And on Halloween night 2011, Tim McCarter's cell phone buzzed.

We were walking for trick or treat, and some news outlet called and had mentioned that, you know, she's gonna be coming home soon, and they were trying to pinpoint a time and day because they all wanted to come and be there.

The three of them took off like a bat out of hell.

We took the closest way out of Tennessee.

She wanted out of there as quick as possible.

With emotions running in every direction, Tanya's son Tim reached for the only response that made sense in the moment.

I laughed about it at first, like, 'cause I didn't believe it, and just it was pretty wild-out-there story.

So when I met him, I asked him what she said.

I don't think we've really talked about that with anybody, but when she gave me a hug, she just said it was true.

I don't even know if anger is the right word.

It was, like, just kind of a mixture of emotion, shock, everything.

I really didn't know what to think at that point.