Dateline: ”Mystery on the Mississippi” - A complete timeline of the Curtis Lovelace case, revisited

The Dateline episode titled Mystery on the Mississippi features the murder case of Cory Lovelace and the eventual trial of her husband, Curtis Lovelace. Cory was a housewife and mother who stayed home in Quincy, Illinois. Curtis was a former college football player turned assistant district attorney, National Guard captain, and community leader.

In 2006, on Valentine’s Day, Cory was murdered, and the original autopsy listed her cause of death as undetermined. The case made headlines and remains a deeply tragic and controversial one that unfolded over more than a decade. Read on to know the complete timeline of Cory’s murder case, as shown in Dateline.

Here is the complete timeline of the Curtis Lovelace case as shown in Dateline

As mentioned, even on the day of the murder, Cory—being a housewife and the mother of four children (Lyndsay, Lincoln, Logan, and Larson)—was at their home in Quincy, Illinois. It was February 14, 2006, Valentine’s Day, when Curtis reported finding Cory dead in bed. When the authorities investigated, they found no clear external injuries, and the original autopsy listed her cause of death as undetermined. No charges were filed at the time. Curtis continued with his life, eventually remarrying twice.

According to what Curtis said, Cory had been sick with flu-like symptoms for a few days, while Curtis had canceled his classes to stay home and take care of her. Despite being unwell, Cory came downstairs to help the kids get ready, and at 8:15 AM, she was awake and alive. Curtis left briefly, then came back. When he went to check his mail upstairs, he found Cory dead in bed—pale, motionless, and unresponsive. Curtis, instead of dialing 911, took his son Larson and left the house. He didn’t even attempt CPR and just informed his mother-in-law and workplace.

The authorities found a bottle of vodka tonic by the bed, and Curtis admitted that they both drank heavily. Cory was battling bulimia, which often leads to electrolyte imbalances, organ strain, and losing consciousness.

The case was reopened, and the first trial happened in 2014, as shown on Dateline

In 2014, after eight years, the case was reopened, and Detective Adam Gibson reexamined it, suspecting Cory may have been suffocated to death. This led to Curtis, her husband, becoming the prime suspect and being arrested on August 14.

Just three months after Cory’s death, Curtis began dating Erika Gomez, a student from his business law class. Erika and her daughter then moved in with Curtis, and after two years, they got married. Eventually, in 2013, even this marriage didn’t work, and Erika divorced him. Curtis then married Christine, his high school homecoming date. They also opened a pie shop, suggesting a more stable and publicly acceptable family image.

Dr. Jane Turner came up with transformative findings and concluded that Cory had likely died 10–12 hours before the photo of the body was taken. This meant she could not have helped the kids get ready for school that morning, as Curtis described. She concluded that Cory was possibly suffocated with an object, such as a pillow, left under her arms during or after the act, then taken away later, as shown in Dateline.

This led to the arrest of Curtis in 2014. Lyndsay initially told police—twice—that she remembered seeing her mom alive that morning. On the stand, she changed her statement. The defense, on the other hand, posits Cory’s disease as the cause of death. In 2016, the first trial ended in a mistrial: the jury was deadlocked. Was this a cold-blooded, calculated murder with no physical struggle? Or a tragic death, wrongly reinterpreted years later—fueled by suspicion and hindsight?

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In 2017, in a surprising turn of events, the prosecution geared up for the second trial. Even Erika, Curtis’s ex-wife, validated his abusive behavior towards her. Curtis fought against all the charges. The case was then moved to Springfield due to publicity concerns, and Curtis was acquitted of all charges.

The case gained widespread media coverage and was featured in the Dateline episode.

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