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.<doc-sep>Colorado statutes are clear about the definition of murder, a legal expert tells PEOPLE Why Wasn't Chris Watts Charged in the Death of His Unborn Baby? Chris Watts, the man accused of killing his two children and pregnant wife last week, will not be charged in the death of his unborn child due to the definition of murder under state law, a legal expert tells PEOPLE. “It says quite clearly in the murder statute, in order for a person to be guilty of murder, the victim has to be a person who is both alive and born,” Ian Farrell, assistant professor at The University of Denver Sturm College of Law, tells PEOPLE. Get push notifications with news, features and more. Watts was charged with five counts of first-degree murder. On top of murder charges for his wife and two daughters, two additional charges were added because the children were less than 12 years old. Shanann, 34, was 15 weeks pregnant when she and her two daughters — Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3 — went missing on Monday, Aug. 13, from the Colorado home she shared with her husband Chris. Three days later, according to court documents filed by the prosecutor, police discovered Shanann’s body in a “shallow grave” while her daughters were concealed nearby “inside oil tanks” in a field where Chris reportedly worked as an operator until being fired the day before, which was the same day he was arrested. • Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter. In addition to the first-degree murder charges, Chris was charged with three counts of tampering with a deceased body and one count of unlawful termination of a pregnancy. shanann-watts-3 Shan’ann Watts (center) and her daughters | Credit: Shanann Watts /Facebook The laws are specific when it comes to how Chris can be charged in the death of his unborn child — who according to Shanann’s family was a boy that had already been named Nico. “A homicide conviction would not be available,” Farrell says about Shanann’s pregnancy. RELATED VIDEO: Pregnant Mom & 2 Daughters Likely Killed at Home — Allegedly by Husband — Before Bodies Were Dumped Chris remains in custody without bond. During a court appearance Tuesday, he did not enter a plea. He is scheduled to return to court on Nov. 19. His attorney did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. An affidavit for Chris’ arrest alleged he was “actively involved in an affair with a co-worker,” which he had denied in previous interviews with police. According to the affidavit, Chris allegedly admitted to killing Shanann — but said he only did so after he “went into a rage” after, he claimed, he watched Shanann strangle one of their daughters.<doc-sep>Nickole Atkinson dropped Shanann Watts off at her home in Frederick, Colorado, after a late business trip at around 2 a.m. on Aug. 13. It was only later, after speaking to Shanann’s husband, Chris, that she realized that she may have been the last person to see Shanann before she was killed. Shanann , who was found dead along with her two young daughters last week, was reported missing by Atkinson after the friend didn’t hear from her after they parted ways. It wasn’t until after talking to Chris—who has reportedly confessed to the triple murder—that she started to think the worst. “He just kept saying that he didn’t know where she was and that she was on a playdate,” said Atkinson, recalling the conversation she had with Chris the day Shanann went missing. “But he couldn’t give us the name of the friend. I knew he had something to do with it the day I was at his house with him, but I didn’t want to think that.” Atkinson is the closest friend of Shanann Watts to speak out since she and daughters Celeste, 3, and Bella, 4, were found dead Thursday. She says she became alarmed after Watts, who was 15 weeks pregnant, missed a routine medical appointment to check on her baby’s heartbeat. Investigators believe that between the time Atkinson dropped Shanann off and the discovery of the bodies, Chris Watts killed his family at their home and drove their bodies to property of the petroleum company he worked for. His wife’s body was recovered in a shallow grave on Thursday, according to court documents, and the children’s bodies were found in oil tanks. Along with the FBI, Atkinson became concerned by the seemingly unemotional way Chris Watts was dealing with the “disappearance” of his family. His “cavalier” interview with Denver7, in which he made repeated appeals for his wife and children to come home, raised red flags for police and Atkinson said his whole demeanor worried her. “He was defending himself, but it just didn’t make sense. Like in that moment it is kind of surreal,” Atkinson told Good Morning America Monday. “He was just sitting there waiting for something to happen; it just didn’t seem right to me.” Atkinson said she wasn’t “shocked” when police arrested Chris Watts in connection with his family’s murder a few days after she spoke to him. He was booked Thursday on three counts each of first-degree murder and tampering with physical evidence. He has yet to be officially charged. Atkinson said she believed the couple were happily married—but that Chris Watts, unprompted, brought up the issue of separation when she called him the day Shanann went missing, which she thought was strange. “She didn’t talk about leaving him or separating. She very much loved her family and wanted to be a family,” said Atkinson. “I didn’t find out that they were going to separate or anything like that until I called Chris that morning. “When I called him and asked him where she was, that’s when he told me and I basically