1 00:00:07,140 --> 00:00:07,607 - I'm Craig Melvin, 2 00:00:08,508 --> 00:00:12,612 and this is "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered." 3 00:00:12,645 --> 00:00:16,649 - Two guys saw what they thought was a mannequin. 4 00:00:16,683 --> 00:00:19,386 She had wood piled on top of her. 5 00:00:19,419 --> 00:00:22,255 No identification. 6 00:00:22,288 --> 00:00:24,824 - We all came together by becoming volunteers 7 00:00:24,858 --> 00:00:27,360 to identify Jane Does and John Does. 8 00:00:27,394 --> 00:00:30,563 - There's a passion trying to find out 9 00:00:30,597 --> 00:00:32,232 who our Doe is. 10 00:00:32,265 --> 00:00:34,901 - I think what if this is your family? 11 00:00:34,934 --> 00:00:36,536 You want to give them closure. 12 00:00:36,569 --> 00:00:40,507 - To us homicide detectives, it's way above our heads. 13 00:00:40,540 --> 00:00:43,710 - I said I think I know how we can do it. 14 00:00:43,743 --> 00:00:46,579 - All of these people share some amount of DNA 15 00:00:46,613 --> 00:00:49,616 with our unknown person. 16 00:00:49,649 --> 00:00:51,317 - We thought this is the family. 17 00:00:51,351 --> 00:00:53,086 This is it. 18 00:00:53,119 --> 00:00:54,554 - It's surreal. 19 00:00:54,587 --> 00:00:56,156 It felt like somebody just punched me. 20 00:00:56,189 --> 00:00:57,590 It just felt like-- 21 00:00:59,659 --> 00:01:01,227 - It's a funny thing, isn't it? 22 00:01:01,261 --> 00:01:02,829 That it would be important to have a stone 23 00:01:02,862 --> 00:01:03,963 with your name on it. 24 00:01:04,064 --> 00:01:05,065 - It is. 25 00:01:05,065 --> 00:01:07,067 - It's written in stone. 26 00:01:07,067 --> 00:01:08,568 You're never forgotten. 27 00:01:16,743 --> 00:01:20,447 - Hello, and welcome to "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered." 28 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:21,815 In many cold cases, 29 00:01:21,848 --> 00:01:23,717 a grieving family is desperate 30 00:01:23,750 --> 00:01:26,519 to bring their loved ones' killer to justice. 31 00:01:26,553 --> 00:01:29,723 But what happens when the victim is unknown? 32 00:01:29,756 --> 00:01:32,492 That was the secret Texas authorities needed to crack 33 00:01:32,525 --> 00:01:37,097 for years until a team of determined strangers 34 00:01:37,130 --> 00:01:40,567 vowed to finally put a name with a face. 35 00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:42,235 Here's Keith Morrison with... 36 00:01:51,444 --> 00:01:53,513 - Here is where they put her. 37 00:01:53,546 --> 00:01:55,215 Her permanent home. 38 00:01:55,248 --> 00:01:57,784 - Nobody really knew anything about her. 39 00:01:57,817 --> 00:02:01,388 - This little cemetery in east Texas. 40 00:02:01,421 --> 00:02:04,391 One simple marker on her grave 41 00:02:04,424 --> 00:02:07,327 and the name that wasn't a name. 42 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:09,062 Jane Doe. 43 00:02:09,095 --> 00:02:11,331 - It makes it personal because you think, 44 00:02:11,364 --> 00:02:13,366 "What if this is your family? 45 00:02:13,400 --> 00:02:17,070 "What if this could be your friend?" 46 00:02:17,070 --> 00:02:19,739 - She-- who was she, 47 00:02:19,773 --> 00:02:22,075 this impossible enigma? 48 00:02:22,108 --> 00:02:24,744 - How is it that the young woman can 49 00:02:24,778 --> 00:02:26,946 disappear and die and that no one can 50 00:02:26,980 --> 00:02:28,248 figure out who she is? 51 00:02:28,281 --> 00:02:31,117 - The question that kept them glued to their computers. 52 00:02:31,151 --> 00:02:33,987 - Participating in something like this too 53 00:02:34,087 --> 00:02:36,289 can be almost consuming. 54 00:02:36,322 --> 00:02:39,893 It can-- it can really drain us. 55 00:02:39,926 --> 00:02:41,428 - The obsession... 56 00:02:41,461 --> 00:02:42,495 - I was hooked. 57 00:02:42,529 --> 00:02:43,997 I was absolutely hooked. 58 00:02:51,771 --> 00:02:54,007 - This is where it began. 59 00:02:54,107 --> 00:02:56,343 October 29th, 2006, 60 00:02:56,376 --> 00:02:57,977 Kilgore, Texas. 61 00:02:58,011 --> 00:03:01,081 Two men out target shooting on Oil Lee's property 62 00:03:01,114 --> 00:03:02,949 not far from town. 63 00:03:03,049 --> 00:03:05,185 They smelled it first, 64 00:03:05,218 --> 00:03:06,453 then they saw it. 65 00:03:06,486 --> 00:03:09,522 Something burning. Looked like a mannequin. 66 00:03:09,556 --> 00:03:12,058 The men approached. 67 00:03:12,058 --> 00:03:14,661 What was that? 68 00:03:14,694 --> 00:03:17,230 And then they recoiled. 69 00:03:17,263 --> 00:03:22,168 That was a young woman dead and burning. 70 00:03:22,202 --> 00:03:23,436 - You know, we have homicides 71 00:03:23,470 --> 00:03:24,771 just like the rest of the world, 72 00:03:24,804 --> 00:03:28,241 you know, going as far as trying to burn the body. 73 00:03:28,274 --> 00:03:31,144 It really struck fear in people around here. 74 00:03:31,177 --> 00:03:34,547 - Lieutenant Eddie Hope was still a sergeant back then. 75 00:03:34,581 --> 00:03:36,883 Gregg County Sheriff's Department. 76 00:03:36,916 --> 00:03:39,185 - She had wood piled beneath her 77 00:03:39,219 --> 00:03:40,987 and wood piled on top of her 78 00:03:41,087 --> 00:03:43,223 and there was I believe a gas can, 79 00:03:43,256 --> 00:03:45,258 uh, lid there. - Wow. 80 00:03:45,291 --> 00:03:47,627 - So, looked like somebody was trying 81 00:03:47,660 --> 00:03:48,762 to cover their tracks. 82 00:03:48,795 --> 00:03:50,930 - She was meant to be part of one big bonfire 83 00:03:50,964 --> 00:03:54,100 and just disappear forever. - Right. 84 00:03:54,100 --> 00:03:56,970 - The officers who responded noted every detail they could. 85 00:03:57,003 --> 00:03:59,673 That she was young, late teens-- early twenties. 86 00:03:59,706 --> 00:04:01,341 And she was little, 87 00:04:01,374 --> 00:04:03,376 maybe 5'4", 100 pounds. 88 00:04:03,410 --> 00:04:06,646 She was wearing jeans, a pale shirt 89 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:08,548 the color of lavender, 90 00:04:08,581 --> 00:04:10,884 $44 in her pocket. 91 00:04:10,917 --> 00:04:13,486 And this was unusual, baby teeth. 92 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:14,954 She still had a few. 93 00:04:15,055 --> 00:04:16,322 - She never lost them. 94 00:04:16,356 --> 00:04:18,692 They said that's use-- that's highly unusual. 95 00:04:18,725 --> 00:04:20,760 - Well, it gave you something to work with anyway. 96 00:04:20,794 --> 00:04:22,429 - A little bit. 97 00:04:22,462 --> 00:04:24,197 - Other than that, the young woman was 98 00:04:24,230 --> 00:04:26,132 impossible to identify. 99 00:04:26,166 --> 00:04:29,402 She had been murdered of that there was no doubt. 100 00:04:29,436 --> 00:04:33,807 Her last moments had been very bad. 101 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:37,077 But in most homicide investigations, 102 00:04:37,077 --> 00:04:39,946 detectives burrowed deep into the life of the victim, 103 00:04:39,979 --> 00:04:43,149 talked to every friend, interviewed the family, 104 00:04:43,183 --> 00:04:47,087 find out about scorned lovers or past mistakes. 105 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,623 That's often how murders get solved, 106 00:04:50,657 --> 00:04:54,094 but in this case none of it was possible. 107 00:04:54,094 --> 00:04:55,295 - Didn't have a clue. 108 00:04:55,328 --> 00:04:57,297 - What could you do? - Nothing. 109 00:04:57,330 --> 00:04:59,666 If we got tips, ran them down 110 00:04:59,699 --> 00:05:01,301 because, I mean, we had no grounds to go on 111 00:05:01,334 --> 00:05:04,070 who this could be or where she came from. 112 00:05:04,104 --> 00:05:06,439 - They ran her DNA profile. 113 00:05:06,473 --> 00:05:09,943 Didn't match any known person known to them anyway, 114 00:05:10,043 --> 00:05:13,446 but the autopsy revealed semen in her body, 115 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:15,749 and it did match someone-- 116 00:05:15,782 --> 00:05:18,785 a known local sex offender. 