Whenever Denise Lynette Hart was away from her young son, she called home every day, multiple times a day to check in on him.

But then one January night in 2015, those calls stopped. When Denise's

family tried to report her missing, they got the runaround and no one would

know where Denise was until almost a year later

when the missing persons case became a homicide investigation.

I'm Kylie Lowe and this is the case of Denise Hart on Dark Down East.

It was near midnight on January 25, 2015, almost January 26th, and flickering light from bright orange flames was reflecting off the waters of Otter Creek, illuminating the Salisbury Cornwall-Cowermond.

When the Cornwall Volunteer Fire Department arrived at the scene off Swamp Road, they found

a burning car parked in a dirt lot near the fishing access and boat launch for the creek.

Firefighters were able to knock down the flames and snuff out the fire completely,

but what was left of the vehicle was badly damaged and charred by the blaze.

According to reporting by Brent Davis for the Rutland Herald, arson and forensic investigators

surveyed the remnants of the Silver 2001 Pontiac Grand

Dam for any clues as to the source of the fire and later deemed it to be suspicious in nature, but didn't say much else.

The investigation by Cornwall, fire officials, and Vermont State Police was ongoing at the

time.

As the case developed, police would soon learn that the burning vehicle was connected to the disappearance of a young mother from another state.

That same weekend, nearly 200 miles away from the suspicious car fire in Vermont,

the family of 24-year-old Denise Lynette Hart in Hartford, Connecticut

was growing more concerned by the minute.

Denise had left for one of her usual trips to see Friends in Vermont on January 23rd,

and she'd been in touch with her mom and son back home every day she was gone.

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