A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN VANISHES IN NORTH TEXAS AND IS LATER FOUND DEAD WRAPPED IN A SHEET - COULD IT BE ANYTHING BUT MURDER?

"48 Hours" Investigates in "Taken Away"

Saturday, Nov. 18, 10:00 PM

Jessie Bardwell, 27, was a beloved daughter and friend when she seemingly vanished from the Texas home she shared with her boyfriend, Jason Lowe. Fearing the worst, her father traveled from Mississippi to Texas to start the search for his daughter. Bardwell's body was later found in a remote spot of farmland wrapped in a sheet.

Police suspected murder, but was it?

Maureen Maher and 48 HOURS investigate the disappearance and death of Bardwell and the case against Lowe in "Taken Away" to be broadcast Saturday, Nov. 18 at 10:00 PM, ET/PT as part of a Saturday night double feature on the CBS Television Network.

"This story is about a young girl," Richardson, Texas Detective Eric Willadsen tells Maher. "Thinks she finds love and it turns out he's pure evil."

Jessie Bardwell was fun-loving and outgoing, say friends and family. She lived in Orange Beach, Ala., where she worked at a local hotspot. Then she fell for Lowe. To the surprise of her family, one day she moved to Texas. Turned out she was following Lowe, who had landed a job in Dallas. She suddenly disappeared in May 2016.

"I knew she was dead," Bardwell's father, Gary Bardwell tells Maher.

Bardwell said he had nightmare before his daughter disappeared. "And I felt it - she was not on this earth anymore."

Richardson, Texas investigators had a sense something was wrong in Lowe's home the minute they arrived to follow up on Bardwell's report that his daughter was missing. There were things out of place and the unmistakable scent of death. Soon after, Lowe was arrested and charged with murder.

Lowe later claimed Bardwell's death was an accident. His attorney had a plan, and he put together a mock trial to test the defense theory. The result of the stand-in jury? Lowe was innocent. Prosecutors, however, maintain it was murder and Lowe tried to hide her body.

"I think about what I think happened to her. And I couldn't protect her," Bardwell tells Maher. "It's just unimaginable. It's unthinkable. It's unforgivable."

What happened to Jessie Bardwell? 48 HOURS and Maher report the story through interviews with her family, her friends, investigators, Lowe's defense team and an exclusive interview with Lowe himself. 48 HOURS: "Taken Away" is produced by Liza Finley. Claire St. Amant is the development producer. Lauren White is the associate producer. Richard Barber is the producer-editor. George Baluzy, Michael Vele and Diana Modica are the editors. Patti Aronofsky is the senior producer. Nancy Kramer is the executive story editor. Susan Zirinsky is the senior executive producer.

48 HOURS: "Taken Away" is the second part of a Saturday night double feature that starts at 9:00 PM with "Murder on the Cape," an investigation into the 2002 murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington in Truro, Mass., the unusual path prosecutors took to find her killer, and the convicted man's ongoing quest to get a new trial.

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