All language subtitles for A.U.S01E08.1080p.WEB.h264-CASUALTY_track3_[eng]

(tense music)

- [Narrator] A woman
is found murdered

along a Minnesota highway

near the small
town of Blue Earth.

Her identity is unknown and
investigators dub her Jane Doe.

Due to a lack of evidence
and no proper ID,

detectives have a difficult time

coming up with a
list of suspects,

Jane Doe is buried
in an unmarked grave
and awaits justice.

But years go by and the
case remains unsolved.

- You gotta put
your heart into it.

You always gotta
have your mind on it

and it doesn't matter
what you're doing.

You take that call at
3:00 in the morning.

- [Narrator] And even after
detectives finally get a break

in the case,

the victim's identity
remains a mystery

until a local resident
finally takes an interest

in the case.

- How long would you
look for your child?

Forever.

- [Narrator] And
makes it her mission

to discover the identity
of the young woman

in the hopes of bringing
closure to the victim's family.

(tense music)

- The unsolved ones,
we have to stand up.

- And approach these cases
in a way outside the box.

- Let the world know is

those out there that
did commit a murder,

you know, there are people
that are coming after you.

- There's just a lotta
good people trying

to do the right thing.

- Because it's something

that you have to be
passionate about.

- Solve this, bring some
peace to the family at least.

Just doing my job.

(tense music continues)

(gentle music)

- [Narrator] The town of
Blue Earth was first surveyed

in 1856 and took its name
from the Blue Earth River,

which surrounds it.

The river was given the
Dakota name Mankato,

meaning blue earth

for the blackish-blue clay
found in the river banks.

Interstate 90 is
centered on Blue Earth,

bringing a steady flow of
traffic and transients.

(tense music)

May 30th, 1980.

A scorching hot day
in Faribault County.

A local farmer makes
his way down the I-90

when something
catches his attention.

He approaches and is
immediately struck

by the stench of decay.

(tense music continues)

- Anybody that's been
in the water for days,

let alone weeks.

You know, it looks different.

You know, you lose your hair.

The bodies just
don't look the same.

They almost look
like a mannequin.

- [Narrator] But the
farmer sees enough

to know it's a human body.

He rushes home to call 911.

(tense music continues)

The discovery of a body
outside the small town

of Blue Earth, Minnesota

will send shockwaves
through this quiet community

that will echo for decades.

- This town is a lot smaller

and actually like where
we're sitting now,

this sheriff's office,
it was farmland.

She was actually discovered
not that far from here,

a few miles away from
where this location is.

Interstate 90 was still here,
but the town was much smaller,

not as much business, probably
more industry downtown.

But out here was
undeveloped at that time.

(tense music continues)

- [Narrator] Detectives
Roger Fletcher and Jerry Kabe

are first on the scene.

(tense music continues)

- A quick examination
of the body reveals

there is a shoelace
wrapped around the neck,

as well as ligature marks.

This is a clear
indication to detectives

that this individual
was murdered.

- [Narrator] Detectives
branch out and comb the area.

- This individual was very
likely killed elsewhere

and dumped in this location.

- Body that's been
in the water and heat

for any length of time is going

to experience some
rapid decomposition.

One detail the detectives
noticed right away

that's highly unordinary
is the victim's missing

all their fingernails.

Fingernail decomposition
takes years,

which tells the detectives

the victim's fingernails
were removed.

- [Narrator] In a
county with a crime rate

as low as Faribault, a scene
like this is incredibly rare.

However, detectives of
training for such a scenario

and are careful to
document the body

and the surrounding area.

- Speaking to some of
the officers, you know,

it's something they'd
never seen either

to talk about DNA or to
collect things for the future

is just things they've
heard of and talked about,

how to preserve the body
that have been in water

to get for an autopsy.

It's memorable to them there,
remember yet to the state.

- [Narrator] The body
is carefully removed

from the scene and
transported for autopsy.

(tense music continues)

- Due to the deterioration,

the sex of the victim
is initially unclear.

The autopsy, however,
reveals that it is a woman

between the ages of 20 to 35.

Callouses on her feet indicate
that she moved around a lot,

possibly a drifter.

