Over the years, there have been many true crime stories that have made headlines. However, it’s hard to find one that made people worry as much as when it was announced that pregnant Laci Peterson was missing.

People from all over the country came to search for the missing mom-to-be, but that wasn’t all that got people talking. Many began to place blame on various suspects. Two decades later, Laci Peterson’s tragic case finally has an explanation.

The two met when Laci Peterson was in university.

All her dreams came true: Laci and Scott walked down the aisle after graduating college.

They kept a bar until they decided to move and start a family.

Although things were going well at their bar, Laci and Scott soon had a new goal. Now, they decided to start a family. The sale of The Shackled to the couple moving to Laci’s hometown of Modesto, California. They bought a three-bedroom bungalow in an upscale neighborhood perfect for raising babies.

That may be why Scott and Laci announced they were expecting a baby in 2002. On February 10, 2003, their baby boy was due to be born.

What seemed strange to many in Laci Peterson’s disappearance was that nothing was out of the ordinary. 

Upon discovering Laci Peterson was missing from their home, Scott was initially not worried.

There are varying accounts as to who exactly reported Laci Peterson missing.

Police officers immediately discovered Laci Peterson’s belongings were still in the home.

That said, Scott Peterson kept changing his version of where he was when Laci went missing.

In the search for clues about Laci Peterson’s disappearance, hundreds of people searched for more and more sources of information.

They searched for days, but no one ever knew where Laci might have gone.

Connor’s body was found four months after his disappearance

One day, the couple was walking their dog when they discovered a scene most of us could only imagine in our nightmares. Right on the floor lay the well-preserved body of an unborn baby boy with an umbilical cord. He had been discovered in the San Francisco Bay Area and pulled from the water.

The discovery occurred on April 13, 2003, and many people thought they knew exactly who it was. The umbilical cord appeared to be severed rather than cut, as it usually is after birth, which meant that something terrible had happened. Later, autopsy results and additional evidence confirmed that it was Laci and Scott’s son, Connor.

Laci Peterson’s remains were found the day after her unborn child was discovered.

But unlike Connor, these remains were so decomposed that they were almost impossible to recognize. 

The autopsy could not find out what had happened to Laci or Connor.

Instead, they found that Laci was missing internal organs, and Connor had likely passed away before his mother passed away and eventually became free.

The result of an autopsy performed on April 18, 2003, gave investigators all the evidence they needed to charge Scott with ending Connor and Laci Peterson’s lives. They quickly arrested her husband near the golf course. 

After finding Scott Peterson guilty, he was sentenced to capital punishment.

On April 21, 2003, Scott was formally charged with two counts of taking human life. 

His sentence was commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole in August 2020.