117 00:05:18,818 --> 00:05:21,721 So they pulled him in and he admitted he had sex 118 00:05:21,755 --> 00:05:24,624 that day with a woman whose name he didn't know, 119 00:05:24,657 --> 00:05:26,326 but he didn't kill her. 120 00:05:26,359 --> 00:05:29,229 And he did have an alibi too, 121 00:05:29,262 --> 00:05:31,297 so that was that. 122 00:05:31,331 --> 00:05:33,066 - We would get people off the internet 123 00:05:33,099 --> 00:05:35,869 that would say, "Hey, I think this might be so-and-so," 124 00:05:35,902 --> 00:05:38,738 and we would follow up on that and eventually rule it out. 125 00:05:38,772 --> 00:05:40,507 What we were thinking at the time was 126 00:05:40,540 --> 00:05:42,575 maybe she's not from around here 127 00:05:42,609 --> 00:05:44,911 because nobody's missing her here. 128 00:05:44,944 --> 00:05:49,115 - And so, Gregg County paid for a burial plot 129 00:05:49,149 --> 00:05:53,086 and for a little marker on the ground above her body. 130 00:05:53,086 --> 00:05:56,389 - A small headstone just-just reads Jane Doe. 131 00:05:56,423 --> 00:05:59,159 There was no other information we knew on her. 132 00:05:59,192 --> 00:06:02,896 - And winter game, but they didn't give up. 133 00:06:02,929 --> 00:06:05,131 A Texas ranger who sometimes worked with them 134 00:06:05,165 --> 00:06:06,933 said maybe he could help. 135 00:06:07,033 --> 00:06:09,602 - And he was able to fly in a-an artist 136 00:06:09,636 --> 00:06:13,239 to try to reconstruct what- what our victim looked like 137 00:06:13,273 --> 00:06:14,874 in real life. 138 00:06:14,908 --> 00:06:19,546 - And here it was, but it produced no leads. 139 00:06:19,579 --> 00:06:22,148 The county even made a clay model using an x-ray 140 00:06:22,182 --> 00:06:25,251 of the victim's skull including those baby teeth. 141 00:06:25,285 --> 00:06:27,721 Sent it around the local media. 142 00:06:27,754 --> 00:06:30,290 Still nothing. 143 00:06:30,323 --> 00:06:33,560 And detective work-- it's an unending drum 144 00:06:33,593 --> 00:06:36,329 that beats at all hours in the day and night. 145 00:06:36,363 --> 00:06:40,333 Felonies, misdemeanors, the lot demanding attention. 146 00:06:40,367 --> 00:06:42,669 - We got cases everyday and, you know, 147 00:06:42,702 --> 00:06:45,572 we get three or four cases each a day. 148 00:06:45,605 --> 00:06:47,240 Sometimes more. 149 00:06:47,273 --> 00:06:49,976 - They didn't forget her as they went about their work, 150 00:06:50,076 --> 00:06:53,346 but the young woman remained nameless 151 00:06:53,380 --> 00:06:56,116 no matter how many trails they followed. 152 00:06:56,149 --> 00:06:57,751 - And that just went on for years. 153 00:06:57,784 --> 00:06:59,386 I mean, it's basically all we had. 154 00:06:59,419 --> 00:07:00,820 - A little bit here, a little bit there 155 00:07:00,854 --> 00:07:02,022 but not much. 156 00:07:02,022 --> 00:07:04,357 - Right. - And no solution? 157 00:07:04,391 --> 00:07:07,060 - No solution, no nothing. 158 00:07:07,093 --> 00:07:10,630 - And then something unusual happened. 159 00:07:10,663 --> 00:07:13,933 The little details like her baby teeth 160 00:07:14,034 --> 00:07:17,370 caught the eyes of amateur internet investigators 161 00:07:17,404 --> 00:07:20,740 on sites like Reddit and Websleuths. 162 00:07:20,774 --> 00:07:23,209 And before too long, they began referring 163 00:07:23,243 --> 00:07:26,446 to the mystery woman with a kind of shorthand. 164 00:07:26,479 --> 00:07:29,816 It was the distinctive color of her shirt that did it. 165 00:07:29,849 --> 00:07:33,086 One of those armchair detectives took to calling her 166 00:07:33,119 --> 00:07:36,690 Lavender, Lavender Doe. 167 00:07:36,723 --> 00:07:38,925 - This was a case that was followed online 168 00:07:38,958 --> 00:07:40,894 very closely by many people. 169 00:07:40,927 --> 00:07:43,196 - People like this guy, 170 00:07:43,229 --> 00:07:45,932 and what happened after that? 171 00:07:45,965 --> 00:07:49,836 Well, remember what we said about obsession? 172 00:07:52,839 --> 00:07:54,474 - A murder victim without a name 173 00:07:54,507 --> 00:07:57,077 and detectives without any clues. 174 00:07:57,077 --> 00:07:58,945 Not an easy mystery to solve, 175 00:07:58,978 --> 00:08:03,416 but lurking in the shadows help is on the way. 176 00:08:05,251 --> 00:08:07,253 - I spent a lot of my spare time 177 00:08:07,287 --> 00:08:09,622 looking into missing persons cases. 178 00:08:09,656 --> 00:08:12,826 Really just kind of trying to flesh out the stories. 179 00:08:12,859 --> 00:08:14,494 - I was impressed that people cared. 180 00:08:14,527 --> 00:08:17,130 - Cared and knew how to help. 181 00:08:17,163 --> 00:08:19,632 - I said I think I know how we can do it and she said, 182 00:08:19,666 --> 00:08:21,434 "Bingo, all we need is DNA." 183 00:08:21,468 --> 00:08:25,505 If I can figure out Jane Doe's parents, 184 00:08:25,538 --> 00:08:27,273 we'll know who Jane Doe was. 185 00:08:34,147 --> 00:08:38,952 ** 186 00:08:39,919 --> 00:08:43,723 - Tomorrow and tomorrow and a decade went by. 187 00:08:43,757 --> 00:08:45,458 11 years after the murder 188 00:08:45,492 --> 00:08:47,627 of a young woman they called Lavender Doe 189 00:08:47,660 --> 00:08:49,796 and more than 200 miles from the spot 190 00:08:49,829 --> 00:08:51,297 where her body was found 191 00:08:51,331 --> 00:08:54,134 in the town of Killeen, Texas. 192 00:08:54,167 --> 00:08:56,569 A man was feverishly at work. 193 00:08:56,603 --> 00:08:58,772 Though it wasn't his profession, 194 00:08:58,805 --> 00:09:02,709 this work that consumed him, not yet at least. 195 00:09:02,742 --> 00:09:05,178 - I kinda spent a lot of my spare time 196 00:09:05,211 --> 00:09:07,514 looking into missing persons cases. 197 00:09:07,547 --> 00:09:10,550 Really just kind of trying to flesh out the stories 198 00:09:10,583 --> 00:09:13,019 of some of these lesser known cases. 199 00:09:13,053 --> 00:09:15,021 - His name is Kevin Lorde. 200 00:09:15,055 --> 00:09:17,791 He is, well, many things. 201 00:09:17,824 --> 00:09:21,194 A former software developer, a T-shirt salesman, 202 00:09:21,227 --> 00:09:25,365 a passionate and loyal consumer of all things true crime. 203 00:09:25,398 --> 00:09:28,535 He wasn't an investigator or a law enforcement officer, 204 00:09:28,568 --> 00:09:32,205 just someone plagued by unanswered questions. 205 00:09:32,238 --> 00:09:35,041 - I was looking for Jane Does 206 00:09:35,041 --> 00:09:37,344 in the area in Texas that might be a match 207 00:09:37,377 --> 00:09:39,412 to one of these missing girls. 208 00:09:39,446 --> 00:09:41,681 - And that's how he came across hundreds of pages 209 00:09:41,715 --> 00:09:44,818 of online forums about a mystery woman 210 00:09:44,851 --> 00:09:47,253 nicknamed Lavender Doe. 211 00:09:47,287 --> 00:09:49,456 Could she be one of the missing women 212 00:09:49,489 --> 00:09:51,825 he was trying to locate? 213 00:09:51,858 --> 00:09:55,462 And so, Kevin called the Gregg County Sheriff's Department 214 00:09:55,495 --> 00:09:56,863 and found himself on the phone with 215 00:09:56,896 --> 00:09:59,432 the lead detective on Lavender Doe's case, 216 00:09:59,466 --> 00:10:01,101 Lieutenant Eddie Hope. 217 00:10:01,134 --> 00:10:03,770 - I was impressed that people cared, 218 00:10:03,803 --> 00:10:06,006 'cause we live in a world where everything's fast pace 219 00:10:06,039 --> 00:10:08,842 and a lot of people are worried about themselves 220 00:10:08,875 --> 00:10:09,709 and not others. 221 00:10:09,743 --> 00:10:10,744 - And here was evidence 222 00:10:10,777 --> 00:10:12,579 that maybe they are interested in others. 223 00:10:12,612 --> 00:10:14,047 - Right. 224 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:15,749 - Some other investigator 225 00:10:15,782 --> 00:10:17,817 might've blown off a guy like Kevin, 226 00:10:17,851 --> 00:10:20,286 just another civilian with an internet connection 227 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:21,654 and a theory, 228 00:10:21,688 --> 00:10:24,724 but Kevin seemed to know what he was doing. 229 00:10:24,758 --> 00:10:26,559 And his internet skills? 230 00:10:26,593 --> 00:10:29,362 Way beyond what Lieutenant Hope could do. 231 00:10:29,396 --> 00:10:30,530 And before long, 232 00:10:30,563 --> 00:10:32,665 although they didn't actually meet in person, 233 00:10:32,699 --> 00:10:36,236 they began acting almost like partners. 234 00:10:36,269 --> 00:10:38,071 - We just flew together. 