The autopsy further reveals
that she was raped and tortured.

Her fingernails were
removed bilaterally,

meaning that they were removed
while she was still alive.

The cause of death is
determined as asphyxiation

likely caused by the shoelace
found wrapped around her neck.

- [Narrator]
Authorities are able

to recover a single
fingerprint from the victim,

as well as their dental records.

They run these through a
database to check for matches.

Due to the level
of deterioration,

authorities can't say for sure
when the victim was killed,

but put the estimated
time of death

between May 23rd
and May 27th, 1980.

- The database
returns no matches

for either the fingerprint
or the dental record.

- [Narrator] With the identity

of the victim a total mystery,
authorities dub her Jane Doe.

- Authorities have
turned to a sketch artist

in hopes they can
render a likeness

of what the victim
may have looked like.

- Without an identification
of the victim,

it's hard to narrow down the
field of possible suspects

since, in most murder cases,

the victim is usually
known to the killer.

- [Narrator] Detectives'
number one priority right now

is learning the identity
of their Jane Doe.

Detectives send out a
do-you-know-this-person flyer

with a composite sketch

to other law enforcement
agencies nationwide.

Weeks go by and thousands
of copies of the flyer

have been distributed
across the country.

Investigators have
searched through both local

and national databases,

trying to find any
missing persons

that would match Jane Doe.

So far they have had no luck

and decide to bury her unnamed
in a Blue Earth cemetery.

- Detectives know
they're burying the
evidence with the body

and they have hit a brick wall

in not only
identifying Jane Doe,

but also finding who killed her.

(tense music continues)

- [Narrator] It's
absolutely gutting

knowing that this is
someone's daughter

and somewhere out there a family
is wondering where she is.

- The families want closure.

I understand.

I'd want closure if
it was my family.

And something like
this, you know,

law enforcement's gonna
give it their best effort

because they care,
that's their job.

- [Narrator] Two weeks after
Jane Doe is discovered,

a couple of local boys
make a disturbing discovery

while playing down by the river.

- You just didn't have murders

in small town Faribault
County, Blue Earth, Minnesota.

Especially being a young
child, it's a bigger deal.

But I can remember all
the squad cars around,

guys around and just
seeing news articles on it

or reading their news articles

and seeing the TV
articles on it.

(tense music continues)

- [Narrator] The Jane
Doe case was heavily

in the news at the time.

So when those boys
discovered a bloody bra,

they knew to immediately
contact police.

(tense music continues)

Investigators collect
the bra as evidence

and thoroughly comb the
area for any other clues.

- They find some other
items of clothes,

but the big discovery comes

when they find a Texas
driver's license.

(tense music continues)

It's almost
impossible to imagine

that this is just a coincidence.

Hopes run high that they've
identified their Jane Doe.

- [Narrator] The name
on the driver's license,

Fidencia de Paredes.

Detectives followed this up

to confirm that
such a person exists

and that she's in fact missing.

But an inquiry into the
driver's license reveals

that there is no such person.

The license is a fake.

- Not only that, the blood
on the clothing is tested

and revealed that it is
animal and not human blood.

- Of the thousands of women
murdered every year in the U.S.,

many remain Jane Does,

sometimes for years,
sometimes for decades.

- [Narrator] With no
leads in the case,

detectives wonder how long the
woman in the unmarked grave

will remain Jane Doe

and whether they'll ever be able

to bring closure to her family.

(dramatic music)

(tense music)

A woman is found murdered
along a Minnesota highway,

her identity a mystery.

A single fingerprint
and a dental record

are all investigators have,

but no matches come
up in the database

and her investigators
get no closer

to discovering the identities

of either the killer
or the victim.

Finally, investigators
bury the body

of the woman they've dubbed
Jane Doe in an unmarked grave.

And when at last they believe

they may have a
lead in the case,

their hopes are quickly dashed
when they learn the evidence

is not connected
to their Jane Doe.

(tense music continues)

It's been over three years
since the discovery of Jane Doe.

And while investigators hesitate
to label this a cold case,

there have been no further
developments in that time.

- But for detectives eager
to identify the victim

and bring closure to her family,

they're about to receive
a glimmer of hope.

