>> SHE VANISHED NEARLY 50 YEARS AGO FROM A SMALL TOWN IN SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN, LEAVING BEHIND HER. ONE YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER. >> BUT A RECENT ARREST 600 MILES AWAY MAY HOLD THE KEY TO THE 1978 DISAPPEARANCE OF JOYCE FISHER FROM VAN BUREN COUNTY TARGET 8 INVESTIGATOR. SUSAN SAMPLES WAS TIPPED OFF THAT THE MAN LONG SUSPECTED OF MURDERING JOYCE IS ACCUSED OF KILLING AGAIN. >> 28 YEAR-OLD JOYCE FISHER HAD BEEN MISSING LESS THAN A MONTH OF MAY 1978 WHEN THE HERALD PALLADIUM IN SAINT JOE DECLARED HER DISAPPEARANCE. A MYSTERY STILL WHAT THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THAT HEADLINE WOODEN DOOR FOR DECADES. BUT NOW 46 YEARS LATER, A GLIMMER OF HOPE. THE SUSPECT IN THE CASE WHERE THE WIFE WENT MISSING RECENTLY ARRESTED DOWN SOUTH. HE'S TALKING ABOUT THE ARREST THIS SUMMER OF JERRY WAYNE FISHER, THE FORMER VAN BUREN COUNTY MAN. NOW 72 AND LIVING IN ALABAMA IS CHARGED WITH MURDER IN THE MAY SHOOTING DEATH OF AN ALABAMA NEIGHBOR ALLEGEDLY OVER A PROPERTY DISPUTE DOESN'T SURPRISE ME NOW. THAT'S BECAUSE VAN BUREN COUNTY SHERIFF DAN ABBOTT BELIEVES JERRY FISHER HAS KILLED BEFORE JOYCE FISHER, A YOUNG MOTHER AND SPECIAL ED TEACHER WAS CHERRIES ESTRANGED WIFE TO THIS DATE. HE'S NEVER ADMITTED ANY RESPONSIBILITY. THE FISHERS WERE IN THE PROCESS OF DIVORCING WITH THE CUSTODY BATTLE OVER THEIR ONE YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER STILL PENDING IN APRIL. 78 JOYCE LEFT HER DAUGHTER WITH HER MOM TO MEET UP BRIEFLY WITH JERRY. SHE WAS MEETING HER ESTRANGED HUSBAND AT THE TIME AND SISTER FOR A CAR TITLE. THEY LEFT TO GO GET IT NOTARIZED. HE SHOWS BACK UP AT STORE. >> 45 MINUTES LATER SHE WAS NO LONGER IN THE CAR. NEVER SEEN AGAIN. >> 10 YEARS AFTER JOYCE VANISHED, VAN BUREN COUNTY JURY CONVICTED JERRY OF MANSLAUGHTER IN HER KILLING. BUT THE COURT OF APPEALS IN MICHIGAN OVERTURNED THAT CONVICTION CITING INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE AFTER 4 YEARS IN PRISON JERRY FISHER WAS RELEASED. THERE'S BEEN TIPS OVER THE YEARS. ONE CLAIMS JOYCE'S BODY WAS IN A PRIVATE LAKE NEAR THE VAN BUREN CAST COUNTY LINE. >> ABBOTT WAS PART OF THE TEAM THAT SEARCHED THE LAKE BUT CAME UP EMPTY. NOW HE HOPES THE ALABAMA MURDER CASE WILL GIVE THEM LEVERAGE AND ANSWERS. I CAN TELL YOU FROM OUR STANDPOINT, WE WOULD LOVE TO GET CLOSURE ON THIS CASE, NOT ONLY FOR THE VICTIM BUT FOR THE FAMILY AND EVERYBODY INVOLVED.