Inside a family's fight to keep teen daughter's killers in prison

This story originally aired on Feb. 15, 2025. It was updated on July 25, 2026.

It was Sept. 18, 2003 when Justine Vanderschoot's remains were discovered in a remote location more than two weeks after she disappeared. But it's in the garden outside her bedroom window where her parents Don and Lynnette still come to find her.

Lynnette Vanderschoot: It's … 21 years since we've lost Justine … but it's still very fresh in our mind.

Mementos of their youngest child and condolence flowers that poured in after her death are now permanently rooted here.

At the center is a towering dogwood tree — a reminder of her favorite trips to the Sierra mountains and a sobering measure of how long she's been gone.

Lynnette Vanderschoot (in Justine's Garden) When we celebrated the 17th anniversary, Christine said she's been gone as long as she was here on earth.

Justine's older sister Christine sums up what those years have been like for her in one word.

Christine Vanderschoot: Lonely. She was my best friend …We were only 18 months apart … We did pretty much everything together since day one.

Natalie Morales: How would you describe Justine? What was her personality?

Christine Vanderschoot: Vibrant, charismatic, just life of the party … She … made you laugh every time she'd say something.

Don Vanderschoot: She was a spark in our household that's for sure.

Lynnette Vanderschoot: Little firecracker (laughs) … Cheerleader, baseball, soccer. She was always on the go.

At 17, Justine was on the verge of graduating high school and wanted to pursue a career in fashion and beauty.

Natalie Morales: Did she know what she wanted to do in life after high school?

Christine Vanderschoot: She would sew and design her own shirts and shoes. … She had to stand out and … that was what she wanted to do for other people was make them stand out and feel beautiful.

Instead, her family is now forced to grapple with her murder and its aftermath.

Don Vanderschoot: I don't ever want to forget about her, but I don't want to be reminded of what happened.

Natalie Morales: But it's not so easy to just pack it up and put it away, right?

In fact, the Vanderschoots say it remains an open wound thanks to ongoing efforts by Justine's convicted murderers — Danny Bezemer and Brandon Fernandez— to get out of prison.

Ed Bonner: Including parole hearings … I think the Vanderschoots have been back to court seven times … the last seven years, always facing the possibility.

It's hard to imagine that both men were once welcome in the family's home. First came Brandon.

Christine Vanderschoot: I believe