(tense music continues)

- [Narrator] In
the summer of 1983,

a man named Henry
Lee Lucas is arrested

on charges of
unlawful possession

of a firearm by Texas Rangers.

- While in custody,

Lucas freely admits that
he killed two women,

one being his former employer

and the other a young woman
he claims was his girlfriend.

- [Narrator] Lucas
takes officials

to the burial site
of both women,

thereby corroborating
his claims.

- Lucas has now established
his credibility.

He goes on to tell authorities

that he went on a murder spree

and killed approximately 600
women across the United States.

He claims he left many
of them in the same state

as this Jane Doe was found.

- [Narrator] News
of Henry Lee Lucas

and his alleged crimes
reach detectives

in Faribault County.

Lucas alleges to picking
up female hitchhikers,

killing them, and
dumping their bodies

along the side of the road.

- Detectives note
striking similarities

in Lucas's MO and the style

in which their Jane Doe
was killed and discarded.

They contact officials in
Texas to set up an interview

with the incarcerated killer.

- [Narrator] Authorities
in Texas arrange

for Faribault County
detectives to interview Lucas.

- By all accounts, Lucas
is very cooperative.

Detectives believe that
if he's responsible

for their Jane Doe, he
will readily admit to it.

- [Narrator] Faribault
County detectives

finally have the opportunity

to sit down and interview
Henry Lee Lucas.

(tense music continues)

- The interview is promising.

This is the moment of truth.

They can tie this
case up right here.

- [Narrator] Lucas, as
promised, is being cooperative.

He recalls being in the
Blue Earth, Minnesota area

and that he picked
up a hitchhiker

on the I-90 roughly
three years ago.

So far, Lucas' account
matches the Jane Doe crime.

For the investigators,
things are looking good.

- When detectives question Lucas

on the method he
used to kill her,

he responds that he
stabbed her to death.

Because the method
of execution differs,

detectives must admit that
Lucas is not their man.

- [Narrator] Unfortunately,
they've hit another dead end.

(tense music)

Later it is learned that
the taskforce created

to look into Lucas's
alleged murders

and confessions is compromised.

His confessions are tarnished

when it's discovered that
he had been given access

to the information on the files

of cases he was confessing to.

- There are indications
in the interview tapes

that show Lucas
read the reactions

of those interviewing him

and then altered his
story to fit the murder.

Therefore, Faribault detectives
eliminate him as a suspect.

- [Narrator] Though
the case goes cold,

it is never out of mind for
Faribault County detectives.

(melancholy music)

- You gotta put
your heart into it,

you always gotta
have your mind on it.

And it doesn't matter
what you're doing,

you take that call at
3:00 in the morning

to get the tip that
may solve that case.

- [Narrator] In
the summer of 1989,

nine years after the
murder of Jane Doe

detectives get a phone call

from a sheriff in
Smith County, Texas.

It's a call that could
blow the case wide open.

- The sheriff informs detectives

that they've apprehended a
man on child abuse charges

and that, while in custody,
the man gave a confession.

He also discloses
that years earlier

he picked up a hitchhiker
on I-90 and murdered her.

Furthermore, he claims
to have strangled her,

but the big bombshell is that
this man, Robert Leroy Nelson,

is a former Minnesota State
Highway Patrol officer.

- They knew who he was.

I don't believe they
had ever suspected him.

I know there's some issues
in some ongoing things

that they maybe
would've assumed,

but they didn't have any ties
to him and this Jane Doe.

And I know investigators
from this office

went down and had
done an interview.

(tense music)

- [Narrator] Before
investigators can be sure

that Nelson is responsible
for their Jane Doe's murder,

they need to conduct
a thorough interview.

- Nelson's able to
provide a lot of detail.

He describes picking up
the young female hitchhiker

after his shift and
offering her a ride.

(tense music continues)

Instead, he takes
her somewhere remote,

forces her to have sex with him,

strangles her with a
string from her jacket,

and dumps her naked body
in a ditch along the I-90.

The big revelation comes
when he describes the method

by which he tortures
her before killing her.

- Officials purposefully
withhold details of the torture.

So only those close to the case

or the real murderer
would know them.

