It all began on an August morning in 2018 in Fontana, California. Tom Perez Jr. called the Fontana police department for help finding his dad, Tom Perez Sr.
Tom Sr. had gone for a walk to the mailbox the night before, but hadn’t come back.
Community service officer Joanna Pina came to the house and met Tom Jr., and they discovered the mail from the day before was still in the mailbox.
Investigators arrived and searched the Perez house, where they found things that raised their suspicions: the smell of bleach in the bathroom, blood evidence, a missing shower curtain. A cadaver dog made a positive alert to human remains within the home. On the kitchen table, a receipt for large trash bags purchased the night of Perez Sr.’s disappearance.
Detectives brought Tom Jr. to the police station for a conversation that turned into something else entirely. And what happened after that was a twist you won’t see coming.
To watch it all unfold, watch the full episode “The Ruse” on Peacock now.
You can also watch on the NBC app or listen to the full episode on our podcast.
You can also listen to this week’s episode of Talking Dateline with Lester Holt and Keith Morrison, in which they take you behind the scenes of the episode and answer your questions from social media.