is dateline. she s the little girl that one hard in a big city they called you the miracle baby, why did they call you. that shot in the head at point blank range, a crime scene that shocked, even hardened police. dorothy explorer pillow and it had blood on it. as she fought to live, this detective vowed to catch whoever left her, soon he turned up a promising lead. bells and whistles go off in my head. in the hospital she battled back. to know that she had survived was a pretty powerful moment. not just her body, but her mind. they was the guy that came in the daycare, and erika said don t let him hurt me. she had handed investigators what could be a vital clue. but would it be enough to crack the case? . hello and welcome to dateline. i m craig melvin. it all started when the crime but not even police could believe. a little girl, just a toddler. shot in the head deliberately, left for dead by a killer who then disappeared but a, defective vowed
now rick arnold knew it would be a high profile case. he didn t know it would be the case of a lifetime. this is the dchblhoning in o. this drum where the victim s body is a shell casing. the harsh reality of death lay side by side with the images of young life. erin s body in a pool of blood near a red kiddie wagon. a shell casing and the bed where erica once jumped for joy was covered in her own blood. you had blood on the sheets, the pillows and the pillow cases. the detective noticed something on the bed that would burn in his memory throughout the investigation. the first thing that immediately hit me was the dora the explorer pillow that had
arnold new this would be a high profile case. he didn t know it would be the case of a lifetime. today s date is may 18,2006. reporter: a video camera rolled as detective arnold processed the crime scene, honing in on clues. this drum, near the victim s body, a shell casing. reporter: the harsh reality of death lay side by side with the every day images of young life. erin s body in a pool of blood, near a red kiddy wagon. a shell casing in front of a box of diapers. and the bed where erica jumped for joy was covered in her own blood. suspected blood on the sheets, pillows and pillowcases. reporter: detective arnold noticed something on the bed. the first thing that immediately hit me was the dora the explorer pillow with blood
now it would be a high profile case. he just didn t know it would be the case of a lifetime. this is detective rick arnold. today s date is may 18, 2006. a video camera rolled as detective arnold processed the crime scene. honing in on clues. it s a shell casing. the harsh reality of death lay side by side with the every day images of young life. erin s body in a pool of blood near a red kitty wagon. a shell casing in front of a box of diapers and the bed where erica once jumped for joy was now covered in her own blood. the suspected blood on the sheets, pillows and pillow cases. detective arnold noticed something in the bed that would burn in the memory throughout the investigation. the first thing that immediately hit me was the dora the explorer pillow and it had
retired rick arnold knew it would be a high profile case. he did not know it would be the case of a lifetime. this is detective rick arn d arnold. today is may 18th, 2006. the video camera rolled across the crime scene. this is where the victim s body was located. the harsh reality of death lay side by side with the images of young life. erin s body in a pool of brood near a red kid wagon. a shell casing in front of a box of diapers. and the bed where erica jumped for joy was cases. detective arnold noticed something on the bed that would burn in his memory throughout the investigation. the first thing that immediately hit me was the dora the explorer pillow. it had blood on it. what was the emotion when you saw that?