- And he was able
to provide details

that would've never been
released to anybody else,

including the State
Patrol officer.

- [Narrator] When
Nelson describes

how he removed the victim's
fingernails with pliers,

detectives know for certain
that he's the killer.

But when they press him on
the identity of Jane Doe,

he's unable to help.

He doesn't know who she is.

It's disturbing for
detectives to learn

that one of their own brutally
killed this young woman.

It raises several questions.

How was he able to operate
for years and go undetected?

How many other violations
might he have committed

in that time?

And how did investigators
overlook him as a suspect?

(tense music continues)

But the biggest question of all

that still needs to be
answered is, who is Jane Doe?

(dramatic music)

(tense music)

(tense music)

In the summer of 1983,

Minnesota investigators learn

of a serial killer caught in
Texas named Henry Lee Lucas.

They're hopeful that he
may also be responsible

for the murder of
their Jane Doe.

But after interviewing Lucas,

they realized that his
story doesn't align

with the manner in
which she was killed.

Their investigation
once again stalls out.

(tense music)

But in the summer of 1989,

detectives get a call
from a Texas sheriff

informing them that a former
Minnesota Highway Patrolman

has confessed to the crime.

(tense music continues)

Detectives interview
Robert Nelson

and confirm that
he's responsible

for torturing and
murdering Jane Doe.

But Nelson isn't able to
provide any information

on her identity.

The question remains,
who is Jane Doe?

Detectives are still coming
to grips with the fact

that their killer was under
their noses the whole time.

But one officer, Jerry Anderson,

recalls an exchange
he has with Nelson

that, at the time, meant nothing

but now carries a
significant weight.

- Jerry Anderson, who
was a road deputy,

but acting as an
investigator through that,

had told me once I
was assigned this case

that one night in the records
room in the old building,

Robert Nelson had
passed by him and said,

"Jerry, I can solve
this case for you."

And Jerry said, "Oh yeah?"

"I did it."

And Jerry goes,
"Yeah, whatever Bob."

"No, I did it."

"Yeah, whatever," and walked on.

And I always thought to myself

after Deputy Jerry Anderson
told me that story,

that was a way for Robert
Nelson to get it off his chest

and say, "Well, I confessed,
I can move on now.

I told somebody."

- [Narrator] With
virtually no evidence

in the case and a former officer

with access to
the investigation,

detectives are certain

that if it wasn't for
Nelson's confession,

they likely would never
have solved the crime.

But Detective Adams doesn't
believe the confession

is an act of altruism, but
rather a bargaining tactic.

- In my heart, I
believe he confessed

'cause he wanted to serve
his time in Minnesota

opposed to a Texas prison.

- [Narrator] Nelson
pleads guilty

to first-degree manslaughter

and for his cooperation
and confession,

he's sentenced to only
16 years to be served

on top of his sentence
in Texas for child abuse.

And his attempt at
getting transferred

to a Minnesota prison fails.

He serves both
sentences down in Texas.

- The community probably figures

for the most part,
the general public,

that you should get a
lot stiffer sentence

than what you get at
the end of the day.

You know, we have a court
system and a judicial system

in place and that is what it is.

We can't go around it.

(melancholy music)

- [Narrator] It is 26
years since the murder

and the victim's identity
remains a question.

This is when
Detective Scott Adams

becomes involved with the case.

- I got in law
enforcement in 1994.

And then in 2006, the sheriff

at the Faribault County
Sheriff's Office at that time,

Scott Campbell,
assigned the case to me.

And again, I'd kinda stayed
up on it my whole life.

Read articles.

You know, little things would
pop up every so many years.

And I would read up on it

in the local newspaper
and the news.

And it was almost an honor to
be assigned that case in 2006

because I had a great deal
of care for it from day one,

watching as a young child

and now being newly
assigned investigator

in getting this case.

- [Narrator] But Detective
Adams isn't the only one

interested in
solving the mystery

of Blue Earth,
Minnesota's Jane Doe.

In 2002, four years
before Detective Adams

takes over the case,

Blue Earth resident, Deb
Anderson, learns from a friend

about the unidentified woman
buried in the cemetery.

Hoping to learn more about
her, she goes online,

but is disappointed to find

that there isn't much
information about Jane Doe.

