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 deb wondered if she should have pushed police harder. do you beat yourself up about that? sure i do. sure i do.
i seen somethin , thought it was a body. i turned around. he showed me where he turned around, and came back, and sure as heck it was. now, he said, i immediately went up to some homes, knocked on the doors to try to seek some some help. reporter: the detective wrote down the man s name russell adkins. what did you think you had? i really wasn t sure, to be honest with you. i didn t know if i had someone hit by a car or was she thrown from a vehicle? i i i really had no idea. reporter: so he headed to the hospital hoping to find some answers from dana s family and friends. what he heard were words of suspicion, hints even of murder. with some people in dana s family pointing the finger at someone very close to home. coming up: if it was murder, how would they ever prove it? it was all circumstantial there wasn t a murder weapon. they just had her body.
if it was murder, how would they ever prove it? it was all circumstantial there wasn t a murder weapon. they just had her body. just had stories and a victim on the side of the road. right. reporter: when dateline continues.
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
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