How did police determine that Andrew Ridgeway was lying about Stacy Powell's whereabouts during the murder investigation?

Police were able to catch Andrew Ridgeway in his lies through systematic verification of his claims. When Ridgeway called to inquire why police were at his house, he spoke with officers and made false statements about Stacy's location. Chief Terry Storie explains that they immediately began fact-checking everything Ridgeway told them. The breakthrough came when Ridgeway claimed that Stacy had traveled to Jamaica by plane. Police were able to definitively prove this was false, as they had concrete evidence she never boarded any flight to Jamaica. This discrepancy raised immediate red flags and prompted investigators to dig deeper into the case. Once they established Ridgeway was being deceptive about basic facts, police obtained a search warrant for the house and escalated their investigation, ultimately uncovering evidence of foul play.