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Dateline: Unforgettable season 5 episode 6 covers the case of Sherri Dally, a 35-year-old mother who was abducted from a Target parking lot in Ventura County, California, on May 6, 1996.
It was Mother's Day, and Sherri had gone out to buy a gift and run errands. However, the surveillance cameras captured her being handcuffed by a blonde woman posing as a security guard. In the parking lot, she was forced into a Nissan Altima and was never seen alive again.
Dateline: Unforgettable season 5 episode 6, titled The Life She Wanted, premiered on February 20, 2025, on Oxygen. Additionally, it is available for streaming on NBC and Apple TV Plus. The official synopsis reads:
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"A wife and mother is taken into an unmarked car by a blonde woman on a Monday morning."
Dateline: Unforgettable season 5 episode 6: What is the story of Sherri Dally?
As per Dateline: Unforgettable season 5 episode 6, Sherri Dally was a successful daycare center owner living in Ventura County, California. She and her husband, Michael Dally, were high school sweethearts who later married and had two sons.
Michale worked at a local Vons grocery store, while Sherri ran her daycare from her home. On a Monday morning, Sherri went to run errands and buy a Mother's Day gift at a Target store.
Surveillance footage captured her entering the store's parking lot, followed by a blonde woman disguised as a law enforcement officer. The woman showed Sherri her badge, handcuffed her, and led her into a Nissan Altima car, which then drove away.
That was the last time she was seen alive. As per Dateline: Unforgettable season 5, episode 6, by afternoon, Michael reported her missing to the Ventura Police Department, stating that she had not returned home after dropping off their children.
Since Sherri was a frequent visitor to Target, her family traced her van in the parking lot, left abandoned, with her IDs and all her belongings. As per an Oxygen article published on February 20, 2025, Ventura Detectives Sean Conroy and Matt Harvill were appointed to take on the case.
Both detectives personally knew the couple, and they had been to high school together. In the Oxygen article, Detective Harvey reported:
“Most homicides, I arrive on scene and we have the decedent. I didn’t know the decedent beforehand, so I can’t put a personality, a voice to the unfortunate victim,” Harvill said of what made the case so unique. “Sherri was a different story. You know I can put a voice to it, I can put a smile, I can put a kind word to this person.”
Michael and Sherri Dally had a deteriorating marriage
As per Dateline: Unforgettable season 5 episode 6, Michael and Sherri's marriage was falling apart. When Detectives Conroy and Harvill interrogated Michael, he confessed that they had a difficult marriage.
Additionally, he revealed having a girlfriend named Diana but claimed he didn't know her surname or location. He mentioned that she was a co-worker at Vons. Using a phone number provided by him, investigators traced a woman named Diana Huan, who lived in Port Hueneme, California.
As per Dateline: Unforgettable season 5, episode 6, Investigators were shocked to find Michael at her residence, considering his wife had been abducted. In the Oxygen article, Detective Conroy said:
“He’s supposed to be at home waiting for the phone to ring, you know, in case a hospital called that they had his wife or just anything, when he’s actually at the very first opportunity spending the night with his girlfriend.”
Suspicion around Michael Dally deepened when officers found out that he had begun selling Sherri's possessions as if he had already accepted that she would not come back.
As per Oxygen, detectives also reviewed surveillance footage and identified the car used in the kidnapping. Instead of a Ford Crown Victoria, usually used by police officers, the vehicle was actually a teal sedan, further confirming that the suspect was pretending to be a law enforcement officer.
As per Dateline: Unforgettable season 5, episode 6, investigators eventually found a Nissan Altima that had been rented by Michael's mistress, Diane, before Sherri disappeared. The car reportedly had bloodstains on the mat and backseat, and one of its rearview mirrors was broken. When the seats were cut, investigators found more soaked blood.
It was more shocking to find fragments of synthetic blonde hair, exactly what was found in the surveillance records. Additionally, as per a Cinemaholic article published on July 6, 2023, the blonde wig and tan pansuit were taken under the name of Diane Huan.
Michael Dally and his mistress, Diane Huans, were arrested by authorities
As per Dateline: Unforgettable season 5 episode 6, detectives found a photo of Michael, Diane, and the two sons, looking like a family photo. As per Cinemaholic, Michael was reportedly having multiple affairs, including relationships with prostitutes.
Additionally, he was a habitual cocaine user. One of Huan's coworkers even claimed that she was related to witchcraft and announced making a human sacrifice before the birthday of one of his friends, who was symbolically Michael.
Dateline: Unforgettable season 5 episode 6: The body of Sherri Dally was discovered
Without Sherri Dally's body, proving the culprits guilty of murder was initially difficult. However, on June 1, 1996, the remains of Sherri Dally's body were found on Cañada Larga Road, as reported by the Cinemaholic.
A group of investigators found Sherri's sunglasses at the side of the road. As they climbed down the slope, they found a pair of black shorts belonging to her. Then came the discovery, Sherri's decomposed remains.
Most of her body was eaten by wild animals, with only almost the skeleton remaining. As per Deadline: Unforgettable season 5 episode 6, the body was soon sent for autopsy, which revealed that Sherri's skull and jaw had fractures.
These wounds revealed that Sherri had been exposed to blunt force trauma with a heavy object. However, as per Cinemaholic, the cause of her death was determined to be four to five stab wounds to the chest.
Investigators also noticed that Diane had scratches on her forehead. When interrogated, she claimed she fell from a bike. However, detectives suspected that the victim must have tried to fight back before her death.
Further investigation revealed Michael's direct involvement in the crime. He had informed Diane about Sherri's routine, including her regular visits to Target every Monday at that time. Additionally, Michael was connected to selling drugs.
As reported by Oxygen, a prostitute who knew Michael contacted the police. She revealed that Michael drove her to the site where Sherri's body was later found and had s*x with her. Detectives figured out that Michael did not want to take the legal expense of a divorce.
Additionally, Michael was supposed to receive $50,000 from Sherri Dally's life insurance policy. The motive of the murder was finally discovered. In November 1996, the culprits were arrested and put on trial.
As per Dateline: Unforgettable season 5 episode 6, Michael Dally and Diane Huan were found guilty in April 1998. They were sentenced to life in prison without any chance of parole.
Check our other articles to know more details on other episodes of Dateline: Unforgettable.
