Is there a brand new episode of Dateline this week (twenty ninth September, 2025)? Explained

Dateline‘s new episode explores the case of Bethany Anne Decker, a 21-year-old Virginia girl who disappeared on January 29, 2011. She was a George Mason University scholar, a waitress at Carrabba’s Italian Grill, and a mom to her 1-year-old son, Kai.

Bethany was 5 months pregnant on the time together with her second little one and was residing in Ashburn with Ronald Roldan, her boyfriend, whereas her husband, Emile Decker, was deployed in Afghanistan. The marriage of the couple was strained, and so they had simply returned from a Hawaii reconciliation trip.

Family members reported that her relationship with Roldan had turned controlling and abusive, with Bethany getting ready to go away. On January 28, she went to her grandparents, showing distraught from Roldan’s telephone calls, and left in a rush. The following day, she disappeared, abandoning her automotive and possessions. Suspicious Facebook posts surfaced weeks later, but the case languished for a number of years till Roldan’s 2023 admission to murdering her.

This no-body murder case emphasised the challenges confronting investigators in home violence and lacking individuals circumstances. The case was lined in Dateline‘s season 9, episode 9 titled Bethany Vanished airing on September 29, 2025, on Oxygen.

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Dateline: Background and private lifetime of Bethany Decker

Bethany Decker was born May 13, 1989, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Her mom described her as inquisitive, adventurous, and a pure dad or mum. She was a Caucasian girl with brown hair and eyes, and had a small tattoo on her left ankle. She was in her senior 12 months at George Mason University, majoring in international and financial change, and labored part-time as a server at Carrabba’s in Centreville, Virginia, as per The Charley Project.

She and Emile Decker had been married for about 18 months earlier than her disappearance. Their son, Kai, stayed together with her dad and mom whereas she tried to stability college and work. Emile was deployed with the U.S. navy to Afghanistan in early 2011, leaving Bethany to handle on her personal. During this era, Bethany started a relationship with Ronald D. Roldan, a Bolivian immigrant she met at work, based on the web site.

They moved into an condominium in Ashburn, Virginia, and Roldan reportedly exhibited controlling conduct. Decker’s household stated that she had confided in them in regards to the abuse she skilled at Roldan’s arms and had made plans to finish the connection. In late January 2011, Bethany and Emile went on a reconciliation journey to Hawaii and returned on January 28, as per the web site. They spent the night time at her grandparents’ residence earlier than Emile’s deliberate return to deployment.

On the night of January 28, Bethany visited her grandparents and appeared distressed by telephone calls from Roldan. Though her grandmother urged her to remain, Bethany left round 11 p.m. Her approximate due date would have been August 2011, as per the web site.

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Disappearance of Bethany Decker

On January 29, 2011, Bethany Decker left her grandparents’ residence round midday, desiring to return to her Ashburn condominium. That afternoon, Ronald Roldan later claimed that he noticed her at their condominium, however that’s the final confirmed sighting, as per Northern Virginia Magazine. She didn’t attend her shift at Carrabba’s or lessons at George Mason thereafter, and abruptly ceased contacting buddies or household, as per The Charley Project.

Decker’s automotive was found within the storage, parked crookedly with a flat tire and exhibiting mud buildup. In her condominium, her passport, identification, mobile phone, and different private gadgets remained. There was no exercise on her financial institution accounts, electronic mail, or telephone after that day, and no proof was discovered that prompt she had left the nation or that her second little one was born, as per WUSA9.

On February 16, 2011, buddies started receiving Facebook messages from her account in damaged English, stating she had tousled, wanted time alone, and couldn’t share her location. The household thought of these messages suspicious as a result of they didn’t match Decker’s regular type. On February 19, the household reported her lacking to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office, as per WTOP News.

Investigators discovered no apparent indicators of battle within the condominium Decker shared with Roldan, and no bodily crime scene was recognized initially. As per the outlet, early within the investigation, each Emile Decker and Roldan have been interviewed. Emile was contacted even whereas abroad and handed a polygraph take a look at. Roldan cooperated at first however supplied inconsistent statements.

Digital forensics later tied the Facebook messages to an IP tackle related to Roldan’s laptop computer and electronic mail. Because no physique or conclusive bodily proof was recovered, the investigation stalled for years, based on WTOP News.

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Renewed investigation and authorized proceedings

In November 2014, Roldan was arrested in North Carolina for assaulting a unique girlfriend, Vickey Willoughby, in a violent incident involving beatings, capturing, and neck harm. She survived however misplaced an eye fixed, reported WUSA9. During her restoration, she claimed Roldan had stated he may “make people disappear.” In 2016, he pleaded responsible to felony assault fees, which have been diminished from extra severe counts, and was sentenced to six to eight years in jail, based on the Charley Project.

Upon his launch in November 2020, authorities instantly charged him in Bethany Decker’s disappearance, as per WUSA9. He was indicted on abduction and in a while second-degree homicide. In a November 2022 listening to, Roldan entered a responsible plea to second-degree homicide, as per WTOP News. His sentencing was scheduled for February 21, 2023, based on Loudoun County.

In his plea statements, Roldan informed prosecutors and investigators that in an argument over Decker’s work schedule, he frivolously shoved her, she tripped and hit her head on a windowsill, and died. He stated he panicked, positioned her physique in a Christmas tree disposal bag, and dumped it into the condominium complicated’s trash compactor, however he didn’t present any bodily proof to corroborate this account, as per WTOP News.

Prosecutors expressed skepticism about some elements of his story, notably given his prior sample of violence. WUSA9 reported that on February 21, 2023, Roldan was sentenced to 12.5 years in lively jail, with 27.5 extra years suspended, beneath the plea settlement. He can be seemingly dealing with deportation to Bolivia after serving his time period.

Emile Decker obtained custody of Kai and has expressed continued advocacy on behalf of Bethany. The case is formally closed, although Bethany’s stays have by no means been recovered and are presumed misplaced, presumably in a landfill or trash system, as per Northern Virginia Magazine.

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Watch extra in regards to the case on the most recent episode of Dateline.

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