lonely road to find justice for her mother and erase the suspicion hanging over her father s head was almost over. coming up: how dana, herself, finally got to tell her story. you re gonna be holding the skull itself in front of the jury. it was a sacred thing for us to do. reporter: when dateline continues. reporter: the trial hadn t protect your pets from fleas and ticks with frontline plus for dogs and frontline plus for cats. its two killer ingredients work fast and keep working all month long preventing new flea infestations on your pet. frontline plus. the number 1 name in flea and tick protection. claritin and relief from of non-drowsy symptoms caused by over 200 allergens. like those from buddy. because stuffed animals are clearly no substitute for real ones.
give them a lift. is he a friend of roxy s or a friend of dana s or how s that go together? roxy has always maintained she just knew him socially from being a regular at the club. not intimate. that is correct. reporter: roxy said she got dropped off first. and watched the bouncer and dana speed away. so, when roxy closes that car door and says, goodnight, now we re into the mystery of what happens next, huh? correct. reporter: but here s the thing. the name of the bouncer was one police had heard before. it was none other than russell adkins, the young man who said he d spotted dana a stranger in trouble lying in the road. he d gone looking for help. knocking on doors. knocking on late in the night. please, somebody call 911. correct. reporter: but it looked as though a crucial part of that story had been a complete lie. dana was far from a stranger to russell adkins. she d been a passenger in his car. he admitted as much to the original detective i
opinion, my heart, everything, he killed my mom. and he needs to pay for what he did. reporter: coming up no dna. no fingerprints. no witnesses. it was kind of shocking to stop and and look and say, you know, what actually do we have? i knew that the prosecution had a hard road. from the very beginning . it was always our singular focus, a distinct determination. to do whatever it takes,
days, sure that he was involved in dana s death. sister deb didn t know what to think. the only thing she was certain of was this. you believed at that point that dana had been murdered? yeah, i i believed she d been murdered. who, why? i don t know. you know, i have no idea. what did she do? you know, why would somebody want to hurt this beautiful little girl that was full of life? reporter: it looked as though deb would never find out. a few months after dana s death, the investigation seemed to sputter out. the air seems to go out of the balloon, deb, and nothing happens. what do you think happened? i believe it was it was open for a couple of years. there wasn t a murder weapon. they just had her body. technology is different in 1982. no cell phones. no gps. just had stories and a victim on the side of the road. right. right. reporter: many years later, as she watched dana s daughter, now a teenager, trying to find out about her mom s mysterious death, aunt
reporter: and the friends had no way to get home. they d missed the last bus. the club s bouncer agreed to give them a lift. is he a friend of roxy s or a friend of dana s or how s that go together? roxy has always maintained she just knew him socially from being a regular at the club. not intimate. that is correct. reporter: roxy said she got dropped off first. and watched the bouncer and dana speed away. so, when roxy closes that car door and says, goodnight, now we re into the mystery of what happens next, huh? correct. reporter: but here s the thing. the name of the bouncer was one police had heard before. it was none other than russell adkins, the young man who said he d spotted dana a stranger in trouble lying in the road. he d gone looking for help. knocking on doors. knocking on late in the night. please, somebody call 911. correct. reporter: but it looked as though a crucial part of that story had been a complete lie. dana was far from a s