235 00:10:38,104 --> 00:10:40,140 You know, whatever he needed that he couldn't get 236 00:10:40,173 --> 00:10:42,942 that I could get law enforcement-wise, 237 00:10:42,976 --> 00:10:44,444 he would send it to me. 238 00:10:44,477 --> 00:10:46,379 - He kind of meshed together these bits of information. 239 00:10:46,413 --> 00:10:47,514 - Yes. 240 00:10:47,547 --> 00:10:49,683 - And two things happened. 241 00:10:49,716 --> 00:10:52,519 One, Kevin realized Lavender Doe was not 242 00:10:52,552 --> 00:10:55,455 one of the missing women he'd been looking for. 243 00:10:55,488 --> 00:10:58,324 And two, he got hooked on the case 244 00:10:58,358 --> 00:11:00,160 of the girl in the lavender shirt. 245 00:11:00,193 --> 00:11:02,295 But he kept hitting dead ends. 246 00:11:02,328 --> 00:11:04,798 He needed some specialized help, 247 00:11:04,831 --> 00:11:06,366 very specialized. 248 00:11:06,399 --> 00:11:08,835 - I reached out to DNA Doe Project 249 00:11:08,868 --> 00:11:12,872 to see if I might be able to come on as a volunteer. 250 00:11:12,906 --> 00:11:15,709 - The DNA Doe Project, 251 00:11:15,742 --> 00:11:19,079 a nonprofit founded by a former rocket scientist 252 00:11:19,079 --> 00:11:20,880 named Colleen Fitzpatrick 253 00:11:20,914 --> 00:11:23,883 and a novelist and genealogy enthusiast 254 00:11:23,917 --> 00:11:25,852 Margaret Press. 255 00:11:25,885 --> 00:11:29,556 - I barely knew what John and Jane Does meant, 256 00:11:29,589 --> 00:11:33,193 but I had been retired for about a year 257 00:11:33,226 --> 00:11:34,994 and come back to the West Coast 258 00:11:35,095 --> 00:11:38,098 to be near my daughter and grandchildren 259 00:11:38,098 --> 00:11:40,233 and to relax. 260 00:11:40,266 --> 00:11:42,569 - It was winter, 2017, 261 00:11:42,602 --> 00:11:45,305 when Margaret, not the retiring type, 262 00:11:45,338 --> 00:11:47,440 was struck with an idea. 263 00:11:47,474 --> 00:11:50,410 She'd already been deeply immersed in genealogy, 264 00:11:50,443 --> 00:11:54,280 helping adoptees find their birth parents, so... 265 00:11:54,314 --> 00:11:58,318 - If I can figure out Jane Doe's parents, 266 00:11:58,351 --> 00:12:00,387 we'll know who Jane Doe was. 267 00:12:00,420 --> 00:12:02,455 Margaret's plan? 268 00:12:02,489 --> 00:12:05,425 Obtain remains from Jane and John Does, 269 00:12:05,458 --> 00:12:07,193 retest their DNA 270 00:12:07,227 --> 00:12:09,896 and upload the results to a public database, 271 00:12:09,929 --> 00:12:13,099 where, maybe, that DNA would lead them 272 00:12:13,133 --> 00:12:15,669 to some relative of their victim. 273 00:12:15,702 --> 00:12:17,103 - So I had my recipe, 274 00:12:17,137 --> 00:12:19,105 and I reached out to Colleen, 275 00:12:19,139 --> 00:12:21,074 and I said, "I think I know how we can do it." 276 00:12:21,107 --> 00:12:23,476 And she said, "bingo, all we need is DNA. 277 00:12:23,510 --> 00:12:25,311 Oh, and I know a couple of people." 278 00:12:25,345 --> 00:12:27,947 - At first, they paid for the DNA tests 279 00:12:27,981 --> 00:12:29,649 with their own savings. 280 00:12:29,683 --> 00:12:31,918 And then they set up a nonprofit 281 00:12:31,951 --> 00:12:34,187 and started taking donations. 282 00:12:34,220 --> 00:12:38,091 After just six months, they solved their first case. 283 00:12:38,124 --> 00:12:39,225 - The mystery surrounding... 284 00:12:39,259 --> 00:12:41,194 - A few weeks later, another case 285 00:12:41,227 --> 00:12:43,463 made headlines around the world, 286 00:12:43,496 --> 00:12:46,199 showing the power of genealogy. 287 00:12:46,232 --> 00:12:47,634 - Police arresting a man they believe 288 00:12:47,667 --> 00:12:49,736 is the so-called "Golden State Killer." 289 00:12:49,769 --> 00:12:52,372 And the suspect, a former police officer, 290 00:12:52,405 --> 00:12:54,274 discovered using DNA. 291 00:12:54,307 --> 00:12:55,542 - That one did change the world, 292 00:12:55,575 --> 00:12:58,611 because that was a violent killer, 293 00:12:58,645 --> 00:13:01,614 and that was a huge impact on world-- 294 00:13:01,648 --> 00:13:03,083 on the community. - Sure. 295 00:13:03,116 --> 00:13:05,051 Opened everybody's eyes. - Yep. 296 00:13:05,051 --> 00:13:08,254 - And suddenly Colleen and Margaret had company. 297 00:13:08,288 --> 00:13:10,490 - Genealogists came out of the woodwork, 298 00:13:10,523 --> 00:13:15,061 and I could see us as a very unique organization 299 00:13:15,061 --> 00:13:17,464 where law enforcement agencies 300 00:13:17,497 --> 00:13:21,134 could come to us with their bones and no money, 301 00:13:21,167 --> 00:13:24,471 and we could bring in volunteer genealogists 302 00:13:24,504 --> 00:13:26,473 who were begging to help us. 303 00:13:26,506 --> 00:13:28,441 - What you can bring to this process 304 00:13:28,475 --> 00:13:31,544 is a crowd-sourced investigation 305 00:13:31,578 --> 00:13:34,581 like, you know, a bunch of bees forming a hive. 306 00:13:34,614 --> 00:13:37,083 And disparately they're not gonna do much, 307 00:13:37,117 --> 00:13:38,985 but all together they can really accomplish 308 00:13:39,085 --> 00:13:41,254 something truly significant. 309 00:13:41,287 --> 00:13:43,890 - Right, exactly. 310 00:13:43,923 --> 00:13:46,593 - Kevin Lord was one of those bees. 311 00:13:46,626 --> 00:13:49,763 He joined DNA Doe as a volunteer. 312 00:13:49,796 --> 00:13:53,500 And then others followed, a kind of mini hive 313 00:13:53,533 --> 00:13:56,970 looking for the truth about a mystery woman 314 00:13:57,003 --> 00:13:59,539 they called Lavender Doe. 315 00:14:03,043 --> 00:14:05,045 - The bees get busy 316 00:14:05,045 --> 00:14:07,847 - We spent hours working together, 317 00:14:07,881 --> 00:14:09,449 talking to each other. 318 00:14:09,482 --> 00:14:11,084 - "Oh, my gosh, did you see this? 319 00:14:11,117 --> 00:14:12,419 "And what about this? And where's this? 320 00:14:12,452 --> 00:14:13,353 Who's this guy?" 321 00:14:13,386 --> 00:14:15,055 - We're kind of the last resort. 322 00:14:22,095 --> 00:14:29,369 ** 323 00:14:30,103 --> 00:14:32,305 - It was a kind of obsession now, 324 00:14:32,339 --> 00:14:35,075 the determination to give her back her name, 325 00:14:35,075 --> 00:14:37,410 to identify the anonymous young woman 326 00:14:37,444 --> 00:14:40,213 murdered and set on fire and then buried 327 00:14:40,246 --> 00:14:42,716 here in Long View, Texas. 328 00:14:42,749 --> 00:14:45,518 God knows law enforcement had tried every trick 329 00:14:45,552 --> 00:14:47,987 in the investigative book, 330 00:14:48,088 --> 00:14:51,791 except for a new book, if you could call it that, 331 00:14:51,825 --> 00:14:54,260 the DNA Doe Project. 332 00:14:54,294 --> 00:14:56,629 A bunch of amateurs, really, 333 00:14:56,663 --> 00:14:59,132 but committed? Oh, yes. 334 00:14:59,165 --> 00:15:01,368 - It's not that law enforcement has not tried. 335 00:15:01,401 --> 00:15:02,869 Most of the cases that come to us, 336 00:15:02,902 --> 00:15:04,504 we're kind of the last resort. 337 00:15:04,537 --> 00:15:07,173 - "Us" meaning a group of people 338 00:15:07,207 --> 00:15:09,876 who had never actually met in person, 339 00:15:09,909 --> 00:15:11,911 who labored away in a kitchen 340 00:15:11,945 --> 00:15:14,481 or a bedroom or a basement, 341 00:15:14,514 --> 00:15:17,317 who knew each other only online. 342 00:15:17,350 --> 00:15:19,486 Like Lori Gaff, 343 00:15:19,519 --> 00:15:23,289 a former Black Hawk helicopter pilot 344 00:15:23,323 --> 00:15:25,792 who stumbled on a Facebook posting 345 00:15:25,825 --> 00:15:27,694 about DNA Doe. 346 00:15:27,727 --> 00:15:30,063 - I was completely enthralled, 347 00:15:30,096 --> 00:15:31,564 and me being me, had to know 348 00:15:31,598 --> 00:15:33,400 absolutely everything there was about it. 349 00:15:33,433 --> 00:15:35,702 And I thought I totally want to be a part of this. 350 00:15:35,735 --> 00:15:38,471 - And was soon addicted. 351 00:15:38,505 --> 00:15:40,273 - It will consume your life if you let it, 352 00:15:40,306 --> 00:15:42,275 so we-- I've been making an effort 353 00:15:42,308 --> 00:15:43,977 to kind of set limits. 354 00:15:44,077 --> 00:15:45,912 - One hour turns into ten pretty quick, 355 00:15:45,945 --> 00:15:47,447 I would think, right? - Ten-- 356 00:15:47,480 --> 00:15:49,783 Ten might be a slow day. 357 00:15:49,816 --> 00:15:54,621 This has become, um, an obsession. 