00:00:14
Part of the naivety and the beauty of youth is you you're invincible. You know, at 20 you don't think
00:00:21
anything's going to bring harm to you. >> Step forward. >> In 1989, [music] Tiffany Sessions was a
00:00:27
20-year-old college student at the University of Florida. >> She was really warm and friendly. Always
00:00:34
had a smile on her face. Fun. She was I would say a really fun-loving girl. My name is Kathleen Frezza and I was
00:00:43
Tiffany's roommate. >> Short of this for college. >> When she came back from Christmas break,
00:00:49
she had started exercising. She's like, "I've been walking. I've been losing weight. I'm feeling really good." She's
00:00:55
like, "Come with me." So, at certain times I would go with her. On February 9th, I did not go with
00:01:01
Tiffany. >> [music] >> She left around 4:45. 5:40 rolls around, the sun's going down,
00:01:13
Tiffany's still not back. It was very unlike her. I went out, I got in the car, I drove
00:01:19
around the route to see I don't know, maybe she fell down and she hurt herself, but nothing.
00:01:28
I never heard from her again. >> She's a a smart kid. She's resourceful and if she's in trouble, she's going to
00:01:36
be doing everything she can to get out of it and I just hope that if anybody's got her, they know that we're willing to
00:01:40
do anything to get her back. >> What would you say to her if you could now? >> I love her.
00:01:47
>> How long will you look for her? >> Probably I think till the day I die. I mean, how do you not look for your kid?
00:02:00
I can't stop. >> I began my investigation into the disappearance of Tiffany Sessions in
00:02:09
January of 2013. There'd been many leads over the years, but none of them had panned out.
00:02:15
I learned 3 years after the disappearance of Tiffany Sessions, [music] another 20-year-old college
00:02:20
student was found less than a mile away. Her name was Beth Foster. I started to wonder if the killer of
00:02:29
Beth Foster could be the killer of Tiffany Sessions. This was uh Beth Foster's head, and this was her
00:02:37
feet. First [snorts] question I had is, well, did anyone check the surrounding area
00:02:42
for other graves? >> Kevin, how easy would it be to hide a body in here? >> Uh very easy.
00:02:48
>> I thought we would find her in 24 hours, and then 24 days, [music] and then 24 months.
00:02:56
I never thought 24 years we'd still be here. >> I think we're very close. [music]
00:03:02
I think there's a good chance she's there. >> I'm Tracy Smith. [music] Tonight on 48
00:03:12
Hours, The Lost Daughter. >> [music] >> Hey, can you yell around? >> Come on, guys.
00:03:51
>> Heavenly Father, we got a simple prayer. It's really simple. Help us find Tiffany. We know without your grace,
00:03:57
without your blessing, it won't happen. Amen. >> Amen. >> Amen. >> Let's go. >> Do it.
00:04:04
>> For 25 years, Pat and Hillary Sessions have been searching for their daughter
00:04:09
Tiffany. And in January 2014, in this forest in Gainesville, Florida, just over a mile from where Tiffany
00:04:18
disappeared. >> There was another girl in 1992 who was actually found here on the site.
00:04:24
>> They hope they may finally find her. >> I am extremely optimistic. >> What are you feeling going into this
00:04:34
excavation? Are you nervous? >> I'm a lot more nervous than I thought I would be.
00:04:41
I've done other searches, and this one I'm a lot more nervous about because it may not be true, but it sort of feels
00:04:47
like a final hurrah. You know, I pushed and pushed so many people for so long. But
00:04:55
I don't know how long I'll do it. >> [snorts] >> Get Sorry. >> Do you think the emotion comes because
00:05:12
maybe it's the end, or maybe it's not? >> Yeah, I don't know. It needs to end. Everybody needs closure on this.
00:05:34
>> In 1989, Tiffany Sessions was a junior studying finance at the University of Florida in Gainesville. [music]
00:05:42
She had dreams of running a company one day. >> She knew what she wanted to do. She knew
00:05:48
where she was going to go. >> She was determined to make something out of herself.
