05x01 - Park Bench Murders

[bunniefuu]

[menacing music playing]

[woman 1] Two friends shot to death
on a sunny afternoon

while sitting on a park bench
at Cleveland Metroparks.

[woman 2] It is a m*rder mystery
that, so far, has police stumped.

[woman 3] Why Nell?

Why Kate?

How could somebody m*rder these two people

in the way that they did?

[woman 4] He was at the wrong place
at the wrong time.

He didn't deserve that.
[voice breaking] He didn't.

[man 1] My beautiful daughter

laying face down in a muddy river.

And somebody just walks away.

[man 2] Somebody walked up on 'em
and done it.

Execution style.

[man 3] It was broad daylight
in a well-traveled area,

on a beautiful summer day.

And nobody saw anything.

[opening theme music playing]

[music ends]

[eerie music playing]

-[beeping]
-[woman 1] Cleveland Metroparks Police.

[woman 2] My boyfriend and I parked
to go kayaking,

and it looks like there's two bodies
that were shot.

[woman 1] Where?

[woman 2] Um... We pulled into
the Rocky River Reservation.

We're probably maybe three miles in,

and both of these people
are definitely dead.

[unsettling music playing]

[woman 2] We were coming in the car
down the road,

and we were pulling in
to see if we could launch the kayaks.

And I saw someone
laying down here along the river.

And I said to him,
"You should go check on that guy."

"He doesn't look okay."

[man] His knees were bent,
and he was facing the river.

He had his eyes open,

and I noticed a... b*llet hole in his head.

[Kaitlin] It also had appeared
to have just happened

because he still looked warm.

[mysterious music playing]

And that's when I noticed the woman
lying down... face down on the bank.

It was really shocking
just to see her down there.

[voice breaking] Sorry. [sniffles] Um...

[Tony] I remember
being in kind of a frenzy,

and I was honestly stricken with fear.

[Kaitlin] So he said,
"Please just go back to the car,"

and that was when I saw a truck...

with a guy sitting in it.

[eerie music playing]

[Kaitlin] And that just seemed really odd.

There was also just the fear of, like,

did we just see something that could
potentially be putting us in danger here?

[Tony] So I called back to Kait,
and I told her, "Call the police."

-[siren wailing]
-[indistinct police radio chatter]

[man 1] 101 Radio,
you can put me en route to Lorain.

[woman] You got it.
I believe everyone's en route.

[man 2] Additional units responding.

We'll need the road
to be shut down, please.

[menacing music playing]

[man] When I heard the call dispatched,

I responded straight to the scene,
along with three other detectives.

[tense music playing]

[Sylvis] When we first arrived,

we found a Black male
face down on the grass

beside a bench
that overlooks the Rocky River.

And there was a white female
that was face down in the water,

about six feet in front of that bench.

Both of the victims
had sustained g*nsh*t wounds.

The male was shot twice,
and the female was shot once.

It seemed apparent
that it was either a double m*rder

or it was a m*rder-suicide.

[woman] We can't...
We don't see a weapon or anything.

This whole area's
gonna have to be searched.

[Sylvis] When we searched the crime scene,

we found three shell casings
from a small-caliber weapon,

and we rolled the victims over

and found that there were
no firearms concealed underneath them.

So after we searched the area thoroughly

and found no weapon present at the scene,

it was apparent that this was a m*rder
of both of those victims.

[tense music playing]

When a g*n's fired, the shell casings
are ejected from the firearm

before the next round can be fired.

And the shell casings were found
relatively close to the bodies,

so that told us that the sh**ter
was close to the victims

when the murders occurred.

Murders committed with firearms
are inherently more difficult to solve

because there's physical distance
between the victim and the suspect,

so there's no trace evidence
transferred between them.

[man]
As the assistant prosecuting attorney

at the Cuyahoga County
Prosecutor's Office,

I was there to be available
for legal questions on scene.

Once the bodies were removed, um...

for later examination and an autopsy,

the next step was to identify the victims,

who they are,
and how do they know each other.