358 00:15:54,654 --> 00:15:57,390 - Then there was Missy Koski, 359 00:15:57,424 --> 00:16:00,193 a self-described "search angel," 360 00:16:00,226 --> 00:16:04,297 who used genetic genealogy to find her biological father. 361 00:16:04,330 --> 00:16:06,933 What was that like to find him? 362 00:16:07,033 --> 00:16:08,335 - It was incredible. 363 00:16:08,368 --> 00:16:10,403 It was absolutely incredible. 364 00:16:10,437 --> 00:16:12,906 So she began helping other adoptees 365 00:16:12,939 --> 00:16:16,042 find their birth parents. And one day... 366 00:16:16,042 --> 00:16:19,245 - While I was helping an adoptee, um, 367 00:16:19,279 --> 00:16:24,951 that adoptee got a phone call from the DNA Doe Project. 368 00:16:25,051 --> 00:16:28,455 And she was told that she was distantly related 369 00:16:28,488 --> 00:16:32,058 to a Jane Doe. I just got intrigued. 370 00:16:32,058 --> 00:16:34,260 And I said, "can I talk to them?" 371 00:16:34,294 --> 00:16:37,664 - Before long, Missy was hooked, too. 372 00:16:37,697 --> 00:16:41,634 And the three, Kevin, Lori, and Missy, 373 00:16:41,668 --> 00:16:43,370 formed a team. 374 00:16:43,403 --> 00:16:46,339 So you're like the Three Musketeers 375 00:16:46,373 --> 00:16:47,607 sitting there together. 376 00:16:47,640 --> 00:16:50,076 - We spent hours 377 00:16:50,076 --> 00:16:52,812 working together, talking to each other 378 00:16:52,846 --> 00:16:54,914 almost exclusively online. 379 00:16:54,948 --> 00:16:57,350 - And we'd just get in there and blab all day long 380 00:16:57,384 --> 00:16:59,319 about, "oh, my gosh, did you see this? 381 00:16:59,352 --> 00:17:00,754 "And what about this? And where's this? 382 00:17:00,787 --> 00:17:02,389 Who's this guy? I can't find this-- whatever." 383 00:17:04,457 --> 00:17:05,892 - Back in Gregg County, 384 00:17:05,925 --> 00:17:08,328 after more than a decade of chasing leads 385 00:17:08,361 --> 00:17:09,929 on Lavender Doe, 386 00:17:10,030 --> 00:17:12,032 Lieutenant Hope understood 387 00:17:12,032 --> 00:17:15,101 that investigations had changed. 388 00:17:15,135 --> 00:17:17,570 - Genealogy is the wave of the future. 389 00:17:17,604 --> 00:17:20,140 And to us homicide detectives, 390 00:17:20,173 --> 00:17:23,109 it's way above our heads, to be honest with you. 391 00:17:23,143 --> 00:17:26,513 - So you welcomed their help. - I did. 392 00:17:26,546 --> 00:17:30,050 - And across the country, someone else had taken notice 393 00:17:30,050 --> 00:17:33,753 of the amateur investigators working with DNA Doe. 394 00:17:33,787 --> 00:17:36,189 - I like to write about how ordinary people, 395 00:17:36,222 --> 00:17:37,724 for example genealogists, 396 00:17:37,757 --> 00:17:40,060 are dealing with new advances in DNA. 397 00:17:40,093 --> 00:17:44,330 Sarah Zhang is a staff writer for "The Atlantic" magazine. 398 00:17:44,364 --> 00:17:45,799 - I liked the fact that Kevin 399 00:17:45,832 --> 00:17:48,368 had been so invested in this case. 400 00:17:48,401 --> 00:17:51,938 - Passion like that was a story worth following, 401 00:17:51,971 --> 00:17:53,873 and she did, 402 00:17:53,907 --> 00:17:56,242 watching their process. 403 00:17:56,276 --> 00:17:58,511 For one thing, using the victim's 404 00:17:58,545 --> 00:18:00,180 skin or hair or blood 405 00:18:00,213 --> 00:18:02,382 to generate a DNA profile 406 00:18:02,415 --> 00:18:05,151 which they upload to a genealogy site 407 00:18:05,185 --> 00:18:06,686 called GED Match. 408 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:09,222 - We get a whole list of DNA matches back, 409 00:18:09,255 --> 00:18:12,826 and all of these people share some amount of DNA 410 00:18:12,859 --> 00:18:14,427 with our unknown person. 411 00:18:14,461 --> 00:18:16,296 - It's important to understand, 412 00:18:16,329 --> 00:18:20,133 the volunteers work with public DNA databases. 413 00:18:20,166 --> 00:18:22,535 And where does all this DNA material come from 414 00:18:22,569 --> 00:18:23,903 that you're able to look at? 415 00:18:23,937 --> 00:18:26,439 - These are all people who have taken tests 416 00:18:26,473 --> 00:18:30,243 with companies like Ancestry DNA or 23 And Me, 417 00:18:30,276 --> 00:18:31,511 the consumer tests. 418 00:18:31,544 --> 00:18:34,881 - And who've given access to others to view the results. 419 00:18:34,914 --> 00:18:38,284 That's a relatively tiny percentage of the population, 420 00:18:38,318 --> 00:18:40,820 so the odds of finding an exact match? 421 00:18:40,854 --> 00:18:43,790 Vanishingly small, but... 422 00:18:43,823 --> 00:18:45,291 - Just by the pure probabilities, 423 00:18:45,325 --> 00:18:49,062 we're often lucky enough to get a decent enough match. 424 00:18:49,062 --> 00:18:50,630 - By "decent match" 425 00:18:50,663 --> 00:18:52,966 he means a distant relative, 426 00:18:53,066 --> 00:18:55,702 someone who likely doesn't even know the victim. 427 00:18:55,735 --> 00:18:58,938 - We kind of look for a match that's in the neighborhood 428 00:18:58,972 --> 00:19:01,408 of maybe a second or third cousin or so 429 00:19:01,441 --> 00:19:02,909 as a good starting point. 430 00:19:03,009 --> 00:19:06,012 - A starting point to work backwards 431 00:19:06,012 --> 00:19:11,017 and try to reconstruct branches of the family tree 432 00:19:11,051 --> 00:19:13,319 by scouring the internet, 433 00:19:13,353 --> 00:19:15,622 mining every possible bit of information 434 00:19:15,655 --> 00:19:18,458 from birth certificates to death notices 435 00:19:18,491 --> 00:19:22,028 to marriage licenses to social media. 436 00:19:22,028 --> 00:19:25,031 Where the heck do you find all this stuff? 437 00:19:25,031 --> 00:19:27,534 I mean, you must have spent hours and hours and hours 438 00:19:27,567 --> 00:19:30,270 and hours and hours in front of a computer screen, 439 00:19:30,303 --> 00:19:33,039 trying to find it. - And lots of money. 440 00:19:33,039 --> 00:19:34,908 - Yep. 441 00:19:34,941 --> 00:19:37,911 - The DNA Doe Project made a new sketch, 442 00:19:37,944 --> 00:19:39,846 and they put it up online. 443 00:19:39,879 --> 00:19:42,649 They added a PayPal button to raise money 444 00:19:42,682 --> 00:19:46,252 for that retest of Lavender Doe's DNA. 445 00:19:46,286 --> 00:19:48,788 And pretty soon, the online community 446 00:19:48,822 --> 00:19:50,857 that followed the Lavender Doe case 447 00:19:50,890 --> 00:19:52,459 answered the call. 448 00:19:52,492 --> 00:19:54,894 - Within four days the public had come through 449 00:19:54,928 --> 00:19:58,064 and completely funded the testing that we had to do. 450 00:19:58,064 --> 00:20:02,202 - But before they could even get the test sent out, 451 00:20:02,235 --> 00:20:05,972 something very unexpected happened. 452 00:20:06,006 --> 00:20:07,941 - I get a call from Lieutenant Hope 453 00:20:07,974 --> 00:20:11,711 at the sheriff's office saying that he has big news. 454 00:20:11,745 --> 00:20:14,114 - What could that be? 455 00:20:15,248 --> 00:20:18,518 - A bombshell is dropped, but investigators are still 456 00:20:18,551 --> 00:20:21,688 going to need some luck to solve this case. 457 00:20:21,721 --> 00:20:23,390 Coming up... 458 00:20:23,423 --> 00:20:25,225 - That's why I wanted to get this off my chest. 459 00:20:25,258 --> 00:20:26,960 - I just let him talk. 460 00:20:26,993 --> 00:20:28,661 He left no detail out. 461 00:20:28,695 --> 00:20:32,298 - A break in the case, and a frustrating discovery. 462 00:20:32,332 --> 00:20:36,703 We found that there were 27 first cousins. 463 00:20:36,736 --> 00:20:38,271 - Whoa! - Where are they? 464 00:20:38,304 --> 00:20:39,906 Who are their children? 465 00:20:39,939 --> 00:20:41,341 Are they alive? 466 00:20:41,374 --> 00:20:42,842 What can we find? 467 00:20:50,250 --> 00:20:53,753 ** 468 00:20:54,721 --> 00:20:57,223 - Welcome back to "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered." 469 00:20:57,257 --> 00:20:58,658 I'm Craig Melvin. 470 00:20:58,692 --> 00:21:02,195 Lavender Doe, that was the name given to the unidentified woman 471 00:21:02,228 --> 00:21:05,832 whose burned body was found in 2006. 472 00:21:05,865 --> 00:21:10,637 More than a decade later, her identity remained a secret. 