00:05:52
>> Tiffany had a good role model. Pat Sessions was a well-known marketing executive for a giant real estate
00:05:59
company in South Florida. He oversaw the creation of Weston, one of the biggest building projects in the United States.
00:06:07
>> She kind of wanted to be like dad, following in your footsteps. >> I've been told that by
00:06:12
by her friends. >> Pat and Hillary divorced when Tiffany was just 8 months old. Hillary was in
00:06:18
the US Air Force, and as she traveled around the country, she brought Tiffany with her.
00:06:23
>> I was the mom. I was the dad. I was the disciplinarian, the provider. There wasn't anything that we didn't do
00:06:31
together. And we worked as a team. >> You called her your masterpiece. >> I did.
00:06:38
Because I only had one. I worked really hard on making sure that she was as nice
00:06:45
on the inside as she was on the outside. >> Growing up, Tiffany didn't see a lot of
00:06:56
her father, but in her teens, they reconnected. Pat was in his late 30s, a bachelor
00:07:03
living in an oceanfront home in Miami's affluent Coconut Grove. >> The summers were the times that we spent
00:07:09
together and holidays. >> Tiffany also got to know her half-brother, Jason. >> My father is always a very active, fun
00:07:16
guy. So, when we came together for those different times, we were always doing neat experiences, going on the boat, you
00:07:20
know, the beach, different activities like that. So, yeah, that's where we really got to know each other.
00:07:24
>> Both of them were single kids, so they didn't have anybody else. They bonded together very quickly.
00:07:30
>> But for Pat, missing out on so much of his daughter's childhood had taken its
00:07:35
toll. >> It was a lot of catch-up, you know, and overcoming a lot of bad history between
00:07:40
her mother and I. >> Tiffany was very close to both her parents. >> Kathleen Frezza, Tiffany's college
00:07:45
roommate. >> [music] >> She loved her mom and they had a very special relationship. She spoke with her
00:07:51
frequently, almost daily I would say on the phone. With her dad, because she was able to
00:07:58
renew that relationship with him. That was really very touching for her. >> And when Pat bought his daughter a Rolex
00:08:05
watch, Kathleen [music] says Tiffany never took it off. >> She just loved it. Partly because it was
00:08:11
a Rolex, partly because it was from her dad. So, it you know, it held a really special
00:08:16
emotional tie for her. >> In fact, Kathleen has never forgotten one of the last conversations she had
00:08:24
with Tiffany. Just before she went out for that final walk. >> Before she walked out, Tiffany said,
00:08:31
"I'm going to take off my jewelry." She said, "I'm keeping my watch on. If somebody comes after me, they're
00:08:39
going to have to fight me for the watch." >> Tiffany never returned to her apartment
00:08:47
while on an evening walk. >> When Tiffany did not come back, I still had hope at that time.
00:08:52
>> I just really am still pretty hopeful and continuing to believe that she will
00:08:56
return safely. >> There were people in the apartment, outside the apartment, milling around,
00:09:05
trying to figure out what we needed to do. >> The day after Tiffany went missing, Pat
00:09:10
and Hillary arrived in Gainesville. >> I got here and I didn't even rent a car. I did a cab because I assumed all this
00:09:17
was going to be over relatively quickly and Tiffany would give me a ride back to
00:09:20
the airport. >> But Pat knew the situation was serious when he learned that Tiffany had left
00:09:26
the apartment with only her watch and her Walkman. >> She didn't have her wallet or driver's
00:09:31
license. Her car was there and that was the scary part. You know, all that stuff
00:09:35
was there and we were all starting to get nervous as the day went on. >> I think there was a sense of urgency
00:09:41
here. >> Jim Eckert was one of the lead investigators on the case. >> This young woman didn't have any, I
00:09:48
guess, baggage, as it were. It wasn't like we had a boyfriend or some strained relationship. She was a good student.
00:09:55
She was pretty much always on the mark. So, for her not to have shown up was was pretty unusual.
