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DATELINE “Bethany Vanished” The Bethany Decker story
When Bethany Anne Decker disappeared from her Virginia apartment on a cold January day in 2011, her family had no idea they were about to embark on a heartbreaking journey that would span more than a decade. This Friday night, Dateline correspondent Keith Morrison revisits this tragic case in “Bethany Vanished,” a gripping episode that explores the mysterious disappearance of a young mother whose life was cut short just as she was preparing to welcome her second child.
A Life Full of Promise
At just 21 years old, Bethany Decker seemed to have her whole life ahead of her. A senior at George Mason University majoring in global and economic change, she was balancing motherhood with her education while working at Carrabba’s Italian Grill in Centreville, Virginia. She had a one-year-old son and was five months pregnant, with a due date set for August 2011.
But beneath the surface of this promising young life, complications were brewing. Bethany’s husband, Emile Decker, was an Army National Guardsman deployed in Afghanistan. During his absence, Bethany had begun a relationship with Ronald Roldan, a Bolivian immigrant she met at the restaurant where she worked. The affair led to a separation, and Bethany moved into an apartment in Ashburn, Virginia, where Roldan eventually joined her.
The Day Everything Changed
January 29, 2011, started like any other day. Bethany had just returned from a week-long vacation to Hawaii with her estranged husband, who was home on leave. That afternoon, phone records show she called her employer at 2:08 p.m., asking to pick up an evening shift. A coworker remembered speaking with her. It would be the last confirmed contact anyone had with Bethany Decker.
According to Roldan, Bethany left their apartment that afternoon while he was in the kitchen. He claimed he didn’t know where she was going or when she would return. Strangely, he couldn’t even describe what she was wearing when she left.
Three Weeks of Deception
What makes this case particularly chilling is that it took three weeks for anyone to realize Bethany was missing. Messages continued to appear on her Facebook account, seemingly from Bethany herself, reassuring friends and family that everything was fine. Her absence from work and classes at George Mason University went unnoticed in the confusion.
When Emile Decker returned to Afghanistan on February 4, Bethany wasn’t at the airport to see him off—highly uncharacteristic behavior that raised red flags. By February 19, 2011, when her family finally reported her missing, they discovered her car parked in her garage, her passport and identification left behind, and no activity on her bank accounts, email, or cell phone since January 29.
Investigators soon uncovered a disturbing truth: someone had been impersonating Bethany on Facebook. Records obtained through a search warrant revealed that both Bethany’s and Roldan’s Facebook accounts were being accessed from the same IP address beginning on February 16, 2011, suggesting Roldan had been posing as her to delay the discovery of her disappearance.
A Pattern of Violence Emerges
The investigation into Bethany’s disappearance took a dramatic turn years later. In 2014, Roldan shot another girlfriend in North Carolina, causing her to lose an eye. He was convicted in 2016 and sentenced to prison. The victim later claimed on the Dr. Phil show that Roldan had made statements implicating himself in Bethany’s disappearance.
This new evidence reinvigorated the case. When Roldan was released from prison in 2020, instead of being deported as expected, he was immediately charged with Bethany’s abduction and returned to Loudoun County, Virginia.
The Truth Finally Revealed
After more than a decade of silence, Ronald Roldan finally revealed what happened to Bethany Decker. In November 2022, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. During a proffer session in January 2023, Roldan told investigators that on January 29, 2011, he became angry when Bethany requested an extra shift at work. During an argument in their living room, he pushed her. She tripped over her own feet and struck her head on a window sill.
Rather than call 911, Roldan disposed of Bethany’s body in a Christmas tree disposal bag, dumping it in their apartment complex’s trash compactor. Her remains, along with those of her unborn child, have never been recovered.
In February 2023, Roldan was sentenced to 40 years in prison, with 27.5 years suspended, meaning he will serve just 12.5 years followed by five years of probation—a sentence that many, including Bethany’s family, found inadequate for such a heinous crime.
A Family’s Enduring Pain
During victim impact statements at sentencing, Bethany’s family described years of anguish, desperately hoping she was alive even as the evidence suggested otherwise. Her younger sister, Ashley Littlejohn, said she “adored and idolized” her “bold and brave” older sister. Her brother Robert revealed that from age 13 to 19, he couldn’t feel emotions, adding that he “learned hope was bad.”
Bethany’s grandmother spoke of the family’s concerns about Roldan’s controlling behavior and the threats he made against Bethany and other family members. The family described a loving young woman who was excited about having another child and who took care of her younger siblings, serving as someone they could confide in.
Keith Morrison’s Investigation
In “Bethany Vanished,” veteran Dateline correspondent Keith Morrison delves deep into this tragic case, exploring how a young mother could disappear for weeks without anyone noticing, how social media was weaponized to conceal a crime, and how justice was delayed but ultimately served. Morrison’s signature storytelling brings viewers through the intensive search efforts that went