- I went out there on crutches

to see her stone
at the cemetery.

But I just kept
thinking who, you know,

how long would you
look for your child?

Forever.

I would.

- [Narrator] Deb
Anderson resolves

to bring awareness to the case
and help identify Jane Doe.

Deb goes to Blue Earth Police

to inquire about the
status of the case.

(tense music continues)

- They didn't have a fingerprint
database back then either.

And so I was like, has
anybody run this lately?

Like, no.

None of my business
basically what I was told

and they just treated me so
poorly that it made me mad.

Had they given me the answers
probably right up front,

I would've went away and
probably never done it.

But then they just,

I just wasn't gonna quit.

Not for a whole lot of reasons,

but that was very
much part of my drive

just to prove 'em wrong.

(tense music continues)

- I'd honestly got to the point

where I don't know if we'll
ever find a name for Jane Doe.

That doesn't mean we
quit caring at any time

and we still put as
much work into it.

I kept that Rubbermaid case
file tote right next to my desk

in my office every day.

I'd look at it when I walk in.

Even though it was
in a Rubbermaid tote,

I could get to whatever
form, whatever match.

We kind of just,

we'll keep working leads

and didn't know if we'd
ever get an answer.

(tense music)

- [Narrator] Over the years,

Deb pursues any and
every lead she can

to try and identify
the murdered woman.

It takes over a large
part of her life.

- At one point there was
a retired deputy here

who had worked the
case back in the 80s.

And he firmly
believed that it was

this missing woman
named Jacqueline Lerman.

And they had pursued
the possibility of it

when he was back in the 80s.

But DNA wasn't a thing.

And the dental records,

somebody determined the dental
records weren't a match,

but there was not any
real good documentation

one way or the other.

Things had been lost.

The case file was
nowhere to be found.

So I thought, well, I'm
gonna go down that road again

and see what I can find.

Her last name was Lerman.

She was from New York.

And she had gone missing
and everything lined up,

dates, coloring, everything
that we had lined up.

Police departments
won't tell me anything

about a missing person 'cause
I'm not law enforcement.

So the only way I
could find out was

to find the family of
this Jacqueline Lerman

who had gone missing in '79.

And I didn't have any idea

that there's thousands
and thousands of
Lermans in New York.

So I printed lists of Lermans,
just Lerman phone numbers.

Lists and lists
and lists of 'em.

And I just started at the top

and started calling
'em, each one.

In my drive to work or
whatever day, whatever.

When I didn't have anything
else to do, I'd call.

And I probably made 100
calls, I don't know.

One day it was a
Sunday and I was here.

I was sitting on the floor
and I called this woman

and she answered and I
went through my spiel at,

you know, and she says,
"No, I don't know.

No, I don't know
anybody by that name."

And I didn't think
anything of it.

Went on, called some
more people, whatever.

And about half hour
later my phone rang

and it was this woman again.

And she goes, "Yeah, you the one

that called me about
Jacqueline Lerman?"

I said, "Yes."

And she said, "Did
you mean Jackie..."

And she had some
other last name.

- [Narrator] Deb is put in
touch with the woman's brother,

a producer of a popular TV show.

- And he says, "But
before we go into this,

I wanna tell you
something just so you know

where I'm coming
from, whatever."

And he says,

"I'm the executive producer
of 'America's Most Wanted.'"

And I said, "Yeah, you are."

Now I'm thinking like, okay,
somebody's having some fun.

I was kind of,

I actually got kind
of snippy with him

and said, "Yeah, yeah, or
whatever. This is not a joke."

- [Narrator] However,
the caller is able

to convince Deb of his identity.

And given his position,

he's able to get some
traction on the case.

- He pulled a few strings,
so to speak, maybe,

and did manage to
get the sheriff's
department at the time,

which not the current ones,

but the ones before that
to send some hair samples

to the FBI for testing.

- [Narrator] After
over two decades

is the mystery of who Jane Doe
is and where she comes from

about to be solved?

(dramatic music)

(tense music)

(tense music)

Robert Nelson pleads
guilty to manslaughter

and is sentenced to
16 years to be served

on top of his current
sentence in a Texas prison.