[camera clicks]

[Sylvis] There were two unoccupied cars
located in the parking lot...

[camera clicks]

[Sylvis] ...which is about a hundred feet
from where the victims were found.

We did registration checks
on those license plates

and found that the sedan
was registered to Kate Brown,

and the SUV
was registered to Carnell Sledge.

[pensive music playing]

[distant dog barking]

[indistinct police radio chatter]

[man 1] It was 3:00 a.m.,

and I see somebody shining flashlights
outside the front of the house.

So we went downstairs, opened the door

to two gentlemen
standing on the front step,

and they said, "We have some bad news
about your daughter Kate."

[inhales, sighs]

[man 2] They identified theyself
as the Metropark detectives,

and they showed me a sheet
that had Nell's photos on it.

My wife was still asleep.

[inhales deeply] So I told 'em,
"Come on up to the kitchen,"

then I went and got her.

And they said that, hey, you know,
our son had been m*rder*d.

Him and another girl in the Metroparks.

And I was like, you know,
"How would something like that happen?"

[Tom] Then we found out she was with Nell,

and Nell was k*lled too.

[woman] And now it's a double whammy.

I mean, her good friend Nell
was sitting next to her,

and they were both shot.

Uh... What?!

At first, I was like,
"You... You sure you got the right kid?"

You know, this is, you know, not my kid.

It was just hard to take... take it in.

And it was just strange
because we didn't know Kate.

He has friends that I don't know.

He was private in that way.

[Kim] And the minute the police left,
that was the worst,

because we said,
"How are we gonna tell the girls?"

"How are we gonna tell her sisters?"

[music fades]

-[woman 1] Christmas 1990.
-[Kim] Yeah!

Kate was five.

[Kim] Now you're gonna get your stockings.

[woman 1] Kate's trying
to get hers down herself.

-[Tom] Is that Kate?
-[Kim] Yeah, that's Kate.

[Tom] That's Kate by the fireplace.

[all laugh]

I got all this makeup stuff!

[all laugh]

[woman 1] Kate was
the traditional little sister,

following me around,
wanting to try on my clothes,

all of those things
that little sisters did.

We had similar friends, similar interests,

like sports, dance, music.

Nobody else in my life
knew me the way that Kate did.

She was my protective older sister

and was always on my side.

[attempting posh English accent]
There's a purple and pink ant on my nose!

I can't get it off!

Hey!

[Alexandra] She was really, really goofy.

She was weird.

Weird in a good way where it was, um...

You knew when she was in a good mood
by her level of goofiness.

[Lauren] She was
so lighthearted and carefree,

but I think the fight
between dark and light was a challenge.

[Alexandra] Kate struggled often
with depression and anxiety,

and, for years, the only coping mechanism
she had was drinking.

But, thankfully,
Kate decided to get sober.

She had been on a path of self-discovery
for years.

And she had put in the work.

She was happy with her career in marketing
for a jewelry company.

So she was just feeling good.
She was vibrant. She was happy.

She sent me a picture
about a week before she died,

and her comment underneath
was, "Stella's got her groove back."

And she had just hung out with Nell
the night before she text me.

[intriguing music playing]

Kate and Nell had
a really unique friendship.

They had met a decade before,

and it kind of ebbed and flowed.

There came points where Kate would get
in a serious relationship, or Nell would,

and they would maybe
not communicate as much,

and then, when they were able to again,
they would reconnect,

and it was as if no time had passed.

They had that kind of friendship.

[Darlene] His first picture,
Carnell was maybe two months old.

[Carl] Right, right.

[Darlene] Look at him. He was so cute!

-He was a great baby.
-Yeah.

[Darlene] Nell was special
to his family and friends.

I try to think about the good times
'cause we had a lotta good times.

He was a real good kid.

[woman] He's my first grandson.

I loved him from the day
I seen him in the crib.

And I was just thankful
for the 40 years I did have my baby.

I'm thankful for that.

[man] Carnell was my big brother.

He was my role model.

And, you know, he's always been
a... strong-willed older brother.

[chuckles] Passionate
and got me into sports.