00:10:04
>> She's a smart kid. She's resourceful. And if she's in trouble, she's going to
00:10:07
be doing everything she can to get out of it. >> Pat sprang into action. He put his
00:10:11
marketing skills to work and organized one of the largest missing person searches in Florida history.
00:10:17
>> I need your help. I need the word to get out on Tiffany. >> From day one, he was so driven, he ran
00:10:22
like a business. He really did. >> We're attempting to find Tiffany, and uh we're just investigating every lead.
00:10:28
>> Pat brought in Wayne Black, a private investigator who specialized in recovering missing children.
00:10:34
>> Pat had, within, I think, 24 hours, Tiffany's picture on the inside of every pizza box being delivered uh in the
00:10:42
natural county. >> see anything or talk to anyone or hear anything, please give us a call.
00:10:46
>> Volunteers blanketed the state with flyers, put Tiffany's face on billboards,
00:10:52
and answered a 1-800 hotline. Jason Sessions, just 17, also helped to get the word out.
00:10:59
>> Uh she left the house without keys, without jewelry, without makeup, and that's not Tiffany.
00:11:03
>> It was amazing to me how small South Florida became in understanding who Tiffany Sessions was and what the what
00:11:10
we were doing in in the and what we were going through. >> All right, I really appreciate you
00:11:14
calling, and probably somebody will be calling you back from the FBI or somebody just to kind of get
00:11:17
>> My goal was very simple. It was to make sure that everybody that I could knew
00:11:23
what she looked like. To try and get as many people out there looking for her as
00:11:27
I could. >> I'm curious whether that helped you with the emotional side of things to be able
00:11:33
to look at this from a business, marketing point of view. >> Yes, because I felt useful.
00:11:40
Because I felt in control. For every 50 people that pass out a flyer, one story as you all can run does 100
00:11:48
times that. >> Pat set up press conferences and recruited his famous friends like
00:11:53
football legend Dan Marino. >> What I'm going to try to do to help this team is is to to try to call on all my
00:12:00
friends throughout the NFL. >> Today, you can push a button and you reach a million people on Facebook.
00:12:05
>> You could try to get some nationwide coverage for Tiffany and try to help her.
00:12:09
>> In those days, TV was my Facebook. >> Politician Jeb Bush also helped out and
00:12:15
so did America's Most Wanted host John Walsh, whose son Adam was abducted and killed in 1981.
00:12:22
>> I know the nightmare firsthand of having a missing child and what he's going through. We can only assume that she is
00:12:28
alive and that she is somewhere and we just hope that there will be some type of word and that you will spread the
00:12:34
word. >> People are committed because of Pat because he just asked them, "Come help
00:12:39
me." And you you know, he's irresistible in that regard. >> There is a massive investigation going
00:12:48
on. What they want from us is information, leads, physical clues. >> Just one week after Tiffany disappeared,
00:12:55
over 700 people showed up to search the area around Tiffany's walking route >> [music]
00:13:00
>> hoping to find any clues as to what happened to her. >> There's something out there somewhere.
00:13:05
We just haven't turned it up yet. >> It was freezing cold that day. It was a terrible day. It was drizzling. It was
00:13:09
cold. >> When you find any evidence, just stay away from it. Let me know. I'll come
00:13:12
take a look at it and we'll get >> We had busloads of troops that came in to help us with the search. We had
00:13:17
Dolphins players, all of our friends and family from South Florida who are up here.
00:13:21
>> Start down there by that fence. >> We went real hard at the area where she walked trying to find the Walkman,
00:13:31
trying to find her watch, trying to find anything. >> And it turns up >> zero. [music]
00:13:36
Absolute zero. Not a thing. >> [music] >> That was the longest drive home because I was so euphoric that well,
00:13:48
we're going to find something. I think the hardest part was what do I do now? >> [music]
00:14:12
>> And you're trying to solve the case, I would imagine you went up and down and
00:14:15
up and down this road. >> A lot. A lot. >> Former detective Jim Eckert still remembers every step of the walking
00:14:24
route he thinks Tiffany Sessions took the night she disappeared. >> This was all thick woods.
