the same rumors about albert that were circulating around placentia. but you know what? hey, it s a possibility that, shoot, somebody else from his family i m not blaming anybody. i m not pointing fingers at nobody, okay? but why why the coincidence that after he hung himself, this happened? why? have you ever thought of that? reporter: of course, police also asked sam where he was the night cathy disappeared. could you tell us where you were saturday night, this last saturday? sure. we re asking everyone. no. that s fine, that s fine, i understand. i was up in corona. i was helping my friend, a friend of mine moved. reporter: sam told police how he and his cousin javier helped their friend move in the afternoon, and then he said he dropped javier off at his home. where d you go from there? from there i went to my girlfriend s store. and i was there till, shoot, till they closed, which was around 8:00, a little bit after
i mean, shoot, a girl cusses you out, i mean i can t go chasing after her. you know, cause i never thought she was going to i mean, this was going to happen. reporter: sam shared his suspicions about what had happened to cathy. the same rumors about albert that were circulating around placentia. but you know what? hey, it s a possibility that, shoot, somebody else from his family i m not blaming anybody. i m not pointing fingers at nobody, okay? but why why the coincidence that after he hung himself, this happened? why? have you ever thought of that? reporter: of course, police also asked sam where he was the night cathy disappeared. could you tell us where you were saturday night, this last saturday? sure. we re asking everyone. no. that s fine, that s fine, i understand. i was up in corona. i was helping my friend, a friend of mine moved. reporter: sam told police how he and his cousin javier helped their friend move in the afternoon, and then he said he droppe
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 coincidence continued to bother them, police were forced to agree. but that left the investigation with nowhere to go. whoever had killed cathy was still out there walking around. yes. still out there. enjoying the sun. reporter: breathing the same air you re breathing? yes.
she was going to i mean, this was going to happen. reporter: sam shared his suspicions about what had happened to cathy. the same rumors about albert that were circulating around placentia. but you know what? hey, it s a possibility that, shoot, somebody else from his family i m not blaming anybody. i m not pointing fingers at nobody, okay? but why why the coincidence that after he hung himself, this happened? why? have you ever thought of that? reporter: of course, police also asked sam where he was the night cathy disappeared. could you tell us where you were saturday night, this last saturday? sure. we re asking everyone. no. that s fine, that s fine, i understand. i was up in corona. i was helping my friend, a friend of mine moved. reporter: sam told police how he and his cousin javier helped their friend move in the afternoon, and then he said he dropped javier off at his home. where d you go from there?
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 coincidence continued to bother them, police were forced to agree. but that left the investigation with nowhere to go.