473 00:21:10,670 --> 00:21:14,407 Now, a group of amateur sleuths were helping police, 474 00:21:14,441 --> 00:21:17,377 but it was an uphill battle until... 475 00:21:17,410 --> 00:21:21,881 an unexpected confession fell right in their laps. 476 00:21:21,915 --> 00:21:25,685 Back to Keith Morrison with "The Woman With No Name." 477 00:21:25,719 --> 00:21:28,655 ** 478 00:21:28,688 --> 00:21:32,325 - It was hot, that Texas summer of 2018. 479 00:21:32,359 --> 00:21:34,494 The summer the DNA Doe volunteers spent 480 00:21:34,527 --> 00:21:36,396 hunkered down inside, 481 00:21:36,429 --> 00:21:38,698 staring at their computer screens, 482 00:21:38,732 --> 00:21:42,235 trying to identify Lavender Doe. 483 00:21:42,268 --> 00:21:44,971 But they'd hardly started when Kevin Lord got a call 484 00:21:45,005 --> 00:21:46,873 from Lieutenant Eddie Hope. 485 00:21:46,906 --> 00:21:49,876 A young woman named Felicia Pearson has been 486 00:21:49,909 --> 00:21:53,146 reported missing by her family. 487 00:21:53,179 --> 00:21:55,148 She was last seen with a new boyfriend 488 00:21:55,181 --> 00:21:57,784 who told them she left him. 489 00:21:57,817 --> 00:21:59,819 Just went away. 490 00:21:59,853 --> 00:22:01,654 They spoke with her mother. 491 00:22:01,688 --> 00:22:03,957 - And we learned there was a wooded area 492 00:22:04,057 --> 00:22:07,727 inside of Longview that he had taken her to before, 493 00:22:07,761 --> 00:22:11,464 and that's where we found Felicia. 494 00:22:11,498 --> 00:22:12,899 - Murdered. 495 00:22:12,932 --> 00:22:15,502 There was no doubt about this victim's identity. 496 00:22:15,535 --> 00:22:18,204 And no question who the prime suspect was. 497 00:22:18,238 --> 00:22:23,109 Her violent ex-con boyfriend, Joseph Wayne Burnett. 498 00:22:23,143 --> 00:22:25,078 Lieutenant Hope knew the name. 499 00:22:25,078 --> 00:22:29,382 The same man whose semen had been found 12 years before 500 00:22:29,416 --> 00:22:31,918 in the body of Lavender Doe. 501 00:22:31,951 --> 00:22:33,286 - He was arrested. 502 00:22:33,319 --> 00:22:35,188 He was brought into the Gregg County jail. 503 00:22:35,221 --> 00:22:36,623 - Sign the corner right here. 504 00:22:36,656 --> 00:22:38,525 - Two detectives questioned Burnett. 505 00:22:38,558 --> 00:22:41,094 He admitted killing Felicia. 506 00:22:41,094 --> 00:22:44,431 But that wasn't all. 507 00:22:44,464 --> 00:22:45,765 - He started talkin' about a girl 508 00:22:45,799 --> 00:22:48,802 that he killed and burned several years ago. 509 00:22:48,835 --> 00:22:51,104 - A burned girl? 510 00:22:51,137 --> 00:22:54,841 Right away, the detectives called Eddie Hope. 511 00:22:54,874 --> 00:22:56,443 You're on your way home at that point. 512 00:22:56,476 --> 00:22:58,445 - I was already home. 513 00:22:58,478 --> 00:22:59,879 - Must have been good to hear. 514 00:22:59,913 --> 00:23:02,148 - Didn't take me long to get back. 515 00:23:02,182 --> 00:23:04,117 - That's why I wanted to get this off my chest. 516 00:23:04,150 --> 00:23:05,752 - I just let him talk. 517 00:23:05,785 --> 00:23:08,555 He talked about this 12-year-old murder 518 00:23:08,588 --> 00:23:10,857 as if it happened yesterday. 519 00:23:10,890 --> 00:23:12,692 He left no detail out. 520 00:23:12,726 --> 00:23:14,094 - That's when I reached down there, 521 00:23:14,127 --> 00:23:16,896 and I grabbed a rope, and I put it around her neck, 522 00:23:16,930 --> 00:23:18,898 and I tightened it up. 523 00:23:18,932 --> 00:23:20,600 - She never saw it coming. 524 00:23:20,633 --> 00:23:22,702 A rope around her neck. 525 00:23:22,736 --> 00:23:24,738 It only took seconds. 526 00:23:24,771 --> 00:23:26,940 - As soon as I choked her, 527 00:23:26,973 --> 00:23:30,343 she-she-she just quit movin'. 528 00:23:30,377 --> 00:23:33,213 - So he'd confessed to killing her. 529 00:23:33,246 --> 00:23:35,915 But there was something else. 530 00:23:35,949 --> 00:23:38,151 - Personally, I don't know her like a friend. 531 00:23:38,184 --> 00:23:40,420 - Know her name? - I think her name was Ashley. 532 00:23:40,453 --> 00:23:41,888 - He thought her name was Ashley. 533 00:23:41,921 --> 00:23:44,290 He wasn't really for sure of that. 534 00:23:44,324 --> 00:23:48,661 - Just a first name: Ashley, maybe. 535 00:23:48,695 --> 00:23:51,664 But even if Ashley was a real first name, 536 00:23:51,698 --> 00:23:53,500 it didn't solve the mystery. 537 00:23:53,533 --> 00:23:55,835 - We had the confession and we still don't know 538 00:23:55,869 --> 00:23:57,570 who this person is, and that just eats you up. 539 00:23:57,604 --> 00:24:00,373 I mean, that's not the order it's supposed to go. 540 00:24:00,407 --> 00:24:04,878 - Despite his confession, Burnett pleaded not guilty. 541 00:24:04,911 --> 00:24:08,381 Justice for a victim still labeled Lavender Doe 542 00:24:08,415 --> 00:24:11,618 in court documents would take some time. 543 00:24:11,651 --> 00:24:14,721 Time the volunteers couldn't waste. 544 00:24:14,754 --> 00:24:16,456 - That made it a lot more real 545 00:24:16,489 --> 00:24:19,759 and put more weight behind what we were doing. 546 00:24:19,793 --> 00:24:22,262 - Who was Lavender Doe? 547 00:24:22,295 --> 00:24:25,198 - That was what was left at that point. 548 00:24:25,231 --> 00:24:27,767 - Lavender Doe's retested DNA returned from the lab 549 00:24:27,801 --> 00:24:30,070 in October, 2018, 550 00:24:30,070 --> 00:24:33,873 and the team went to work looking for potential relatives. 551 00:24:33,907 --> 00:24:36,976 And just nine days later, they found one, 552 00:24:37,077 --> 00:24:39,746 a woman in East Texas, right near the spot 553 00:24:39,779 --> 00:24:42,582 where Lavender Doe was found. 554 00:24:42,615 --> 00:24:44,517 - I contacted Lieutenant Hope. 555 00:24:44,551 --> 00:24:47,520 I told him we have this descendent 556 00:24:47,554 --> 00:24:50,924 who lives about 30 minutes from where Lavender Doe was found. 557 00:24:50,957 --> 00:24:53,093 I can't tell you exactly how she's related, 558 00:24:53,093 --> 00:24:54,861 but it seems like it would be a huge coincidence 559 00:24:54,894 --> 00:24:58,098 if she wasn't fairly closely related. 560 00:24:58,098 --> 00:25:00,367 - This had to be immensely exciting. 561 00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,036 - Oh, we thought we-- this is the-this is the mom. 562 00:25:03,036 --> 00:25:06,039 This is the family, this is it. 563 00:25:06,039 --> 00:25:07,507 - And so, of course, Lieutenant Hope, 564 00:25:07,540 --> 00:25:10,243 with a brand new optimism, drove out to see her. 565 00:25:10,276 --> 00:25:13,079 And he came up empty. 566 00:25:13,113 --> 00:25:16,383 The woman had no missing relatives 567 00:25:16,416 --> 00:25:20,353 and no idea who Lavender Doe might be. 568 00:25:20,387 --> 00:25:21,821 - Must've been disappointing. 569 00:25:21,855 --> 00:25:22,889 - It was. 570 00:25:22,922 --> 00:25:24,157 - Like, you thought maybe you were on to something, 571 00:25:24,190 --> 00:25:25,358 and you weren't. 572 00:25:25,392 --> 00:25:27,127 - You kinda get your hopes up, then you-you let down, 573 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,963 but you-- that had been happenin' for, 574 00:25:30,063 --> 00:25:31,531 you know, 12 years. 575 00:25:31,564 --> 00:25:34,668 - I was so, "No, no, no, she's lying, she's lying." 576 00:25:34,701 --> 00:25:36,536 This is it, because when you're researching 577 00:25:36,569 --> 00:25:39,839 family from another part of the country, 578 00:25:39,873 --> 00:25:43,076 and all of a sudden, you find this relative 579 00:25:43,109 --> 00:25:46,079 in the right spot in the right place 580 00:25:46,112 --> 00:25:50,083 at the right time, it has to be. 581 00:25:50,083 --> 00:25:53,653 - Then, it dawned on them. The woman wasn't lying, 582 00:25:53,687 --> 00:25:55,588 and there was still a chance she could help. 583 00:25:55,622 --> 00:25:59,159 Kevin had a hunch, perhaps she knew something 584 00:25:59,192 --> 00:26:01,127 without knowing she knew it. 585 00:26:01,161 --> 00:26:02,529 What did she know? 586 00:26:02,562 --> 00:26:06,599 - She told us that she did not know who Lavender Doe was. 587 00:26:06,633 --> 00:26:10,036 But she had taken a test herself with ancestry DNA, 588 00:26:10,036 --> 00:26:13,473 and she would be happy to share her results with us. 589 00:26:13,506 --> 00:26:16,042 - Well, what happened when she did that? 590 00:26:16,042 --> 00:26:19,579 - When we compared her DNA to Lavender Doe's DNA, 591 00:26:19,612 --> 00:26:22,682 we could see that it looked like Lavender Doe's parent 592 00:26:22,716 --> 00:26:26,586 was probably a first cousin of hers. 593 00:26:26,619 --> 00:26:29,055 - And suddenly they felt close. 