In May 1997, things were looking up for Gary Patterson, a 33-year-old Waco, Texas draftsman and single dad with a 6-year-old daughter Crystal.

A job opportunity to oversee a new development in El Paso would be a chance for Patterson to build a more secure future for them both.

His fiancee, Michelle Wilson, helped him pick out an outfit for his interview, she told Buried in the Backyard, airing Saturdays at 8/7c on Oxygen. They selected black pants, a white shirt and cowboy boots, and he headed to the Waco airport. “He looked nice,” Wilson said. 

She never saw him again

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