lance had an appointment out of the office, but nothing was on his calendar.
She paged her boss. No reply.
The man on top of the world was suddenly nowhere to be found.
Around 10:00 a.m., Lance’s mother, Jackie, arrived at the house as she normally did, to help with the business.
She hadn’t seen Lance, either, so she went upstairs to check.
She found her son in his bedroom, unresponsive.
It was clear, whatever happened to Lance was no accident.
He’d been bludgeoned to death.
Who would want to kill Lance Herndon? That question would take nearly a decade to answer, because there was no shortage of potential suspects... or secrets.
To find out what happened, watch the full episode “The Killer Among Them” on Peacock now.
You can also watch on the NBC app or listen to it on our podcast.
After you’ve finished the episode, watch as Lance’s friends and family remember him as a passionate entrepreneur who cared deeply about his loved ones.
And watch more of the police interview with Lance’s killer.
Plus, listen to this week’s Talking Dateline with Andrea Canning and Josh Mankiewicz in which they take you behind the scenes of the episode and answer your questions.