594 00:26:29,089 --> 00:26:31,925 All they had to do was find the right cousin. 595 00:26:31,958 --> 00:26:34,494 The right cousin who might be missing a daughter, 596 00:26:34,527 --> 00:26:37,364 or niece, or someone. 597 00:26:37,397 --> 00:26:38,898 Not so easy. 598 00:26:38,932 --> 00:26:43,303 - As we started looking and researching every person, 599 00:26:43,336 --> 00:26:46,172 in this family, we found that there were 600 00:26:46,206 --> 00:26:49,609 27 first cousins-- - Whoa! 601 00:26:49,642 --> 00:26:51,945 - Who could have possibly been 602 00:26:51,978 --> 00:26:53,580 Lavender Doe's parent. 603 00:26:53,613 --> 00:26:55,548 - You think, wow, here's our big break, 604 00:26:55,582 --> 00:26:58,351 now all we need to do is find the cousin. 605 00:26:58,385 --> 00:27:01,154 And it turns out there are 27 of them? 606 00:27:01,187 --> 00:27:02,655 - Twenty-seven. 607 00:27:02,689 --> 00:27:07,560 Some of the people in the family had had several marriages 608 00:27:07,594 --> 00:27:10,830 and several children from each marriage. 609 00:27:10,864 --> 00:27:13,767 And so we started with that list. 610 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:17,370 And we had to go through and see if we could find 611 00:27:17,404 --> 00:27:19,239 each of these people. 612 00:27:19,272 --> 00:27:21,841 Where are they, who are their children, 613 00:27:21,875 --> 00:27:23,276 are they alive? 614 00:27:23,309 --> 00:27:25,245 What can we find? 615 00:27:25,278 --> 00:27:28,381 - One by one, they pulled on their threads. 616 00:27:28,415 --> 00:27:32,318 Hundreds of them, leading nowhere. 617 00:27:32,352 --> 00:27:35,755 And then, it was Kevin who found it. 618 00:27:35,789 --> 00:27:38,725 The Texas woman had a distant cousin 619 00:27:38,758 --> 00:27:41,928 who lived out of state, a woman she didn't know, 620 00:27:41,961 --> 00:27:46,299 had never met, whose name was Robin. 621 00:27:46,332 --> 00:27:49,402 And Robin had a daughter. 622 00:27:49,436 --> 00:27:52,405 But when they tried to find her... 623 00:27:52,439 --> 00:27:56,343 - She had addresses up until right around 2006, 624 00:27:56,376 --> 00:27:58,578 and then kind of just fell off the map, 625 00:27:58,611 --> 00:28:00,680 and we couldn't find her anywhere. 626 00:28:02,415 --> 00:28:06,486 - 2006, what a coincidence. 627 00:28:06,519 --> 00:28:10,023 It was the year Lavender Doe was murdered. 628 00:28:13,326 --> 00:28:14,928 - Coming up... 629 00:28:15,028 --> 00:28:16,463 - I wasn't prepared for the emotion 630 00:28:16,496 --> 00:28:18,164 that I had right then. 631 00:28:18,198 --> 00:28:19,466 I couldn't control myself. 632 00:28:19,499 --> 00:28:21,601 I remember sitting on the couch, 633 00:28:21,634 --> 00:28:23,136 and just crying. 634 00:28:23,169 --> 00:28:26,673 - A search ends, and a story begins. 635 00:28:26,706 --> 00:28:30,710 - We lost track between her and us for about 10 years. 636 00:28:43,757 --> 00:28:44,924 - Over the years, Lieutenant Eddie Hope 637 00:28:45,759 --> 00:28:48,094 thought a lot about those last moments 638 00:28:48,128 --> 00:28:50,130 of Lavender Doe's life. 639 00:28:50,163 --> 00:28:52,966 - Kinda haunts after you if-if you're comin' out here 640 00:28:53,066 --> 00:28:56,136 and-and you're-- you-you can't put a closure to it. 641 00:28:56,169 --> 00:28:59,305 You know, you can't end the story yet. 642 00:28:59,339 --> 00:29:01,174 - To help write that ending, 643 00:29:01,207 --> 00:29:03,910 he had put his face in the dedicated volunteers 644 00:29:04,010 --> 00:29:05,578 who had spent countless hours 645 00:29:05,612 --> 00:29:08,515 trying to give her back her name. 646 00:29:08,548 --> 00:29:12,252 By the fall of 2018, they seemed close. 647 00:29:12,285 --> 00:29:16,256 DNA and genealogy had led them to a woman named Robin, 648 00:29:16,289 --> 00:29:18,224 whose daughter had disappeared. 649 00:29:18,258 --> 00:29:20,427 - At that point, we were kinda thinking, 650 00:29:20,460 --> 00:29:22,796 wow, this has-this has gotta be her. 651 00:29:22,829 --> 00:29:25,231 - Except, when they tried to find her, 652 00:29:25,265 --> 00:29:28,501 this Robin person, they discovered she was dead. 653 00:29:28,535 --> 00:29:31,171 So they kept scouring the Internet, 654 00:29:31,204 --> 00:29:34,607 and the Robin led them to another relative 655 00:29:34,641 --> 00:29:39,145 who, if they were right, would be Lavender Doe's cousin. 656 00:29:39,179 --> 00:29:42,315 They tracked down a number, and Lieutenant Hope called, 657 00:29:42,349 --> 00:29:45,452 asked if any young woman in this person's family 658 00:29:45,485 --> 00:29:46,753 was missing. 659 00:29:46,786 --> 00:29:49,356 - And he said, I haven't seen her in years. 660 00:29:49,389 --> 00:29:50,957 He said, "The last we had heard, 661 00:29:51,057 --> 00:29:52,792 she ran away from home, 662 00:29:52,826 --> 00:29:55,295 just like she just disappeared." 663 00:29:55,328 --> 00:29:58,164 - But, he said, his missing cousin 664 00:29:58,198 --> 00:30:00,333 had a half-sister. 665 00:30:00,367 --> 00:30:02,369 Lieutenant Hope called her, too. 666 00:30:02,402 --> 00:30:04,070 - Well, I talked to her several times 667 00:30:04,104 --> 00:30:09,009 and she agreed to send Kevin her-- their DNA kit. 668 00:30:09,042 --> 00:30:12,746 - Which meant sending the half-sister's DNA sample 669 00:30:12,779 --> 00:30:15,515 to the lab and waiting. 670 00:30:15,548 --> 00:30:16,883 How long did that take? 671 00:30:16,916 --> 00:30:19,953 - It took about a month and a half, I believe. 672 00:30:19,986 --> 00:30:21,855 - That must have been pins and needles. 673 00:30:21,888 --> 00:30:24,491 - Oh, yeah. - Yeah. 674 00:30:24,524 --> 00:30:28,628 It was a winter's day, late January, 675 00:30:28,661 --> 00:30:30,864 when they got the news. 676 00:30:30,897 --> 00:30:33,433 It was a match. 677 00:30:33,466 --> 00:30:36,069 Kevin called Lieutenant Hope. 678 00:30:36,102 --> 00:30:39,105 - I was pretty excited, and that-- 679 00:30:39,139 --> 00:30:40,974 the whole department was excited. 680 00:30:41,007 --> 00:30:43,476 - I-I wasn't prepared for the emotion 681 00:30:43,510 --> 00:30:46,713 that I had right then. I couldn't control myself. 682 00:30:46,746 --> 00:30:50,216 I remember sitting on the couch and just crying 683 00:30:50,250 --> 00:30:55,055 because I was so happy, but the emotion 684 00:30:55,088 --> 00:30:59,325 of all this work, all these countless nights, 685 00:30:59,359 --> 00:31:02,562 you know, working all day and all night, 686 00:31:02,595 --> 00:31:03,863 and trying to figure this out, 687 00:31:03,897 --> 00:31:08,301 just-just all came together right then. 688 00:31:08,335 --> 00:31:10,470 - So who was she? 689 00:31:10,503 --> 00:31:12,505 Who was the young woman who, for so long, 690 00:31:12,539 --> 00:31:17,277 had been a sketch known only as "Lavender Doe"? 691 00:31:17,310 --> 00:31:21,514 Here she was, Dana Lynn Dodd. 692 00:31:21,548 --> 00:31:24,451 It was Dana's half-sister, Amanda, 693 00:31:24,484 --> 00:31:26,319 who had provided that DNA Sample, 694 00:31:26,353 --> 00:31:28,888 and then, naturally curious, 695 00:31:28,922 --> 00:31:32,826 she looked online and saw that clay model. 696 00:31:32,859 --> 00:31:34,594 - And I called him back, and I told him, 697 00:31:34,627 --> 00:31:36,730 "That's Dana. It's Dana." 698 00:31:36,763 --> 00:31:40,767 - What was it like to see that? - [sighs] Surreal. 699 00:31:40,800 --> 00:31:43,837 It felt like somebody just punched me in the stomach. 700 00:31:46,906 --> 00:31:50,143 I was angry that she was by herself, you know. 701 00:31:50,176 --> 00:31:55,181 Her-her worst fear came true. 702 00:31:55,215 --> 00:31:56,950 She was forgotten. 703 00:31:56,983 --> 00:32:00,186 - Which was the heartbreaking truth Amanda revealed 704 00:32:00,220 --> 00:32:01,755 about Dana Dodd. 705 00:32:01,788 --> 00:32:06,192 Hers was a life of instability, uncertainty, 706 00:32:06,226 --> 00:32:09,529 and from the very beginning, rejection. 