Dateline: Secrets Uncovered - The Landing season 9 episode 14 - A detailed case overview

The Dateline: Secrets Uncovered episode, titled The Landing, explores the mysterious disappearance of 20-year-old Heather Elvis in December 2013. The episode originally released on July 17, 2020, and it is re-airing today (August 21, 2025) on Oxygen.

Heather Elvis's case began as a missing-person case in Horry County, South Carolina, but it quickly evolved into a complicated story of an affair, jealousy, and suspicion. Investigators on her case soon uncovered a love triangle at the heart of the case, which they believed provided a motive for her disappearance.

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Dateline: Secrets Uncovered: Heather Elvis disappeared in December 2013

Heather Elvis was only 20 years old when she went missing on the night of December 17, 2013. She had just ended an affair with Sidney Moorer, a married 37-year-old maintenance worker she had met through her job at the Tilted Kilt in Myrtle Beach. At around 1 a.m., she called her roommate, and by 6 a.m., her cellphone activity had ceased, and she was never heard from again.

Heather's vehicle, a green Dodge Intrepid, was discovered abandoned at Peachtree Landing near the Waccamaw River in Socastee two days later. The car was found locked, but her phone, keys, and purse were missing. Despite an extensive search, there was no trace of her. Dateline: Secrets Uncovered explores what happened after Heather went missing.

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Dateline: Secrets Uncovered: Investigations revealed the involvement of the Moorers

Following investigations, detectives discovered that Elvis had been having an affair with Sidney Moorer, which ended when his wife, Tammy Moorer, learned about it. According to ABC News, Tammy had allegedly sent Heather aggressive text messages, called up her workplace, and even sent explicit images of herself with Sidney.

Heather's roommate said that Elvis was “genuinely scared” of Tammy, as per ABC News. When phone records were checked, police discovered that Heather's phone had received multiple calls in the early morning of December 18.

Surveillance footage showed that Sidney Moorer had made a payphone call, which he initially denied but later admitted. On the night of her disappearance, Heather’s phone had shown up in several locations, including a bar and grill, her apartment, and finally Peachtree Landing.

It was in this last location where the final few calls to Sidney’s phone were logged before her cellphone activity ceased. Moreover, surveillance footage also recorded a black Ford F-150, which allegedly belonged to the Moorers, at the Peachtree Landing.

The case of Heather Elvis explored on Dateline (Image via Getty)

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The trial and sentencing of the Moorers explored on Dateline: Secrets Uncovered

Four months later, in early 2014, both Sidney and Tammy Moorer were charged in connection with Heather’s disappearance. Initially, they were charged with murder, kidnapping, obstruction of justice, indecent exposure, and Medicaid fraud. Later on, the murder and indecent exposure counts were dropped.

Sidney Moorer’s first kidnapping trial ended in a hung jury in 2016, and in 2017, he was convicted of obstruction of justice for lying about the payphone call. This earned him a 10-year sentence.

In October 2018, Tammy Moorer was convicted of kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap, and she received 30-year concurrent sentences. Sidney was re-tried and, in September 2019, was also convicted of both kidnapping and conspiracy, receiving similar 30-year concurrent sentences.

Both Sidney and Tammy appealed their convictions, but in June 2023, the South Carolina Court of Appeals denied their appeals. Tammy's current release date is May 9, 2043, while Sidney’s is March 31, 2044.

However, recently, in March 2025, Sidney Moorer filed for post-conviction relief, seeking a new trial in a different jurisdiction. He alleged issues like jury intimidation, potential perjury by witnesses, and ineffective assistance of counsel.

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Catch the full case on Dateline: Secrets Uncovered today.