eye. she got everyone s eye. she didn t come home that night. there was blood everywhere. there was blood splatter all over the inside of the car. it was very frenzied attack. the theories were just awful. drug rings, prostitute rings. and the entire town was going crazy. i thought eventually, enough people were gonna come across a suspect. it was fascinating how they went about the investigation. we got a call, we ve got three brothers. we think one of them is the color. that they didn t know which one. so, you ve got a live one? we ve got live one here. what do you think at that moment? we re ecstatic. we re ready to go. he was sitting at a booth right by the window. . there. you are the next ? it s hard to enjoy your food when you think you re staring at that killer. hello and welcome to dateline . teenager michelle martinko was blessed with beauty, brings and compassion. but her promising future was cut short when she was savagely murdered
people were gonna come across a suspect. it was fascinating how they went about the investigation. we got a call, we ve got three brothers. we think one of them is the color. that they didn t know which one. so, you ve got a live one? we ve got live one here. what do you think at that moment? we re ecstatic. we re ready to go. he was sitting at a booth right by the window. there you are the next ? it s hard to enjoy your food when you think you re staring at that killer. hello and welcome to dateline . teenager michelle martinko was blessed with beauty, brings and compassion. but her promising future was cut short when she was savagely murdered. that dreadful night was ice cold, and after four decades, so was her case. then, a stunning scientific breakthrough helped detectives whittled down a list of suspects to unmask a killer hiding in plain sight. here s dennis murphy with and then there were three . it was an act of unspeakable violence. it w
stay out late. so, when michel hadn t returned home, even well after the mall had closed, her sister says their mother janet started to worry. my parents started calling around to see with her other friends, what the situation was. and why she not back here? yes. and janet did call the police as well. the police say, well, you know we can t look after every teenager who is missing for a couple hours. and janet resisted that. said no, no, she s very dependable. she should be home. she has a testimony. she has to study. michelle s mom kept making calls late into the night. at 2:30 am, she dwelled michelle s friend, jane. i was sound asleep and my dad came and walk me up. said misses martinko is on the phone. those are not good calls. she wanted to know if i knew where michel was. but jean did not know. nobody did. so, in the middle of the night, in a panic, michelle s mom called the police again. this time, they dispatched and
the original list of suspects. doug started with the really obvious suspects. all the ex-boyfriends. kurt thomas, old high school buddies that had been at the mall. at the top of that list was ex-boyfriend andy. i thought it was just a matter of time before andy was found to be a killer. that andy s dna was not a match. more than 25 years after he was first considered a suspect, he was cleared. justice for andy nothing to do with it. he had to live with that cloud over him because so many people did think he was involved. kurt thomas, the last person in her circle known to a scene michelle at the mouth, was also tested. police called his lawyer with the result. they got him on the phone and said, the dna is not a match, and they hung up. but the headline was, the dnc says it s not you. right, right. another possible suspect cleared. another setback for the cedar
out. kurt was also at the mall that night, working a shift at the men s store. i saw this beautiful girl and a rabbit for quote, black dress, high heeled shoes, blonde here. then i was like, that s michelle. kurt and michelle were friends from school. she joined him for his break and they went for a stroll. at one point, passing by a shopgirl court had a crush on. teenage drama at the mall. and it pops in my head, well, i m never going to get again, to dance with that girl. because it got miss america here on my arm? yeah. curse as he and michelle spent his entire break catching up. until he had to get back to work. and waterton exit. and that s when we re seeing our goodbyes. and she said, well, don t be a stranger. did you think you see her again? yes, of course i did. since there was school the next day, it was an a night to