707 00:32:09,562 --> 00:32:12,198 Her mom moved out when she was little. 708 00:32:12,232 --> 00:32:16,436 One mother figure after another came and went from her life. 709 00:32:16,469 --> 00:32:21,074 - She was passed around between my dad and his, you know, 710 00:32:21,074 --> 00:32:23,943 current wife or current girlfriend at the time, 711 00:32:23,977 --> 00:32:26,846 and that's how we lost track between her and us 712 00:32:26,880 --> 00:32:28,815 for about ten years. 713 00:32:28,848 --> 00:32:31,084 - By the time Dana was in her early teens, 714 00:32:31,117 --> 00:32:33,687 Amanda was 23 years old and married 715 00:32:33,720 --> 00:32:35,655 and raising a son of her own, 716 00:32:35,689 --> 00:32:39,592 and when she heard Dana was living not far away, 717 00:32:39,626 --> 00:32:42,629 somewhere in Florida... - I just looked at my husband 718 00:32:42,662 --> 00:32:44,964 and said, "This is what we need to do," 719 00:32:44,998 --> 00:32:47,567 and he knew it, and there was no questions asked. 720 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:49,102 She moved right into the home. 721 00:32:49,102 --> 00:32:51,237 - After all she'd been through, 722 00:32:51,271 --> 00:32:54,441 it was almost like a fairytale: 723 00:32:54,474 --> 00:32:56,476 A real home. 724 00:32:56,509 --> 00:32:59,946 Was she happy about it at first? - Very, very happy. 725 00:33:00,046 --> 00:33:01,748 She said she liked the normal life, 726 00:33:01,781 --> 00:33:04,050 feeling normal, not having to worry, 727 00:33:04,084 --> 00:33:07,120 you know, "being loved," is what she said, 728 00:33:07,153 --> 00:33:09,289 and being able to sit down at dinnertime with the family 729 00:33:09,322 --> 00:33:10,657 and be able to discuss 730 00:33:10,690 --> 00:33:14,561 just your daily things that we take for granted. 731 00:33:14,594 --> 00:33:18,398 - It was good for a while. 732 00:33:18,431 --> 00:33:21,935 So what happened to Dana Dodd? 733 00:33:21,968 --> 00:33:25,071 How did she become that mystery victim 734 00:33:25,071 --> 00:33:27,407 so far away? 735 00:33:31,745 --> 00:33:34,080 - A young girl alone. 736 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:35,582 - That's when the problems started. 737 00:33:35,615 --> 00:33:37,684 - It's a story as old as time. - Yeah. Oh, yeah. 738 00:33:37,717 --> 00:33:40,186 - And on her own. - It's just a form 739 00:33:40,220 --> 00:33:43,356 of human trafficking. You're around the drug dealers. 740 00:33:43,390 --> 00:33:44,991 You're around the prostitutes. 741 00:33:45,091 --> 00:33:48,495 It just kind of puts them into a whole different, dark world. 742 00:33:55,368 --> 00:33:59,472 ** 743 00:34:00,573 --> 00:34:04,611 - For 12 years, they knew her only as "Lavender Doe," 744 00:34:04,644 --> 00:34:07,747 the mystery murder victim with the purple shirt. 745 00:34:07,781 --> 00:34:12,152 Now they knew her real name: Dana Lynn Dodd. 746 00:34:12,185 --> 00:34:14,220 What a story a name revealed, 747 00:34:14,254 --> 00:34:17,490 of an abandoned baby, a rejected toddler, 748 00:34:17,524 --> 00:34:19,926 whose whole life had been a cautionary tale. 749 00:34:19,959 --> 00:34:23,163 Her long lost half sister, Amanda, stepped in to help, 750 00:34:23,196 --> 00:34:26,433 and did help, but then at age 16, 751 00:34:26,466 --> 00:34:29,536 Dana got a serious boyfriend. 752 00:34:29,569 --> 00:34:31,404 - That's when the problems started. 753 00:34:31,438 --> 00:34:33,973 - It's a story as old as time. - Yeah. Oh, yeah. 754 00:34:34,074 --> 00:34:39,179 - So then Amanda sent Dana to live with her brother, John. 755 00:34:39,212 --> 00:34:42,515 - I tried to make it where she was always wanted. 756 00:34:42,549 --> 00:34:46,119 - But that boy again. 757 00:34:46,152 --> 00:34:48,088 Did you give her an ultimatum? 758 00:34:48,121 --> 00:34:51,091 - I did. I did, uh, you know, 'cause, you know, 759 00:34:51,091 --> 00:34:53,760 I told her, "Do you want to stay with this guy, 760 00:34:53,793 --> 00:34:55,161 "or do you want a better life?" 761 00:34:55,195 --> 00:34:58,465 And she's like, "You know what? I-I love him." 762 00:34:58,498 --> 00:35:00,467 - When that didn't work out either, 763 00:35:00,500 --> 00:35:04,037 Dana, determined to finally take control of her own life, 764 00:35:04,037 --> 00:35:06,239 decided to get a job. 765 00:35:06,272 --> 00:35:09,909 It was with a magazine company, she said, 766 00:35:09,943 --> 00:35:12,045 that would allow her to travel, 767 00:35:12,045 --> 00:35:14,814 selling subscriptions and other products. 768 00:35:14,848 --> 00:35:17,817 John told Dana that sounded like a bad idea. 769 00:35:17,851 --> 00:35:20,887 - In a contest between you and those folks 770 00:35:20,920 --> 00:35:23,423 in the magazine, you didn't stand a chance. 771 00:35:23,456 --> 00:35:24,958 - No. No. 'Cause she was wantin' 772 00:35:25,058 --> 00:35:26,760 to try to do something for herself, 773 00:35:26,793 --> 00:35:30,397 so she was trying to prove-prove something. 774 00:35:30,430 --> 00:35:32,065 - She was just lookin' for acceptance, 775 00:35:32,065 --> 00:35:34,534 anybody that would accept her and take her, 776 00:35:34,567 --> 00:35:38,772 and that's what she was looking for her whole life. 777 00:35:38,805 --> 00:35:42,876 - Dana was 18 and full of optimism. 778 00:35:42,909 --> 00:35:45,478 - She would call me every month saying, 779 00:35:45,512 --> 00:35:48,715 "I'm-I'm in Indiana. Hey, I'm in Cincinnati." 780 00:35:48,748 --> 00:35:52,285 For. like, six months, five or six months, 781 00:35:52,318 --> 00:35:54,254 she would call me every month. 782 00:35:54,287 --> 00:35:56,756 - It was summertime, 2006, 783 00:35:56,790 --> 00:35:58,958 when she called him the last time. 784 00:35:58,992 --> 00:36:01,294 - And I told her to come home. 785 00:36:01,327 --> 00:36:05,131 And she said, "No, I want to do this on my own." 786 00:36:05,165 --> 00:36:10,403 So that was the last time I heard from her. 787 00:36:10,437 --> 00:36:12,572 - How long did you talk to her that time? 788 00:36:12,605 --> 00:36:15,308 - About an hour. - Long conversation 789 00:36:15,342 --> 00:36:16,509 on the phone. - Very, very, 790 00:36:16,543 --> 00:36:18,845 because I tried to convince her to come home. 791 00:36:18,878 --> 00:36:20,313 - You were begging her to come home. 792 00:36:20,347 --> 00:36:22,215 - Oh, yes, begging her. We can-- 793 00:36:22,248 --> 00:36:23,783 We'll take care of you. 794 00:36:23,817 --> 00:36:27,053 - And then the long silence. 795 00:36:27,053 --> 00:36:28,655 Where was she? 796 00:36:28,688 --> 00:36:31,725 They had no idea. 797 00:36:31,758 --> 00:36:34,627 What a helpless feeling that must have been. 798 00:36:34,661 --> 00:36:38,298 - It was. It was hard. It was very helpless, 799 00:36:38,331 --> 00:36:40,900 and more so because we didn't know anything-- 800 00:36:40,934 --> 00:36:42,669 anything about the company. 801 00:36:42,702 --> 00:36:44,671 Where do you start when you know they're traveling 802 00:36:44,704 --> 00:36:46,439 all over the country? 803 00:36:46,473 --> 00:36:48,441 - Some of those magazine sales companies 804 00:36:48,475 --> 00:36:51,678 are notorious for exploiting their young employees, 805 00:36:51,711 --> 00:36:53,713 preying on them. 806 00:36:53,747 --> 00:36:56,649 Lieutenant Eddie Hope knows this all too well. 807 00:36:56,683 --> 00:36:59,452 - It's just a form of human trafficking. 808 00:36:59,486 --> 00:37:02,655 They take these kids. They promise 'em a good life. 809 00:37:02,689 --> 00:37:05,458 And once they get 'em away from home, 810 00:37:05,492 --> 00:37:07,694 they're living in seedy motel rooms 811 00:37:07,727 --> 00:37:11,464 and with that comes that you're around the drug dealers. 812 00:37:11,498 --> 00:37:15,035 You're around the prostitutes. You're around the-the pimps. 813 00:37:15,068 --> 00:37:19,272 It just kind of puts them into a whole different dark world. 814 00:37:19,305 --> 00:37:23,510 - Dark, and in Dana's case, deadly. 815 00:37:23,543 --> 00:37:26,579 Dana met her fate in this Walmart parking lot, 816 00:37:26,613 --> 00:37:30,583 trying to sell magazines to Joseph Wayne Burnette. 