Carnell was 6'4", 220 lbs.

But not a confrontational guy.

A teddy bear. [chuckles]

Yeah, not a... not a fighter. [chuckles]

He always cared for me,
loved me, wanted the best for me,

you know, and I wanted the best for him,

but regardless how big I got,
I was always just his little brother.

He was always a person that wanted
to help people, even when he was young.

[Darlene] All of his jobs surrounded kids.

He coached children with disabilities,
and they would have so much fun.

He was so patient, and they loved him.

[cheering]

[Darlene] They miss him so much.

To this day,
they still talk about Carnell.

Yeah.

[tense music playing]

An investigation is underway
and a community on edge

after two people were found dead

in the Cleveland Metroparks
Rocky River Reservation in Fairview Park.

[man] The Cuyahoga County medical examiner
is conducting autopsies today

to shed light on what happened.

Until then,
this community is left wondering.

[unsettling music playing]

[Lauren] The Metropark system
here in Cleveland

is often called the Emerald Necklace
because, you know, in Cleveland,

we're surrounded by all these green,
luscious, beautiful parks,

and it's not uncommon
to see people jogging there,

families pushing their strollers
in the parks.

All walks of life visit these parks.

[Kim] Kate's apartment building
overlooked the Metroparks,

and she would meet friends
down there a lot

because it was beautiful.

[man] It's not like the city of Cleveland,
where on a weekend,

you may have eight or nine homicides.

In the Metroparks,
the last homicide we had

prior to the one we're talking about today
was 20 years ago.

And where this happened at, uh, there was
a lot of traffic going through that day,

so it was really
a very strange occurrence.

[car door closes]

This is where Kate and Carnell
were k*lled.

You can see the road and the parking lot.

It's in very close proximity

to the bench they were on
when they were shot.

Very close to the street,
easily seen from traffic passing by.

At five o'clock, there's so much traffic
going down that causeway.

I mean, 75 feet from this...
from this bench.

How could it happen
that nobody heard or saw anything?

That just... To me, that just...
It's hard to believe.

[menacing music playing]

[Sylvis] When we arrived at the scene,

there was a man parked in a truck
in that parking lot.

We found out
that he worked for a roofing company,

and he said he saw Kate and Carnell
arrive at the location.

[Awadallah] According to him,
he was working on estimates

and writing up work orders
when this incident took place.

He reported that he didn't hear
the sound of any g*nshots

or see any suspicious people in the area.

[Darlene] He heard nothing, he says.

I question that.

Why would you still be working in the park
at 5:00 in the afternoon?

And you don't hear a g*nsh*t,
several g*nshots?

Mm-hmm.

I have told the authorities
I question that.

[Sylvis] Small-caliber firearms
are much less loud,

and if that weapon was
additionally silenced with a suppressor,

it could be very quiet.

So we believe
that it's completely possible

that the roofer did not hear the g*nshots

from that distance inside of his truck.

He was our first person of interest
in this case

because he was there before,
during, and after the murders,

but we looked at him extensively
from the very beginning.

And through searches
of his electronic devices

to include the tablet that he was
working on and his cell phone,

we can verify
that he was busy doing those tasks

during the time
that these murders took place.

[eerie music playing]

Our initial assessment was robbery
appears to be a very unlikely motive

because the victims had belongings
on their persons and inside their vehicles

that were not taken.

Kate's cell phone was recovered.

Carnell's car contained two cell phones.
A work phone and a personal phone,

and also, their wallets were in plain view
inside the vehicles,

and those were untouched.

We also found an area of blood
on the back of the bench

where the male victim was seated,

and this led us to believe

that the victims were approached
and shot from behind.

[unsettling music playing]

[Alexandra] What they told us was Nell,
he was shot in the back of the head.

When Nell had fallen to the ground,
he was shot again in the head.

Kate jumped down to the riverbank,
which is about five, six feet

and started running away

and was shot in the back of the head
while trying to flee.

The police don't know who the target was,

but, because Nell was shot first
and twice,

in my mind, that was evidence
that he was the target

and could've been trying to protect Kate.

