Revealed
'NOBODY WOULD LISTEN'
Who was Pamela Butler and what happened to her?
MYSTERY befell a federal employee's family when she suddenly vanished and her case went cold.
Years after Pamela Butler was declared dead by police, they caught her killer Jose Angel Rodriguez-Cruz.
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Who was Pamela Butler?
The late Pamela Butler was a 47-year-old computer analyst from Washington DC.
A staffer for the Environment Protection Agency, Pamela was described as "free-spirited" and "highly organized."
She is survived by her brother Derrick Butler, who recalled her murder investigation had "so many twists and turns to it, you just wouldn't believe it."
The grieving brother told : "Nobody would listen to me. I was very unpopular with the police, but I wanted to be.
"I wanted to be a nuisance to the point they would do something about it."
What happened to Pamela?
On February 13, 2009, Pamela vanished and police officially declared her dead in July of the same year.
She was first reported missing when she failed to show up for a Valentine's Day dinner with her mother.
On April 7, 2017, investigators arrested her ex-boyfriend Jose Angel Rodriguez-Cruz.
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Rodriguez-Cruz was charged with premeditated first-degree murder in relation to Pamela's case.
On October 6 of the same year, the confessed killer pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
However, he was sentenced to only 12 years in prison because he agreed to the terms of a plea deal that was struck up by the prosecution.
According to the plea deal, Rodriguez-Cruz was to receive a reduced prison sentence if he admitted to murdering Pamela and assisting law enforcement with locating her remains.
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Although he confessed to her homicide and disposing of her body in a wooded area near Interstate 95, the late woman's remains have yet to be recovered.
Rodriguez-Cruz admitted to discarding Pamela's corpse near the remains of his wife Marta Rodriguez; who he also murdered in 1989.
How can I watch Pamela's Dateline episode?
On July 21, 2023, Pamela's homicide investigation is revisited in a Dateline NBC episode titled A Haunting Stretch of Road.
That Friday at 9pm EST, A Haunting Stretch of Road is scheduled to air via the abovementioned network.
The broadcast features show anchor Dennis Murphy as he collects testimonies from those who were close to the case.
For those that miss Friday's airing, there are a couple of streaming options available.
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Audiences that miss the initial broadcast can check out the episode via Hulu or Peacock.
Previously, the episode aired on March 18, 2022.
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