Manuela Allen — or Manu, as she was called — grew up in a Bavarian Village in southern Germany.
In college, she came to the United States to study English and that’s when she met Peter — the man who would one day become her husband.
They both became teachers: He taught math, she taught German and English. They settled in Olney, Texas, to raise their family.
And because the Allens were teachers, they had the summers off.
So in the summer of 2019, the Allens went to Germany to visit Manu’s family for a couple of weeks.
They’d only been home for a few days when something terrible happened...
It was Sunday, July 7, 2019 — a little before 9 a.m.
Peter, who was surfing the web in the living room, said their teenage daughter Kiara popped in asking for her mom.
Peter told her to check the bedroom, but Kiara said the door was locked.
And when she went around to check, Kiara found blood — a lot of it.
But no Manuela.
When investigators arrived, they tried to make sense of the bloody scene. It was evident that there had been some type of struggle.
The authorities knew almost immediately: This missing person’s case was not likely to end well. And everyone in that house was going to have to start answering questions…
To find out what happened to Manu, watch the full episode, “The Footprint at the Lake” on Peacock now.
The episode is also available to watch on the NBC app and to listen to on our podcast.
After you finish the episode, watch Manu’s loved ones remember her as a loving wife, mother, teacher and friend.
Plus, listen to the Talking Dateline episode with Andrea Canning and Josh Mankiewicz, where they talk about some interesting behind-the-scenes moments and the making of the episode.
