During the fall and winter of 1991, police searched all over New England for a woman who had disappeared from her home in Maine.

Police were not sure whether she had run away or had met with foul play.

One year later, investigators found a clue,

a clue that had been right under their noses from the very beginning.

The first...

...theirder. Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state, and at one time, its capital.

It's a deep water port on Casco Bay, an inlet to the Atlantic Ocean, which explains its role as a major

fishing center. Pearl Smith worked as a fish packer. Every day, she boxed crates of fish for

shipment around the country. It was hard work with little pay.

After work, she was a frequent customer at a bar near the docks,

as was Bill Bruns, a man 13 years her senior.

Bruns was a trucker.

His job was hauling fish from Maine to Montreal.

The two had a lot in common.

They liked to drink, and they were unlucky in love.

Pearl had been divorced five times, and Bill's third marriage had just ended.

They fell in love and were married in the summer of 1986.

Their relationship appeared to be close.

They met for lunch each day at this restaurant on the docks.

But on August 13, 1991, Pearl's daughter called police to report her mother missing.

She said Pearl failed to show up for a family gathering she had been looking forward to.

My mother was very loving, very caring, everybody's best friend.

...