26 years after the murder,

Detective Scott Adams
is assigned to the case.

He's hopeful he can
identify the victim

and finally bring her
family some peace.

But Detective
Adams is not alone.

Local Blue Earth
resident, Deb Anderson,

takes an interest in the case

and makes it her mission
to identify Jane Doe.

Deb follows every possible lead

until finally the
name Jacqueline Lerman

comes across her desk.

She's hopeful that a DNA test

will finally
determine the identity

of the young woman
killed 2 1/2 decades ago.

The hair sample is
sent off for testing,

but it comes back negative.

Jacqueline Lerman
is not Jane Doe.

(tense music continues)

- I found out that,

at the time when they
said they did that

and he said they did that and
all and it wasn't a match,

it wasn't her.

We were like, I jokingly
said to my husband,

"You don't suppose one
of those clowns clipped

their own pubic hairs and
sent them up there, do you?"

And we laughed because
it was so stupid.

Who would do that?

Well, years later I
find out that that DNA

that had been sent to the FBI

to be compared with
the Lerman's DNA

was a man's pubic hairs.

I don't know where
they came up with it,

but it wasn't hers and it
wasn't ever gonna match

'cause it wasn't
even a female's.

- Given that Nelson
may have had access

to the evidence in this case,

it's possible that he
may have tampered with it

and planted a hair.

Unfortunately, there
was never an answer

as to where the hair came from
and how the mix up occurred.

- Deb is certain the best way
of identifying Jane Doe is

through DNA, which,
as a science,

has come a long way since
1980 when she was murdered.

- [Narrator] Deb learns of
the national database for DNA.

She's convinced that
this may be the only way

to positively identify Jane Doe.

But the issue is

that Jane Doe is buried
six feet underground

and police don't have
any of her DNA on file.

In order to obtain a sample,

they'll need to dig her
up, an expensive procedure.

(tense music continues)

- You know, we have a
$5 million budget here,

but that's pre-planned
for general expenses

you have every day, every year.

We have to run a building,

we have to run a jail,
a dispatch center,

you know, and just all of a
sudden come up with 30,000,

especially in 2006.

It's just tough to
find that kinda money.

And who's gonna do this work

and who's gonna do that
work, lining it up.

- However, Detective
Adams agrees with Deb

that the best method
of identifying the body

is going to be through DNA.

- DNA is always changing,
always evolving.

We use it in our
everyday process now.

You know, cigarette
butts, pop cans,

you know, in Faribault County,

you know, we're on average
homicide every four years,

so it's not like we're
using it for homicides,

but we're using it in
burglaries, thefts, robberies.

And it's amazing how fast
we're getting results

and convicting people.

(tense music continues)

- [Narrator] But without
the police budget

to exhume the body,

Deb is going to have
to find another way.

She decides to engage
friends, family,

and the community to see if
she can't help raise the money.

- The big ticket item that
was holding it all back

was the exhumation, the
cost of the exhumation.

(tense music continues)

My husband pours concrete

or he used to pour
concrete for a living

and he was friends
with the GNS Drainage,

which Gary Sunken
was very gracious

and he was the one
that buried her.

Well, now he runs an
excavating business

and he very much believed

in doing whatever we could
do to find her family,

find her identity, and he
offered to dig her up for free.

And I had repeatedly
told former county

and sheriff's department,
but they weren't interested.

So there was a website

for the Bureau of Criminal
Apprehensions up in Minneapolis,

has a website that I
had spent years trying

to get her listed on.

I called up there and this
woman answered and she said,

"Oh yes, yes, I know the case.

And we'd love,

and I'll make sure it
gets back on the website.

I'd love to do something
about all of these.

We just don't have the money."

I said, "You don't need
any money for this."

And she said, "Why not?"

And I said, "Because
I'm friends with the guy

that buried her and he's
volunteered his equipment,

his time, his people,
and everything.

He will dig her up
and not charge you."

And that's what started
the ball rolling.

- [Narrator] On August 12th,
2014, the body is exhumed.

The $10,000 cost is covered by
a local construction company

and a funeral home.

- When they did agree
to finally exhume her,

I told my daughter, I said...