[Sylvis] I think it's most likely
that the assailant came

from the street or from that parking lot,

and the escape route
could be the same way.

Or it could be through these wooded areas.
That's one of the unknowns with this case.

[man] We're about 150, 200 meters

to the southwest
of where the crime took place

underneath the Lorain Avenue Bridge.

Couple hundred meters
down the road to the south, uh,

kind of, uh, a gravel pathway hooks up
with this main bike, running path.

I am the assistant special agent in charge
of the FBI Cleveland Field Office.

The FBI typically doesn't work
homicide cases

because it's not a federal violation.

But I became familiar with the case

after Cleveland Metroparks
asked for our assistance.

This could be a potential avenue of escape

if somebody was on foot or on a bike
or something like that.

Could somebody have ran over here
after sh**ting two people

and maybe not been seen
and maybe scrambled up the hill?

I mean, there's any number
of, um, possibilities.

Every time I think about this case...
I get angry.

That could've been any one of us
sitting on the park bench

I guess is what makes me the most angry.
That the...

the fact that two lives like that
were ended, um... for no reason, um...

on such a beautiful day
in such a beautiful park.

A question we've been getting
day after day here at 19 News,

what is going on with the investigation

into the double m*rder
in the Metroparks Rocky River Reservation?

Both victims' family and police
are searching for answers.

[intriguing music playing]

[Awadallah]
As the investigation developed,

all the parties,
the investigating agencies,

had gathered for a strategy session

in order to piece together a timeline

as to what happened that day
as fast as possible.

We reviewed surveillance camera footage
from Kate's apartment complex.

And in doing so,
we found that Kate arrived home from work,

and she signed in to a gym
that's located on the property

to exercise at 3:38 p.m.

[text message alert]

[Sylvis] Cell-phone records reveal

that Carnell sent Kate
a text message at 4:02 p.m.

asking her if she'd like
to get together with him at some point.

Of course, we don't know
why Kate and Carnell were meeting.

I think any coordination
was done through voice calls,

which we obviously
don't have access to the content of.

We know she ultimately places
a phone call to him

while she's still at the gym,

and that phone call lasted
for about ten minutes.

[downbeat music playing]

[Sylvis] Carnell left work at 4:24 p.m.,

and Kate signed out of her gym
at 4:31 p.m.

[keys jangle]

[engine starts]

[Sylvis] And at that point,
both of them headed towards the park.

One of our officers was running radar
along the side of the road

about a mile from the crime scene.

And that officer's dashboard camera
captured a vehicle

that appears to be Kate's car

traveling along the parkway
towards the crime scene at 5:01 p.m.

At 5:03 p.m., Carnell's car is seen

passing that same police cruiser
on the dashboard camera

also headed towards the crime scene.

We believe they arrived there
in about two minutes...

parked at the scene,

and sat on the park bench... together.

But one of the biggest challenges
in this case

is still we don't know
why they were meeting that day.

[unsettling music playing]

[Lauren]
That's the million-dollar question.

Why did they meet that day?

[Terrance] What was the meeting for?

Has this been happening a lot more

and nobody knew about it?

Or was this just a one-time occurrence?

[Darlene] I believe
it was a last-minute meetup.

I do.

But I also believe he was there
to help her in some kinda way.

[Kim] When things were tough for Kate,
she'd look to Carnell,

and, likewise, when Carnell
was struggling with something,

he'd get in contact with Kate.

That's right.

[Alexandra] When this first happened,
I imagined Kate reaching out to Nell

because she needed a friend that day.

But if it was Nell that wanted to meet up,

I would guess that he had
something important to tell her

about their relationship.

That he wished
they could be more than friends.

Kate had told me
about a month or two before

that he said, you know, "Kate, one day
we're gonna end up together."

So, in my mind,

it could've possibly have been
another conversation like that.

[music fades]

I just don't know
what could've been so important

that they had to meet in person.

It didn't make sense to me.

