police had their suspicions about sam lopez s involvement in the murder of his neighbor and former girlfriend, cathy torrez. but there was no physical evidence tying him to the murder. and he had a solid alibi on the night cathy was killed. sam was with his cousin, javier. which is why when police took their case to the d.a. s office, the d.a. refused to file charges against sam. police pursued other leads too, like a possible connection to the suicide of cathy s boyfriend, albert. did you think that cathy s disappearance had anything to do with albert? no. reporter: coincidence. yeah, just two tragedies happening at the same time. reporter: but not connected. but not connected, no. reporter: even though that
i was yelling, not my cathy. not cathy. reporter: mary bennett had been right all along. cathy s toyota corolla had been spotted in a hospital parking lot. a plastic bag was peeking out of the trunk. officers opened it, and cathy torrez was missing no longer. she had been stabbed multiple times. all about the upper chest and neck. reporter: detective sergeant daron wyatt. you know, there s no way to time the death. but i think it s pretty safe to assume that she had been dead since she disappeared on that saturday night on the 12th. reporter: it was devastating not just for the torrez family but for all those in placentia who d been searching so tirelessly for cathy. she was a vibrant, very intelligent young girl. this is truly a tragedy. reporter: detectives went to work trying to find cathy s killer. they set up a hotline.
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reporter: detective sergeant daron wyatt. you know, there s no way to time the death. but i think it s pretty safe to assume that she had been dead since she disappeared on that saturday night on the 12th. reporter: it was devastating not just for the torrez family but for all those in placentia who d been searching so tirelessly for cathy. she was a vibrant, very intelligent young girl. this is truly a tragedy. reporter: detectives went to work trying to find cathy s killer. they set up a hotline. if you have any information regarding the homicide of cathy torrez reporter: and scoured placentia for clues. by studying her car and her body, investigators got a sense of what happened. first, cathy was completely clothed. no sign of a sexual assault. and one more thing also seemed clear. most likely the attack started in the car. there were pieces of the gearshift that were broken, pieces of the center console that were broken, as if a struggle had occurred. and then the
and then he looked at my mom, and he said, i m sorry. and all i remember were the flyers that were on my mom s table in the living room and feeling so much pain. i was yelling, not my cathy. not cathy. reporter: mary bennett had been right all along. cathy s toyota corolla had been spotted in a hospital parking lot. a plastic bag was peeking out of the trunk. officers opened it, and cathy torrez was missing no longer. she had been stabbed multiple times. all about the upper chest and neck.