Feb. 16: Laci Peterson: A Fateful 24 Hours

By all accounts, the Christmas holiday season was one of Laci Peterson's favorite times of the year. She enjoyed creating special desserts and had even taken cooking classes in France.

Her skills had earned her the nickname of 'cake lady' from several of those closest to her. Family and friends waited in anticipation to see what she would whip up for holiday gatherings.

At 8:30 p.m. on Dec. 23rd, Laci talked to her mother -- Sharon Rocha -- on the phone to discuss plans for Christmas Eve dinner at the family home. Phone calls between the two, Sharon would later recall, focused on everyday life and the growing anticipation surrounding the birth of Laci's unborn son, Connor.

Sometime during those calls, Sharon said, Laci would make her laugh and smile.

Sharon Rocha -- I Talked To Laci At 8:30

But later, Sharon would recall that there was something odd about this call. Laci never mentioned Scott's plans to go fishing in Berkeley on Christmas Eve day.

"We talked at 8:30 the night before, if there was going to be an issue as far what time he would be home that (Christmas Eve) night, I felt she would have said he was going to Berkeley fishing," Sharon said.

Candice Delong, a former FBI profiler, has meet with the Rocha family. She echoed Sharon's sentiments. FBI Profiler Candice Delong: Laci's Call To Mom The Night Before

"On the evening of the 23rd, Laci and her mother were discussing plans for Christmas Eve dinner the next day at Laci's parent place," Delong said. "Laci did not mention anything about Scott going on a fishing trip the next day, 90 miles from home to the Berkeley Marina."

"Her mother believes that is something that she would have mentioned only in so far as it worked into the evening's activities for the dinner at the house."

It would be the last time Sharon would talk with her daughter before she vanished.

Scott Peterson: I Loaded Up Some Umbrellas

In discussions with KTVU's Ted Rowlands, Scott Peterson has said that he had a pretty clean slate after the couple awoke Christmas Eve morning. He could have gone golfing or he could have headed off for a day of fishing. He decided to go fishing.

But before he did that, Scott decided to bundle up some backyard umbrellas in a blue tarp and take them to his warehouse for storage. A neighbor saw Scott load up something wrapped in a blue tarp into his truck.

"In the back of my truck, I put a couple big umbrellas," Peterson said. "It had started to rain, I took them to storage."

He said he last saw his wife at around 9:30 a.m. as she was getting ready to walk their dog in nearby East La Loma Park and he was heading to Berkeley.

John South, National Enquirer: Neighbors Noticed Drapes Hadn't Been Drawn Karen Servas, a neighbor, said she spotted the Petersons' golden retriever about 10:30 a.m. The dog was wearing its leash, which was muddy. Servas said she returned the dog to its yard, not realizing there might be something amiss.

Even though police focused their initial search at the park, it was determined early in the investigation that Laci actually had left the home in a 'vehicle.' It was a belief that Scott Peterson echoed several weeks later when he would tell Rowlands he had attempted to sell the couple's home because he no longer felt safe in a house where his wife had been kidnapped.

Publicly, investigators have not shared their thoughts about how and when Laci was taken from the home.

However, neighbors have said it was odd that the drapes at the Peterson's Modesto home were never drawn open on Christmas Eve day. Laci apparently loved to allow the early morning light into her home.

The next contact anyone attempted with Laci was her stepfather, Ron Grantski. (Video link)He called the home and got the answering machine around 4 p.m.

"I called at 4 o'clock that day," Grantski recalled. "And said bring some whipping cream. They were due to have dinner at our house that night and we didn't want to go to the store to get whipping cream."

 

Modesto Police Focus On Scott Peterson Police said Scott Peterson tried calling his wife on his cell phone when he finished fishing in Berkeley, but was not able to reach her. As proof of his trip, Peterson later produced a receipt for police.

When he arrived home -- some time after Grantski's call and 5:30 p.m. -- he said he (Video Link)discovered Laci's purse in the house and her sport-utility vehicle in the driveway.

According to some accounts, (Video Link)Peterson then showered, changed clothes and washed the kitchen floor before searching for his wife.

 

Sharon Rocha -- Scott Called Approximately At 5:20 Peterson then called the Rochas to see if Laci was there.

"Scott called me approximately at 5:20 that evening and asked if Laci was at our house," Sharon said. "I said: 'No.' He told me the car was there and the dog was in the back yard with the lease on and she was missing."

"I asked him to call her friends and check to see if she was with them. He called back and said she wasn't. I asked him to check with neighbors and see if she was visiting with anyone else."

"He called back a few minutes later and said no one had seen here. I asked Ron (Grantski) to call the police at that time.

Brent Rocha -- Scott Was Using The Word 'Missing' From The Start Family, friends and police converged upon East La Loma Park during the early evening hours of Christmas Eve to begin a search. It failed to turn up any sign of Laci.

They went home that evening to begin what would be many sleepless nights. Looking back, Brent Rocha said something Scott kept sayng had bothered him. It was his use of the word "missing" over, over and over again.