00:14:31
>> So it would have been fairly easy to snatch somebody. >> what you'd call a private place.
00:14:36
This was a huge construction site with a lot of people coming and going. >> He always wondered if Tiffany's abductor
00:14:43
could have worked here at Hunter's Run. >> We talked to certainly as many as we could
00:14:48
>> and nothing. >> Nothing. >> The hotline was receiving as many as 600 calls per day, but in 1989, technology
00:14:57
was so primitive detectives were quickly overwhelmed. >> We were using DOS systems and sticking
00:15:04
big discs in computers and most cops didn't even know how to do that. You know, we didn't have a fax machine.
00:15:10
>> They didn't have a fax machine. >> So I bought them one. >> How many leads came in?
00:15:15
>> Too many. I've always worried that there was so much that it got lost in the shuffle.
00:15:21
>> Something fell through the cracks. Weeks turned to months. >> First month or two,
00:15:29
still had a lot of hope. Every day that goes by, the odds drop astronomically. And I knew that things were not looking
00:15:35
good. >> And then, detectives received a promising lead. An anonymous inmate wrote that Michael
00:15:43
Knickerbocker, a convicted serial rapist and murderer serving five life sentences, confessed [music]
00:15:51
to killing Tiffany Sessions. >> You went and talked to him. >> Sure. He was a spooky guy. You got bad vibes
00:15:57
off of him. You know, like, "Well, did you do this?" No. Um, but here's how I would have done it.
00:16:03
>> Michael Knickerbocker never confessed to detectives that he killed Tiffany, but
00:16:08
he did confess that he was the one who wrote the letter as a mean joke. >> And these guys do that. I mean, I can
00:16:15
show you 50 letters that I get from guys in jail. I realized early on that I was
00:16:20
dealing with a whole subculture of people that were just subhuman. >> When the Knickerbocker lead fell apart,
00:16:28
Pat offered a cash reward hoping someone would come forward with information about his daughter.
00:16:34
>> When you put out a reward, it happens in every case. You get every nut job. >> But one lead seemed credible.
00:16:42
>> You get your hopes up. You think, "Maybe this is it." >> It was from a man who said he knew where
00:16:48
Tiffany was [music] and that she was sick and in need of medical attention. >> He says, "Don't hang up."
00:16:54
>> The caller sent Pat on a wild car chase all over Miami. >> He says, "You hang up, I'm going to kill
00:17:00
her." >> But the caller turned out to be a professional con artist. He was caught
00:17:05
by the FBI [music] and sent away to prison for a little over 6 years. >> I was emotionally up to here. I really thought
00:17:13
this guy might really know something. >> And as the reward climbed to $250,000, Pat endured two more extortion attempts.
00:17:23
And then, 1 year after Tiffany went missing, when Pat thought the news couldn't get much worse,
00:17:29
>> The two women found murdered Sunday afternoon were UFF students. >> Within 4 days, five students were
00:17:35
murdered in Gainesville. Detectives had a serial killer on their hands. >> Did you think Tiffany could have been
00:17:44
connected to that? >> Well, of course the first day you wondered. Yes, I thought that maybe it
00:17:50
was the same person. >> Weeks later, an ex-con named Danny Rolling was arrested. [music] He later
00:18:01
confessed to the five Gainesville student murders, but he never confessed to killing
00:18:07
Tiffany. [music] Detectives dropped Rolling as a possible suspect when they learned he was in
00:18:13
Shreveport, Louisiana the evening Tiffany disappeared. >> The biggest challenge always in a case
00:18:24
like [music] this is to keep everyone motivated. >> When the leads dried up, private
00:18:29
investigator Wayne Black tried to [music] keep the momentum of the investigation going.