I was open with her
about what had happened,

and I said,

"You're welcome to come to
the cemetery if you want to

for the exhumation,
or you don't have to.

It's up to you."

But I thought it
was important that,

ever since she was born,

it was important for her to
know that we have an obligation

to do this for other people

if we would ever
expect it done for us.

And that I was gonna live up
to that because I'm human,

because people are
not disposable,

because if anybody matters,
if anything matters,

she matters too just as much.

And we have to give it
every effort that we can.

So my daughter said
yes, she would go.

And I gotta tell you, it
was actually very surreal.

Like I just couldn't
believe it was happening.

Just so surreal.

And then they got the
concrete vault out

and then they took
her out of that.

And she was in what
appeared to be,

originally had been
like a plastic body bag.

There was not an actual casket.

The plastic was real brittle

and it was cracking and breaking

as they tried to
lift her to the,

put her on a, like
a gurney thing.

And they laid her down

and you have all these ideas
of what it's gonna be like

and how you're gonna
feel and you...

And then she's in front of you

and we still don't
know her name.

How is that possible to me?

Like my brain doesn't
wanna accept that.

You're just praying to God
that it does some good,

that it all was worth, you know,
that something comes of it.

- [Narrator] Now Deb must
wait as a DNA sample is taken

from the body and added to
the national DNA registry.

Hopefully somewhere out there

the family of this Jane Doe
have also submitted their DNA

to the registry.

It's the only way now
that she can be identified

and her family can
finally have closure.

(dramatic music)

(tense music)

(tense music)

Deb learns that
Jacqueline Lerman

is not the Blue Earth,
Minnesota Jane Doe.

Not only that,

but it's discovered
that the hairs recovered

from the body are male.

Someone has tampered with
the evidence in the case.

It appears the only way to
properly identify Jane Doe

is to exhume her body
for a new DNA sample.

But as Detective
Adams explains to Deb,

the procedure is expensive
and unaffordable at this time.

But Deb isn't about to
let a price tag stand

in the way of her mission.

She petitions local businesses

and arranges for the
costs to be covered.

The body is exhumed
on August 12th, 2014,

34 years after the murder.

- We exhumed her and
shipped her immediately

to the Mayo Hospital.

They basically reconstructed
the body, got a fresh DNA.

- [Narrator] In addition
to the single fingerprint

and dental records,

a new facial reconstruction
is also created

by the National Center for
Missing and Exploited Children

from an MRI scan.

The Smithsonian Institute
also performs isotope testing

on a tooth to
identify the regions

where the victim may have
lived before her death.

The results from this testing

also indicate she's
between 17 to 23 years old,

not 20 to 35 as
previously reported.

She's also determined
to be white

with a possible
African admixture.

- When they exhumed her body,

this friend of mine had given
me a bottle of champagne

as a, you know, congratulations,

you finally got her exhumed.

I said thank you.

And I said, "We're
gonna put this away

and we aren't gonna open
it until we have a name."

So I tucked it up
on the cupboard

and didn't think about it again.

- So I can remember just
like it was yesterday.

You know, my office
is right next door

to where we're sitting in here

and I was walking down the
hall and my cell phone rang.

And it said Minnesota
BCA on my caller ID.

I picked it up and it was
one of the agents said,

"We have a match."

And it was just, I mean it
was like you won the lottery.

And I remember looking
out my office door

and the sheriff
was down the hall

and I told him to
come to my office.

And part of it was we wanna
kinda keep it under wraps

to get a plan together, make
sure the family was notified.

We didn't want it blown
all over the media here

until the family was
properly notified.

But it was pretty exciting then

to keep all that in until
we could release it.

(awe-inspiring music)

- [Narrator] After
all these years,

Jane Doe finally has a name,

Michelle Busha.

Michelle grows up in
Alexandria, Louisiana,

but Michelle wanted more
than the small-town life.

Michelle runs away
numerous times

and once makes it as far
as Burlington, Colorado.

She's picked up by police

and given the option
of going to jail

or going to live with
her biological father.

Michelle opts to
live with her dad

and they drive the thousand
miles to Bay City, Texas.

But Michelle and
her dad butt heads.