[ominous music playing]

Because Nell had made plans
for a family dinner that day

for five o'clock at his grandma's house.

And the Rocky River Metropark
is the west side of Cleveland,

so it was kinda going out of his way

to go to the Metropark from work

and then back to Grandma's,

southeast side.

It seems if it were not so important,

he could've went after dinner.

Something made him go before dinner.

[Posey] My thinking is he was gonna go,
and maybe after he'd see her for a while,

then call me, tell me,
"Grandma, I'm on my way now."

But he didn't get a chance

'cause as soon as he got there,
it happened.

[eerie music playing]

[Sylvis] Kate unlocked
and checked her phone at 5:08 p.m.

A time that we know her and Carnell
to be at the park.

The 911 call was received at 5:22 p.m.

So we know
within that 14-minute time span,

the assailant approached Kate and Carnell
as they sat on the park bench,

fired three shots at close range,
and k*lled them both.

[Awadallah] The biggest mystery
for law enforcement

is why were they k*lled?

Is this a personal attack?
A crime of passion?

Who was the target here?
Was it Carnell? Was it Kate?

Was this a stranger?

Those are some of the things
that this investigation struggled with.

[Sylvis] Neither of the victims
had significant assets,

feuds, or criminal histories

that led to an obvious motive
in this case.

[Alexandra] In the very beginning,
I thought it was possibly a hate crime.

Judging by the way
that the m*rder had happened

and the level of brazenness it required.

[man] Hate crimes in Cleveland,
they are skyrocketing,

and it does not matter the motivation.

Hate crimes over race, ethnicity,
religions, sexual orientation,

they're all on the rise.

[Tom] I was told by one of the detectives

there's over 30 hate groups
based in that area.

It wouldn't take much
for somebody driving to the park,

sees a white girl and a Black guy,

and has a g*n in his car, and doesn't like
the looks of what he's seeing,

and pulls over, and... hey.

I believe that that's possible.

Certain areas are more prejudiced
than others.

Not saying that everyone
in Rocky River's prejudiced,

but there is prejudice... everywhere.

[Krajek] It's certainly a theory,
but we need to have evidence

that supports that.

Also, we don't wanna,
I guess, turn a blind eye

to other potential theories
and just say it's only a hate crime.

It could be a random act of violence
that had nothing to do with race.

There was a theory that began to surface
that it could've been g*ng related.

[unsettling music playing]

[Krajek] Could it have been
a g*ng initiation?

Could've, but, as far as gangs go,

they will maybe commit a crime
to get into the g*ng.

[tires screech]

[Krajek] But it's rarely
on an innocent person or persons.

It's usually in furtherance of the g*ng.

Um, like they'll target
a rival g*ng member

on the rival g*ng member's turf,
so to speak.

Is it impossible? No, it's not impossible.

We would never rule anything out.

[Terrance] I just don't think
a g*ng would do this. Um...

I don't think it was random.
I really don't.

I do think this was intentional.

Somebody really wanted both of them dead.

[Lauren] What I believe
is that one of them was followed

because authorities think
that they were k*lled sometime after 5:08,

and the people who found their bodies
called 911 at 5:22.

So that's a very short time window

for somebody to be...

just happen to be there
and decide they're going to do this.

[tense music playing]

[Darlene] After the m*rder,
I thought of everyone differently.

It could be someone we know.

It could be someone Kate's family knows.

[Awadallah] Victimology is very important
in any homicide investigation.

Who is around the victims
in terms of friends, family, associates?

And is there anybody
that wished them harm?

Was there a stalking issue?

Was there threats in the past
that need to be vetted?

[Sylvis] We're looking for somebody

that would have a desire
to k*ll one or both of them,

somebody that has access to a firearm,

and somebody
that would have the opportunity

to encounter them at the park
to carry out this crime.

Everyone was a suspect after he died.

[downbeat music playing]

Everyone.

Including Alyssa, his ex-girlfriend.

Because I didn't know her long.

[Alexandra] We started hearing stories
filtering in of an ex-girlfriend of Nell's

that we found abnormal.

There were displayed behaviors
at his funeral.

