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37-year-old Marie Carlson of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, went missing in October 2011. The investigation did not pick up pace for four years until the case was featured on Cold Justice in April 2015. Cold Justice is a television show that investigates murder cases. The murderer turned out to be her lover, pastor James Flanders.
NBC's true-crime series Dateline is all set to analyze the details of Marie Carlson's murder mystery. The episode airs on Friday, July 22 at 10/9c.
Here are 5 facts about Marie Carlson murder
1) Carlson's loved ones received a mysterious message after she went missing
Marie Carlson was last seen on October 17, 2011 by James Flanders. Around two days after her disappearance, her loved ones received a text message from her. The message said that she had gone to do what she had wanted to do for a long time. Fearing that something was wrong, her ex-husband Jeff Carlson filed a missing person report October 24, 2011. What led to more suspicion was that her car was parked at the local airport but there were no reports of her leaving the area.
2) Flanders moved to Arizona three months after Carlson's disappeance
James Flanders and his wife Tanya left with Carlson's baby three months after Marie Carlson disappeared. The three of them settled in Arizona.
Carlson was in a polygamous relationship with Flanders and his wife Tanya. While her 8-year-old daughter with Jeff Carlson lived with her ex-husband, Carlson's baby with Flanders lived with the three of them.
3) A TV show turned out to be a major breakthrough
The case remained unattended for nearly four years owing to a lack of evidence. However, a major break happened when a TV show, Cold Justice, featured the case on one of their episodes in April 2015.
The producers of the show became interested and wanted to dig into the case, which led the authorities to take a fresh look at the case once again.
4) Flanders and Carlson had a fight the day she disappeared
Flanders’ parishioners were initially not willing to divulge much about the relationship Flanders and Carlson shared. Thankfully, they started talking in 2015. They revealed that the two of them were involved in regular fights. They went on to claim that the couple had an altercation on the day Carlson disappeared. This led the authorities to look at the case from a different angle.
Upon further investigation, the authorities learned that Carlon's phone never left Fort Walton Beach. Furthermore, Flanders' cell-phone data revealed that his phone was present at key times and places.
5) Carlson was choked to death
In exchange for a lighter sentence, James Flanders admitted to having killed his wife Marie Carlson. He confessed to having put Carlson "in a choke hold" until she stopped breathing. Flanders even showed the police where he had buried her dead body.
In a statement, Flanders said:
“I never imagined it was within me to fail and fall the way I did in every way at the time of Marie’s death, and in the days and weeks that followed. It would take an act of God for me to forgive James Flanders… My entire life has been a horrible lie.”
In July 2016, Flanders was sentenced to 15 years in jail. He is scheduled for release in 2028.