(tense music)

And in 1978 they
have a blowout fight,

that ends with Michelle
running away from home

for the last time.

There is no word from
Michelle for almost two years.

However, Don realizes that
he can track her whereabouts

when he notices long distance
calls on his phone bill

that have been
charged to his number.

Every month, his phone
bill contains a few

of these long-distance charges.

Don Busha Sr. recalls hoping
that one day she will show up,

call, or surface somewhere.

Don recalls feeling like
a failure as a parent

and waking up in the
middle of the night crying.

Then, over time,

Don notices there are no longer
any long distance charges

on his phone bill.

On May 9th, 1980,

the family files a missing
person report for Michelle.

During all that time, Don
Busha Sr. doesn't give up hope

that his daughter is alive.

He maintains the same
address and phone number

in case she ever wants
to get ahold of him.

(tense music continues)

- I think I made the call
to the Texas authorities,

talked to investigator

and the sheriff called
back to make sure I was

who I was supposed to be.

And they made the
notification down there.

And then after that,
we spoke to the family.

I still have their numbers
in my phone to this day.

- [Narrator] After decades
of holding onto hope,

Don gets the phone call
that every parent dreads.

He's informed that a
DNA match has been found

and that his beloved
daughter, Michelle, is dead.

Meanwhile, Deb Anderson
has heard no update

as to whether officials
have found a DNA match.

- So my phone rang and I
picked it up and I said,

"This is Deb, can I help you?"

And she goes, "Is
this Deb Anderson?"

And I said, "Yes, it is."

And she said,

"Is this the woman
that's been taking care

of my sister for
all these years?"

And I was speechless,
absolutely speechless.

And I think I just
started crying.

And I said, "Are they
sure? Are they sure?"

Because there had been
so many, you know,

oh, this is gonna be it.

This is gonna be it.

And so many of those
that then, no, it's not.

And she said, "Yes,
they're sure."

And it was her sister,
it was Marla Busha.

- [Narrator] Deb hangs up

and immediately calls
her husband to come
get her from work.

(bright music)

- And we drove home in silence
pretty much the whole way.

And as we got to town, he
looked over at me, he goes,

"I gotta tell you,

I thought you were crazy
like everybody else.

I never thought ever that
this would happen, ever."

And he goes, "But
you were right."

So then we got home
and I ran in here

and I got that.

It was like nine o'clock
in the morning by then.

And I grabbed that
bottle of champagne

and I went over to
my friend's house

'cause I knew she
had the day off.

And I walked in the
door with it and I said,

"Shall we open it?"

And she kinda looked
at me like, what?

I go, "Well, you know, this
is the one you gave me."

And she goes, "Yeah."

And then you could see her,

like she knew that why I
was standing there with it,

'cause we had a name.

We finally had a name.

And I popped it and we
each had a glass and.

- [Narrator] Michelle's
body is cremated

and the ashes are
sent to her family.

Don recalls having
mixed feelings

about finally having closure.

He sometimes wonders

if it wouldn't have been
better off not knowing.

In spite of that,

he applauds the work
that Deb Anderson did

in helping to identify Michelle.

"Deb Anderson is an angel.

She's a prime example
that persistence pays off.

There's always good
people in this world.

Those people that did those
things for an unknown stranger

are the salt of the earth."

Don Busha Sr.

This is a case that
investigators worked
tirelessly on,

but acknowledge that they
owe a huge debt of gratitude

to Deb Anderson for
helping finally solve it.

- I often refer to
her as basically

like the lead
investigator on it.

You know, she and
I would talk a lot,

she'd come up with
different ideas.

She'd message me, you know.

We just can't thank her
enough for what she did

through this whole case.

And I know the Busha
family feels the same way.

(bright music continues)

- I do think I did
the right thing,

but it's a double-edged sword.

It's not a pleasant thing.

It's not...

It does maybe give families
closure or give her a name,

but it also, in this case,

it exposes, you know, some
of the worst fears, I'm sure.

It would be mine anyway.

And nobody wants to hear

these horrible things that
happened to their child.

I think I still would've
done the same thing,

but I would've been much
more mindful of what it

means to people or how
it might affect them.

(bright music continues)

(tense music)

(tense music continues)