Is there a new episode of Dateline this week (29th September, 2025)? Explained

Dateline's new episode explores the case of Bethany Anne Decker, a 21-year-old Virginia woman who disappeared on January 29, 2011. She was a George Mason University student, a waitress at Carrabba's Italian Grill, and a mother to her 1-year-old son, Kai.

Bethany was five months pregnant at the time with her second child and was residing in Ashburn with Ronald Roldan, her boyfriend, while her husband, Emile Decker, was deployed in Afghanistan. The marriage of the couple was strained, and they had just returned from a Hawaii reconciliation vacation.

Family members reported that her relationship with Roldan had turned controlling and abusive, with Bethany preparing to leave. On January 28, she went to her grandparents, appearing distraught from Roldan's phone calls, and left in a hurry. The following day, she disappeared, abandoning her car and possessions. Suspicious Facebook posts surfaced weeks later, yet the case languished for several years until Roldan's 2023 admission to murdering her.

This no-body homicide case emphasized the challenges confronting investigators in domestic violence and missing persons cases. The case was covered in Dateline's season 9, episode 9 titled Bethany Vanished airing on September 29, 2025, on Oxygen.

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Dateline: Background and personal life of Bethany Decker

Dateline's season 9, episode 9 (Image via Unsplash)

Bethany Decker was born May 13, 1989, in Fredericksburg, Virginia. Her mother described her as inquisitive, adventurous, and a natural parent. She was a Caucasian woman with brown hair and eyes, and had a small tattoo on her left ankle. She was in her senior year at George Mason University, majoring in global and economic change, and worked part-time as a server at Carrabba’s in Centreville, Virginia, as per The Charley Project.

She and Emile Decker had been married for about 18 months before her disappearance. Their son, Kai, stayed with her parents while she attempted to balance school and work. Emile was deployed with the U.S. military to Afghanistan in early 2011, leaving Bethany to manage on her own. During this period, Bethany began a relationship with Ronald D. Roldan, a Bolivian immigrant she met at work, according to the website.

They moved into an apartment in Ashburn, Virginia, and Roldan reportedly exhibited controlling behavior. Decker's family said that she had confided in them about the abuse she experienced at Roldan's hands and had made plans to end the relationship. In late January 2011, Bethany and Emile went on a reconciliation trip to Hawaii and returned on January 28, as per the website. They spent the night at her grandparents' home before Emile's planned return to deployment.

On the evening of January 28, Bethany visited her grandparents and appeared distressed by phone calls from Roldan. Though her grandmother urged her to stay, Bethany left around 11 p.m. Her approximate due date would have been August 2011, as per the website.

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Disappearance of Bethany Decker

The Dateline episode covers Bethany Decker's disappearance in detail (Image via Unsplash)

On January 29, 2011, Bethany Decker left her grandparents' home around noon, intending to return to her Ashburn apartment. That afternoon, Ronald Roldan later claimed that he saw her at their apartment, but that is the last confirmed sighting, as per Northern Virginia Magazine. She failed to attend her shift at Carrabba's or classes at George Mason thereafter, and abruptly ceased contacting friends or family, as per The Charley Project.

Decker's car was discovered in the garage, parked crookedly with a flat tire and showing dust buildup. In her apartment, her passport, identification, cell phone, and other personal items remained. There was no activity on her bank accounts, email, or phone after that day, and no evidence was found that suggested she had left the country or that her second child was born, as per WUSA9.

On February 16, 2011, friends began receiving Facebook messages from her account in broken English, stating she had messed up, needed time alone, and could not share her location. The family considered these messages suspicious because they did not match Decker's normal style. On February 19, the family reported her missing to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, as per WTOP News.

Investigators found no obvious signs of struggle in the apartment Decker shared with Roldan, and no physical crime scene was identified initially. As per the outlet, early in the investigation, both Emile Decker and Roldan were interviewed. Emile was contacted even while overseas and passed a polygraph test. Roldan cooperated at first but provided inconsistent statements.

Digital forensics later tied the Facebook messages to an IP address associated with Roldan's laptop and email. Because no body or conclusive physical evidence was recovered, the investigation stalled for years, according to WTOP News.

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Renewed investigation and legal proceedings

The Dateline episode shows that Roldan was sentenced to 12.5 years in prison (Image via Unsplash)

In November 2014, Roldan was arrested in North Carolina for assaulting a different girlfriend, Vickey Willoughby, in a violent incident involving beatings, shooting, and neck injury. She survived but lost an eye, reported WUSA9. During her recovery, she claimed Roldan had said he could "make people disappear." In 2016, he pleaded guilty to felony assault charges, which were reduced from more serious counts, and was sentenced to 6 to 8 years in prison, according to the Charley Project.

Upon his release in November 2020, authorities immediately charged him in Bethany Decker's disappearance, as per WUSA9. He was indicted on abduction and later on second-degree murder. In a November 2022 hearing, Roldan entered a guilty plea to second-degree murder, as per WTOP News. His sentencing was scheduled for February 21, 2023, according to Loudoun County.

In his plea statements, Roldan told prosecutors and investigators that during an argument over Decker's work schedule, he lightly shoved her, she tripped and hit her head on a windowsill, and died. He said he panicked, placed her body in a Christmas tree disposal bag, and dumped it into the apartment complex's trash compactor, but he did not provide any physical evidence to corroborate this account, as per WTOP News.

Prosecutors expressed skepticism about some aspects of his story, particularly given his prior pattern of violence. WUSA9 reported that on February 21, 2023, Roldan was sentenced to 12.5 years in active prison, with 27.5 more years suspended, under the plea agreement. He is also likely facing deportation to Bolivia after serving his term.

Emile Decker obtained custody of Kai and has expressed continued advocacy on behalf of Bethany. The case is officially closed, though Bethany's remains have never been recovered and are presumed lost, possibly in a landfill or trash system, as per Northern Virginia Magazine.

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Watch more about the case on the latest episode of Dateline.