Over-the-top expression
of grief and emotion,

things that were obvious
to other people as odd.

And we were told
from one of Nell's very close friends

that his ex-girlfriend
had a concealed-carry permit.

That was the first tip
where we fixed our focus

and started looking
a little bit more at her.

[music fades]

[brooding music playing]

[woman] My relationship with Nell
was hard to define.

We had started talking online
about one year before he was k*lled.

And when we met, it was like he...
I'd known him for my whole life.

We dated for about six months

and decided that we were better as friends
for the time being, but...

[softly] ...it's complicated.

A month before he was shot,

we started talking again,
and we got closer and closer,

and we were gonna get back together.

The last time I saw him was Saturday,
the weekend before he was k*lled,

but we texted the day that he was k*lled,

and the last text I got from him
was around 3:00 p.m.

He was asking how I was
'cause I had had a... tough day.

So I texted him later that evening.

And I said,
"No worries. It's in the past."

And I never heard back.

I saw what happened online
on the morning of June 5th

when one of his cousins posted a picture.

It's like my heart dropped to the floor,
and I was just in denial,

disbelief.

When the m*rder happened, I was at work,

and I hadn't left
until later that evening.

But I did talk to detectives
quite a bit afterwards.

They did ask for my weapon,
and I understand that.

[Sylvis] We did take a very close look
at Carnell's ex-girlfriend.

She had a verifiable alibi

that put her nowhere near the crime scene
when these murders occurred.

She was very cooperative
in the investigation

and turned that weapon over to us,

and it was found
not to be the m*rder weapon.

[unsettling music playing]

[Miller] I can only guess
what happened that day

because I didn't know anything
about Kate and Nell's friendship.

But I'm thinking
it would've been somebody that Kate knew

because I cannot imagine
anyone wanting to hurt Nell.

He was such a gentle soul.

I guess I'm biased
'cause I'm Nell's brother,

but I don't think it was him
or someone he knew.

And I don't wanna point the blame at Kate,

but... I really think there was something

or someone that maybe had
an issue with her.

It was one of those situations
where we were, again, grasping at straws.

I went on my own investigation

to dig as deeply as I could
in Kate's life.

Going through her stuff after she died,

it was the most intense thing
I've ever had to do.

[Lauren] In the months before her death,
Kate had lost all this weight,

and she was feeling really confident

and wanting to get out
into the dating world again.

She hadn't been in a serious relationship
in a long time, hadn't dated,

and so she was kinda stepping out
into that world again.

A very new world of online dating.

She was on Tinder,

and she was meeting up with a couple
different people every now and then

for different types of dates.

[ringing tone]

[Alexandra] The Friday before Kate died,
she was communicating with this person,

met him through a typical dating app...

[tense music playing]

[Alexandra] ...and she met up with him
on a date.

[Lauren] She just had this feeling
about this person,

that something was off.

She described his eyes looking black.

She didn't feel safe, so she left...

and then, later that weekend,

found out that he had k*lled someone
a decade before.

[Alexandra] The m*rder
that he was a part of

was extremely disturbing.

He and his brother had stabbed a person
and then set the body on fire.

Kate was pretty frantic about it.

Said, you know, "I can't believe this."

"I don't know why
I didn't look this up sooner."

And I remember her text message
specifically said to me,

"I feel sick right now."

They never saw each other again,
to my knowledge.

[music fades]

Police told us that he had an alibi.

He was down in southern Ohio
when Kate and Nell were k*lled.

[eerie music playing]

[Tom] There was another man

who she had dated for, I think, a year,
a year and a half maybe.

She'd broke it off with this young man,

but I don't think he wanted
to take no for an answer.

[Lauren] They had
a very troubled relationship,

and he was a*usive.

Everybody was aware that he was violent
and had a violent history with her.

They had thankfully broken up
a few years before she died,

but Kate, being a creature of... of habit,

she would continuously see him secretly.

And then I found out

he was with Kate
the night before she died.

The police had told me
that, at Kate's apartment,

there were video cameras

that saw him coming
and leaving that night.

