FREDERICK, Colo. – Chris Watts, the Colorado man who is now accused of killing his pregnant wife and their two daughters, gave an interview to Denver7’s Tomas Hoppough on Tuesday, a day after the three were reported missing.
In the interview, he tells a detailed version of what he claims happened when Shanann Watts and their daughters Bella and Celeste went missing, including that he and his wife “had an emotional conversation” before he allegedly last saw her. He also made a direct plea for Shanann and the girls to come home.
You can watch the full interview in the players embedded above this story or below this sentence. The full transcript of the interview can be found below that.
Chris Watts
1:07 – 1:30 – Right now its they’ve got K-9 units, the Sheriff’s Dept., everybody’s like, they’re doing their best right now to figure out if they can get a scent, see where they went, if they went on foot if they went in a car, if they went somewhere. And right now it’s just like, they’ve been on point, they’re going through the house trying to get a scent and hopefully they can pick something up to where it’s going to lead to something.
1:35 -2:13 – She came home from the airport at 2 a.m. and I left around 5:15, she was still here. And about 12:10 that afternoon her friend showed up at the door, like I had texted Shanann a couple times that day, called her to say, hey, you know, but she never got back to me. But she wasn’t getting back to any of her people as well, and that’s what really concerned a lot of people, is like if she’s not getting back to me that’s fine, she gets busy during the day, but she didn’t get back to her people which is really concerning. And Nicole called me when she was at the door and that’s when I came home and then walked in the house and nothing, just vanished, nothing was here.
2:14 – 2:17 – I mean she wasn’t here, the kids weren’t here, nobody was here.
2:22 – “Bella and Celeste”
2:30 2:33 – “Bella’s 4 and Celeste is 3.”
2:37 – 3:01 – “I called her 3 times, texted her about three times just to say, you know, what’s going on. Like after I called her and texted her once it was like, maybe she was just busy, she had just gotten back, you know. Like everybody’s probable calling her from her trip you know. She just got back from Arizona and I figured she was just busy, but when her friend showed up that’s when it just registered -- like alright, this isn’t right.”
3:04 (Tomas asks, “Do you think she just took off?”)
3:06 – 3:49 – I mean right now I don’t even want to just like throw anything out there, like I hope that she’s somewhere safe right now and with the kids, but I mean could she have van…could she have just taken off, I don’t know, but if someone has her and they’re not safe I’ll want them back now. Like, that’s, that, that’s what’s in my head is like, if they’re safe right now, they’re gonna come back, but if they’re not safe right now that’s the not knowing part, like if they’re not safe. Last night I was, I had every light in the house on, I was hoping that I would just get just ran over by the kids running in the door and just like barrel rushing me, but it didn’t happen and it was just a traumatic night trying to be here.”
3:54 3:55 – (Stutters) I mean, er, I mean my kids are my life.
3:56 - 4:46 – I mean those smiles light up my life. And it’s like, I mean last night, like during like at like you know when they usually eat dinner, it was just like I miss them. Like, I mean I miss the telling them like you got to eat that, like or you’re not going to get your dessert, or just, like you’re not going to get your snack, after, you know (laughs). I miss that, like I miss them cuddled up on their couches, they have like a Minnie Mouse couch and a Sofia couch that like they cuddle up on or watch you know Bubble Guppies or something and it was just like you know, I miss, I was (sigh), it was tearing me apart last night and I needed that, I needed that last night and for them, for nobody to be here last night and to go into their rooms and not, and know that I wasn’t going to turn their rain machines on and know that I wasn’t going to turn their monitor on and know I wasn’t going to kiss them to bed tonight it was, (sigh) it was, I, I, that’s why last night was just horrible.
4:46 – 4:55 I couldn’t do it, I just, (laugh), I want everybody just to come home. Like, wherever they’re at, just come home. That’s what I want.
4:55 – 5:24 – Tomas moving camera, Chris explaining just timeline of when she was supposed to get home, flight delayed, when she got home at 1:48, got home, got to bed at 2.
5:36 – I left for work early that morning, like 5:15 to 5:30, so like, she barley, I mean, she barely got, barely gotten into bed pretty much.
5:46 – 5:50 (Tomas – I know this might be a tough question, but did you guys get into an argument or anything before she left?)
5:51 – 5:55 – It wasn’t like an argument, we had an emotional conversation but I’ll leave it at that.
5:55 – 6:01 – “But it’s, sigh, I just want them back (smiles and laughs) I just want them to come back.”
6:02 – 6:14 – And if, if they’re not safe right now, that’s what’s tearing me apart, because if they are safe, they’re coming back, but if they’re not, this, this, this has got to stop, like this, somebody has to come forward.”
6:38 – 6:46 – Colorado is, I mean, um, you can’t just drive around and look, I mean it’s just like, you wouldn’t really know what you were looking for that’s what the cops pretty much told me.
6:46 – 6:50 – That first day I was like I want to get out and drive around and they were like you wouldn’t know what to look for.
7:02 – 7:33 – Right now this is, what they’re doing right now is with the K9 and the scents, I think this is the biggest thing they’ve done so far because yesterday they had, Fredrick police dept, they had all the searching of the house and try to guide out whatever information they could and with the detectives, officers, sergeants, and today its, I mean, obviously with all the activity that’s around, its, its, its, there’s a lot going on around here and I really hope that all this can lead to something positive.
7:51 – 7:56 (Tomas: “If your wife could see this, if she could watch this, what would you like to tell your wife?)
7:56 – Shanann, Bella, Celeste, if you’re out there, just come back, like if somebody has her, just please bring her back, I need to see everybody, I need to see everybody, again, this house is not complete without anybody here. Please bring them back.