lieutenant eddie hope. i was glad people cared. because we live in a world where a lot of people are just worried about themselves and not others. and here was evidence that maybe there are people yes. some other investigator might have blown off. just as other civilian with an internet connection and a theory. but kevin seems to know what he s doing, and his internet skills, way beyond what lieutenant hope could do. and before long, they didn t actually meet in person, they began acting almost like partners. we just flew together. whatever he needed, that he couldn t get that i could get, law enforcement wise, he would send it to. me he kind of meshed together these bits of information. yes. and two things happened. one, kevin realized lavender doe was not one of the missing woman he d been looking for. and two, he got hooked on the case of the girl in the lavender shirt, but he kept hitting dead ends. he needed some specialized help, very specialized.
and put more weight behind what we re doing. who was lavender doe? that was what was left at that point. lavender doe dna tested in a return from the lab on october 2018 and the team want to work looking for potential relatives. just nine days later, they found one. a woman in east texas, right near the spot where lavender doe was found. i contacted lieutenant hope. i told him we have this descendant who lives about 30 minutes from where lavender doe was found, i can t tell you exactly how she s related but it seems that could be a huge coincidence if she wasn t fairly closely related. decided to be immensely exciting? we thought this is the mom. this is the family. this is it. and so of course, lieutenant hope with a brand-new optimism, drove out to sea her, and he came out empty. the woman had no missing relatives, and no idea who
they added a paypal button to raise money for that test. for lavender doe s dna. and pretty soon, the online community that followed the lavender doe case answered the call. and within four days, the public had come through and completely funded the testing that we had to do. but before they could even get the test sent out, something very unexpected happened. i get a call from lieutenant hope that the sheriff s office saying that he has big news. what could that be? coming up that s why i wanted to get this off my chest. i let him talk. he left no detail out. a break in the case and a frustrating discovery. we found that there were 27 first cousins whoa. where are they? who are their children? are they alive? what can we find? when dateline continues.
in years. he said, last we heard she had ran away from home. just like she just disappeared. he said, his missing cousin, had a half sister. lieutenant hope called her too. i talked to her several times and she agreed to send kevin heard the dna kit. which meant sending the half sister s dna sample to the lab and waiting. how long did that take? it took about a month and a half, i believe. that must have been pins and needles? oh, yeah. it was a winters day. late january. when they got the news. it was a match. kevin called lieutenant hope. i was pretty excited. the whole department was excited. i was not prepared for the emotion that i had right then. i couldn t control myself. remember sitting on the couch and just crying, because i was so happy, that the emotion of
certificates to death notices, to marriage licenses, to social media. where the heck do you find all this stuff? i mean, you must spend hours and hours an hours and hours an hours, in front of a computer screen trying to find it? and lots of money. yeah. the dna doe project made a new sketch and they put it up on the line. they added a people to raise money for that test. for lavender doe s dna. and pretty soon, the online community that followed the lavender doe case answered the call. and within four days, the public had come through and completely funded the testing that we had to do. but before they could even get the test sent out, something very unexpected happened. i get a call from lieutenant hope that the sheriff s office saying that he has big news. what could that be?