And I pictured the ex-boyfriend
showing up the next day

when she left the gym,

them getting in the typical fight
that they had always gotten into,

and Kate leaving,
and him following her to the park.

Because, if she had denied him,

if she had severed the relationship,
you know, again,

he would wanna retaliate.

[Lauren] Police determined
that he was at a barber shop

at the time
that Nell and Kate were k*lled.

Whether they have video footage of that
or not, I don't know.

[Kim] The theory of a jealous boyfriend
makes sense.

Jealousy, when it rears its ugly head...

who knows?

And whoever did this was very brazen.

Was it insanity? Was it a psychopath?

Was it rage? Was it jealousy?

I went over it and over it and over it,
day after day after day.

It just doesn't make any sense.

Now tonight, a new effort
to bring justice to the Brown family,

and investigators are hoping money talks.

They are adding $70,000
to the already $30,000 in reward money,

bringing the total now to $100,000.

We are here today at this press conference
to plead with anyone who has information

to please come forward.

[Tom] We raised the reward money.

And we thought,
"Oh my God, somebody's gotta!"

"If they know anything,
they're gonna come forward."

[inhales] But no.

The case started to go cold.

[Alexandra] In the beginning,
I feel like we had more hope

and there was better communication
'cause everything was fresh.

Our investigators
continue to work doggedly,

pursuing new leads
and following the evidence,

which will lead, one day, to the door
of the person or persons responsible.

[Lauren] But then the longer time went on,

you started to question
what had been done, what hadn't been done.

Do I think some people dropped the ball?
Of course.

And it frustrates me
because nobody's being held accountable.

I never thought
it would have taken this long

in order to get justice.

[unsettling music playing]

Yeah.

There are some really hard...
resentful feelings

as far as law enforcement's concerned.

We had signs we put up
down in the park asking for tips

that they made us take down.

These aren't signs for a graduation party.

These are signs that are down here
trying to... to stir up tips!

Maybe that one lead
that would lead... to gettin' this solved.

It was upsetting, and it was also
one of the last glimmers of hope

that we were doing something.

[Lauren] I think the Metroparks
wanted to take the signs down

because they wanted people
to feel safe in their parks.

But if a crime like this
could be committed,

they clearly are not safe.

We certainly use every tool
in the toolbox.

We've submitted the case
to our behavioral-analysis unit

down at FBI Headquarters.

And we've used the FBI's
Violent Criminal Apprehension Program.

Every potential suspect,

no matter how crazy
the lead is or the tip is,

we have run every single one down.

We think about it every day.

We're not giving up,
and we need help with the public

and maybe a little bit of luck
on our side.

[Sylvis] We haven't put the case down
since June 4th of 2019,

and we won't until the person or people
responsible are brought to justice.

[Alexandra] Law enforcement has said
that they have done everything they can

to vet every single suspect
or person of interest that they had,

and they just don't know who did this.

So I look at it like,

get the story out there,
get people talking about it again

because it's just... it's stagnant.

[poignant music playing]

[Darlene] Six months before the m*rder,

I had a dream that Nell had been shot.

I don't know if God was preparing me
for what was to come,

but he's gone.

[voice breaking]
It shouldn't have happened.

-Yeah, it shouldn't have.
-It shouldn't have happened.

[Lauren] I don't think I'll ever be able
to make sense of what happened.

[tearfully] I miss her so much.

[Posey] It still don't seem real.

And I know it's real.

Being the matriarch of the family,
I'm supposed to be strong

and tell the rest of 'em
to be strong as well,

and not... and not to give up.

[Darlene] I believe
that this person believes

that they've got away with m*rder.

But it's not over.

Someone knows what happened.

Why they won't come forward, I don't know,

but I pray that this is revealed.

[Alexandra] By finding
the person that did this,

I'll know that that person
can't inflict this on someone else,

and they'll have to live with knowing
the wreckage they caused to our lives.

We will always be here,

looking and trying to figure out
who you are and why you did this.

[music fades]

[closing theme music playing]