817 00:37:30,617 --> 00:37:33,086 That's where he told police he picked her up, 818 00:37:33,119 --> 00:37:36,923 took her to this bridge, and killed her. 819 00:37:36,956 --> 00:37:41,061 Why? He said it was because she stole money from him. 820 00:37:41,061 --> 00:37:43,463 Impossible to know if that was true, 821 00:37:43,496 --> 00:37:46,199 because of what he did next. 822 00:37:46,232 --> 00:37:47,934 - So I took her body, and I laid her out 823 00:37:47,967 --> 00:37:50,403 on top of the wood after I soaked the wood in the diesel. 824 00:37:50,437 --> 00:37:53,306 And when I set her on fire, I left. 825 00:37:53,340 --> 00:37:55,975 - She wasn't trash. She wasn't a piece of trash 826 00:37:56,076 --> 00:38:00,013 like he took upon himself to discard of, 827 00:38:00,013 --> 00:38:03,650 and I want everybody, you know, to know who Dana was, 828 00:38:03,683 --> 00:38:06,019 and who she was as a person. 829 00:38:06,052 --> 00:38:09,289 Even with her difficult life and her upbringing, 830 00:38:09,322 --> 00:38:12,459 and, uh, she still had a good heart. 831 00:38:12,492 --> 00:38:15,028 - Maybe it's not the greatest ending, 832 00:38:15,061 --> 00:38:16,930 but at least they know, 833 00:38:17,030 --> 00:38:19,165 and I guess I go back to the truth. 834 00:38:19,199 --> 00:38:22,435 They know the truth, and it just feels good 835 00:38:22,469 --> 00:38:25,305 when we can hand them that truth. 836 00:38:25,338 --> 00:38:28,908 - And everybody deserves to know the truth. 837 00:38:28,942 --> 00:38:31,244 - So after 12 years, 838 00:38:31,277 --> 00:38:33,446 the investigators, professional and amateur, 839 00:38:33,480 --> 00:38:35,281 finally knew her name, 840 00:38:35,315 --> 00:38:37,050 knew what happened to her, 841 00:38:37,083 --> 00:38:40,387 but it felt unfinished somehow. 842 00:38:40,420 --> 00:38:42,655 And so they all made a kind of pilgrimage 843 00:38:42,689 --> 00:38:44,858 to see the place with their own eyes, 844 00:38:44,891 --> 00:38:47,127 and that was the very first time 845 00:38:47,160 --> 00:38:50,597 the trio would actually meet in person. 846 00:38:50,630 --> 00:38:53,533 - We stay up all night working on the internet 847 00:38:53,566 --> 00:38:55,502 and messaging back and forth, 848 00:38:55,535 --> 00:38:58,204 but we'd never met each other personally. 849 00:38:58,238 --> 00:39:01,474 - Here, Lieutenant Hope took them to the Walmart 850 00:39:01,508 --> 00:39:05,412 and to the cemetery where she'd been all this time. 851 00:39:05,445 --> 00:39:08,314 - I think the thing that surprised me the most 852 00:39:08,348 --> 00:39:11,017 is that there were already flowers there. 853 00:39:11,051 --> 00:39:14,621 The community, over the years, 854 00:39:14,654 --> 00:39:17,791 paid attention and didn't forget her. 855 00:39:17,824 --> 00:39:19,793 - They left her their own flowers, 856 00:39:19,826 --> 00:39:21,861 lavender, of course. 857 00:39:21,895 --> 00:39:23,463 Science writer, Sarah Zhang, 858 00:39:23,496 --> 00:39:26,099 who set out to learn from the volunteers, 859 00:39:26,132 --> 00:39:28,501 saw their journey to the end. 860 00:39:28,535 --> 00:39:29,803 - It did strike us there 861 00:39:29,836 --> 00:39:32,572 that we were the first people who'd gone to her grave 862 00:39:32,605 --> 00:39:34,741 who probably knew who she actually was. 863 00:39:34,774 --> 00:39:37,143 - So that was extremely poignant, 864 00:39:37,177 --> 00:39:38,611 to be able to stand there. 865 00:39:38,645 --> 00:39:41,514 I don't know that I can even articulate what that was like. 866 00:39:41,548 --> 00:39:44,918 - This-this really, I think, changed us, 867 00:39:44,951 --> 00:39:47,821 and changed the way we work. - Changed it how? 868 00:39:47,854 --> 00:39:51,057 - It makes it personal, because you think, 869 00:39:51,057 --> 00:39:52,892 what if this is your family? 870 00:39:52,926 --> 00:39:55,462 What if this could be your friend? 871 00:39:55,495 --> 00:39:58,631 - Kevin became a licensed private investigator, 872 00:39:58,665 --> 00:40:01,568 and continued to work with the DNA Doe Project, 873 00:40:01,601 --> 00:40:05,438 still giving back victims their long lost identities. 874 00:40:05,472 --> 00:40:06,906 - We made a little bit of a dent, 875 00:40:06,940 --> 00:40:10,243 but there's never gonna be a shortage, unfortunately, 876 00:40:10,276 --> 00:40:14,114 of Jane Does and John Does for us to help identify. 877 00:40:14,147 --> 00:40:17,350 - And some are like Dana Lynn Dodd, 878 00:40:17,384 --> 00:40:20,120 the little girl abandoned early and often, 879 00:40:20,153 --> 00:40:22,655 and though Amanda and John tried to help, 880 00:40:22,689 --> 00:40:26,126 she was, in the end, abused and discarded, 881 00:40:26,159 --> 00:40:27,660 but not forgotten. 882 00:40:27,694 --> 00:40:30,497 What do you hope her legacy will be? 883 00:40:30,530 --> 00:40:32,699 - I'm hopin' she knows that-- 884 00:40:32,732 --> 00:40:34,801 what joy she brought in our life, 885 00:40:34,834 --> 00:40:37,370 to me and Mandy and our family, 886 00:40:37,404 --> 00:40:40,940 my son. 887 00:40:40,974 --> 00:40:43,410 That legacy would probably be it, 888 00:40:43,443 --> 00:40:45,845 that she was a part of our lives. 889 00:40:45,879 --> 00:40:48,081 - And to those armchair detectives 890 00:40:48,114 --> 00:40:50,617 and their partner, Lieutenant Eddie Hope, 891 00:40:50,650 --> 00:40:54,120 she was as important as you or me. 892 00:40:54,154 --> 00:40:57,891 - It doesn't matter what walk of life you come from. 893 00:40:57,924 --> 00:41:00,293 Everybody's a person. 894 00:41:00,326 --> 00:41:02,595 Everybody has a mom and dad, 895 00:41:02,629 --> 00:41:05,398 and it's just-- 896 00:41:05,432 --> 00:41:07,734 That's the way they should be treated. 897 00:41:07,767 --> 00:41:09,235 - In December, 2020, 898 00:41:09,269 --> 00:41:11,805 Joseph Wayne Burnette pleaded guilty 899 00:41:11,838 --> 00:41:14,140 to the murders of Felisha Pearson 900 00:41:14,174 --> 00:41:16,176 and Dana Lynn Dodd. 901 00:41:16,209 --> 00:41:19,913 He was sentenced to 50 years for each murder. 902 00:41:19,946 --> 00:41:21,881 - For the relatives of Burnette's victims, 903 00:41:21,915 --> 00:41:23,917 this has been the last chapter 904 00:41:23,950 --> 00:41:26,086 of a very painful book. 905 00:41:26,086 --> 00:41:29,489 - And, indeed, it was, though, by then, 906 00:41:29,522 --> 00:41:32,525 Amanda and John had found a little solace 907 00:41:32,559 --> 00:41:34,961 here in Longview, 908 00:41:34,994 --> 00:41:38,131 the community that didn't forget. 909 00:41:38,164 --> 00:41:40,300 - We felt like that was her adopted family. 910 00:41:40,333 --> 00:41:43,370 - Which is why they decided not to take her remains 911 00:41:43,403 --> 00:41:45,572 back home to Florida with them. 912 00:41:45,605 --> 00:41:48,008 She will stay here in Longview, 913 00:41:48,108 --> 00:41:51,911 with her name carved in stone. 914 00:41:51,945 --> 00:41:53,580 - It's a funny thing, isn't it? 915 00:41:53,613 --> 00:41:56,483 That it's-- That it would be important to have a stone 916 00:41:56,516 --> 00:41:58,118 up above the place you're lying down 917 00:41:58,118 --> 00:42:01,488 with your name on it, and, yet, it is. 918 00:42:01,521 --> 00:42:03,256 - It is, exactly. 919 00:42:03,289 --> 00:42:05,525 You never think about it, but it is something-- 920 00:42:05,558 --> 00:42:08,361 It's important to have that, 921 00:42:08,395 --> 00:42:10,830 because you're never forgotten, 922 00:42:10,864 --> 00:42:12,899 you know, that your name is there, 923 00:42:12,932 --> 00:42:14,634 It's written in stone. 924 00:42:14,668 --> 00:42:17,904 - "Lavender Doe" no longer. 925 00:42:17,937 --> 00:42:21,775 Eternally Dana Lynn Dodd. 926 00:42:21,808 --> 00:42:23,710 - Some of the people still go by her grave site 927 00:42:23,743 --> 00:42:25,912 and still put flowers and things like that there, 928 00:42:25,945 --> 00:42:27,781 and that's what we wanted, 929 00:42:27,814 --> 00:42:30,917 'cause she's part of Longview. 930 00:42:30,950 --> 00:42:32,886 - And she'll never be sent away again. 931 00:42:32,919 --> 00:42:34,954 - No. She's home. 932 00:42:40,226 --> 00:42:41,327 - That's all for this edition 933 00:42:41,361 --> 00:42:43,396 of "Dateline: Secrets Uncovered." 934 00:42:43,430 --> 00:42:44,330 I'm Craig Melvin. Thank you for watching.