DETROIT – In an exclusive interview with the Local 4 Defenders, Bob Bashara details what he was doing the night his wife went missing and when he knew something was wrong.
Bashara said he and his wife Jane were supposed to meet at their Grosse Pointe Park home at 8 p.m. on Jan. 24.
"I returned home from working behind my building on Mack, I needed to clean up a little. I didn't see her downstairs," he said. "I went upstairs to freshen up and that point I went looking around the house for her. I went down the basement; the TV was on there so I knew she had been down there. I then, since I couldn't find her, I went out to the garage to see if her car was there and it wasn't."
Bob Bashara said it wasn't characteristic of his wife to miss an appointment.
"After about a half hour, I started really wondering. So, I called the kids. I said, ‘Have you talked to your mother?' And they said no they hadn't communicated with her."
Marc Santic: How many times are you calling Jane through this time?
Bob Bashara: "Oh, a dozen. I called her throughout from 8:30 p.m. when I couldn't find her car there to 4 in the morning. I'm calling her cell phone, I'm calling the hospitals. We were just more anxious as time rolled on."
Bob Bashara said he called police at about 11 p.m.
"They came to the house. An officer then walked through the house, took some notes, made a report and we gave them a picture," he said.
Hours later on the following morning, Bob Bashara said police were back at his home.
"I just welled up with tears and unbelievable sorrow. This is my wife of 27 years and they told me she was dead, found in her vehicle. I just couldn't believe it," he said.
He then said he made phone calls to family telling them Jane was dead.
"It was just gut wrenching that I had to do all that, but I knew that I had to do it. I had to be the one to do it. I didn't want them to find out from the news media or from anyone else."
Marc Santia: So, what do you think happened to Jane?
Bob Bashara: I have no idea.
Marc Santia: Bob, did you kill your wife Jane?
Bob Bashara: Absolutely not.
Marc Santia: Did you hire someone to kill your wife?
Bob Bashara: No, I did not.