told him that that wasn’t my [concern] at that particular moment because it wasn’t and that their business was their business, that they would either work it out or they wouldn’t.” She says her suspicions were further fueled when a neighbor’s security video showed that Shanann didn’t leave the house after she was dropped off—but Chris Watts did. Atkinson says that discovery proved to her that “there was something seriously wrong.” “Anyone in their right mind will start piecing things together and think something had happened, but you don’t want to go there,” said Shanann’s close friend. “You want to believe the best in people.” Atkinson says she can no longer hear the suspect’s name without becoming “angry” and, in hindsight, says she noticed that he was being less affectionate with his wife over the past month. “He wasn’t being the loving Chris that he normally was,” said Atkinson. “He wasn’t touching or hugging or doing stuff like that. He wasn’t being as attentive to the girls as he normally is.” Atkinson went on to say that when the bodies were discovered, it was “one of my worst nightmares,” adding: “I sat on our bed for, I don’t know how long, and didn’t move because I didn’t want to think that they weren’t coming back.” The deadline for charges to be filed against Chris Watts is Monday afternoon.<doc-sep>
Shanann Watts, 34, and her two children Bella, 3, and Celeste ìCeceî, 4, have been missing since Monday from Frederick, CO, according to Frederick Police Public Information Officer Sgt. Ian Albert. Police checked on the residence of Watts after a friend called and requested a welfare check for the 15-week pregnant mom. At this time police are not releasing additional information about the incident, but believe the public is not at risk, Sgt. Albert said. Police are asking the public to call if they have any tips that could lead to the whereabouts of Watts. Court docs say victims may have been strangled Christopher Watts is escorted into the courtroom before his bond hearing at the Weld County Courthouse on Thursday, Aug. 16, 2018, in Greeley, Colo. Watts, of Colorado, whose wife and daughters disappeared this week was arrested on suspicion of killing them. (Joshua Polson/The Greeley Tribune via AP, Pool) Correction: A previous version of this article misspelled the first name of Shanann Watts and identified Bella as the youngest daughter. She is the oldest. (CNN) — After his pregnant wife and their two young daughters vanished last week, Chris Watts spoke with a local Colorado news station as a concerned father, pleading for the return of his family. Just a week later, Watts appeared largely emotionless as he was arraigned in court Tuesday on nine charges, including several counts of first-degree murder for the killings of his wife and two daughters. In shackles and an orange jumpsuit, he was informed of his rights and agreed to waive a preliminary hearing. The arraignment came days after the body of his wife, Shanann, was found in a shallow grave, and the bodies of their two daughters, Bella, 4, and Celeste, 3, were found in nearby oil tanks at a company where Watts had worked, according to a court filing by prosecutors. Watts, who was arrested last week, is being held without bond. In addition, investigators claimed to have discovered that Watts was involved in an affair with a co-worker, according to an unsealed Weld County arrest affidavit. In his initial interview with police, Watts said that he had told his wife that he wanted to separate on the morning of August 13 and then left for work. However, in a second interview with police, Watts told police that he looked at the baby monitor screen and saw Shanann strangling their daughter Celeste and that he saw their older daughter, Bella, “sprawled” out on her bed and blue, according to the affidavit. Watts told police that he went into a rage and strangled his wife to death, according to the affidavit. He told them that he took the bodies and dumped them in three separate locations, according to the filing. Autopsy results have not been released. Watts’ defense lawyers requested that the pathologists be required to “take DNA swabs of throats” of the deceased children, but was denied Monday. His lawyers have not commented publicly. Multiple murder charges The 33-year-old father was charged Monday with three counts of first-degree murder for the three deaths, as well as two additional first-degree murder charges of causing the death of a child younger than 12. He also faces three counts of tampering with a body and a count of first-degree unlawful termination of a pregnancy, said Weld County District Attorney Michael J. Rourke. He did not reveal a motive. 01:35 - Source: HLN See husband plea for wife's return In an interview with CNN affiliate KMGH on August 14 – after his family disappeared but before his arrest – Watts said he wanted his family back home. “We had an emotional conversation, I’ll leave it at that,” Watts told a reporter who asked whether they’d argued. “I just want them back. I just want them to come back.” Shanann’s father, Frank Rzucek Sr., thanked authorities on Monday for finding the bodies of his family members. He said the family appreciated those who attended a candlelight vigil and expressed support. “Keep the prayers coming for our family,” he said, holding back tears. Frankie Rzucek, Shanann’s brother, wrote on Facebook that he was thankful that he had been able to spend recent weeks, “loving, laughing, and enjoying what precious time I had with my Sister and nieces that I loved with every inch of my soul. I wish I could go back in time and be there to keep you safe from harm. Sorry uncle couldn’t save you.