00:18:34
>> The case got cold. So, you have to remind them it's still the kidnapping, it's obviously a homicide, and let's
00:18:40
work it. >> And Pat and his [music] team kept working it for 25 years. >> Was there ever a time that you wanted to
00:18:50
give up? >> Yeah. I'm not going to lie about that. I mean, there was times early on
00:18:55
when I was just overwhelmed and didn't you know, and the frustration of not knowing what to do. And the good news
00:19:00
was, even when I'd start to slow down, everybody else pushed me. >> And no one pushed Pat more than this
00:19:06
woman. In 2006, Sadie Darnell became the first woman elected sheriff in Alachua County.
00:19:13
She was just a young cop in 1989 when Tiffany disappeared, and that memory stayed with her.
00:19:20
>> It was very jarring and very scary and very haunting to think that that could
00:19:24
happen in our midst, and then this many years later still having it unsolved. >> Throughout the years, even though she
00:19:31
was never actually assigned to the case, Sadie would mail and fax Pat words of encouragement.
00:19:37
>> September 15th, 1995. Patrick, I know this must be difficult for you to maintain a constant struggle
00:19:44
for Tiffany's case. >> I've always believed it can and will be solved. I have loyalty to you. The
00:19:50
overall goal is for you to have Tiffany back, and in some time in the future peace.
00:19:55
>> Call me anytime to vent, strategize, coordinate, kick butt, etc. >> etc. Always, Sadie.
00:20:04
>> So, when Sadie became sheriff, one of her main goals was to set up a cold case
00:20:08
unit and find out what happened to Tiffany Sessions. In January 2013, Sheriff Darnell hired
00:20:17
Detective Kevin Allen to do just that. >> He's one of the best I've ever seen. In
00:20:22
fact, I kept asking, "Where has he been all my career?" This is the kind of guy that gets the cold case stuff. That's
00:20:29
the kind of person that you need on this. >> She told me very matter-of-factly, "I
00:20:33
want this case solved during my tenure here." >> And Sheriff Darnell told Detective Allen
00:20:38
that she wanted him to focus on one man, a convict by the name of Paul Rolls. >> I'd been in that case for a couple
00:20:46
weeks. I'd never read the name, never heard the name. She said, "Get down and talk to him.
00:20:51
Talk to him right away. Time is of the essence." >> [music] [music] >> I have an 18-year-old daughter.
00:21:11
My daughter is the light of my life. >> It's that personal to [music] you. >> Yes.
00:21:18
>> When Kevin Allen joined the Alachua County Cold Case Unit early in 2013, he knew working on the Tiffany Sessions
00:21:25
case would be difficult for him. >> Just being a parent and just the thought of something happening to your child.
00:21:35
I have a picture of Tiffany Sessions I keep at my desk. I go to bed thinking about that case and I wake up thinking
00:21:41
about that case. >> We look at all the cold cases. [music] We can't forget the past and we can't
00:21:45
can't just let it go. >> Sheriff Sadie Darnell made the Tiffany Sessions case a priority.
00:21:51
>> You need to lift up every rock, >> [music] >> peel back every layer. >> She started by giving Detective Allen
00:21:57
that lead to look into convicted murderer Paul Rolls. >> What I found was that Paul Rolls was a
00:22:05
psychopath, a serial killer. He had sadistic tendencies, sadistic fantasies. >> [music]
00:22:16
>> And Detective Allen would soon learn that Paul Rolls had a long and violent past that lasted over 20 years.
00:22:25
In 1972, he killed his first victim, former beauty queen Linda Fida. >> [music] >> At the time, Rolls was a newly married
00:22:34
23-year-old architecture student. >> Linda Fida was a neighbor of his. They lived in apartment complex in North
00:22:40
Miami. Paul was a stalker. I mean, he would plan [music] and watch his prey. He saw her through the peephole in his
00:22:52
door to his apartment and that's how he watched her. >> When Linda Fida went to do her laundry,
00:22:57
Paul Rolls snuck into her apartment and when she returned, he tried to rape her.
00:23:03
She fought back and he strangled her. >> This was a nude young girl [music] in the bathtub.
00:23:09
>> Detective Marshall Frank, now retired, rushed to the crime scene. >> One of the things that we found that was
00:23:15
different on this crime scene than other crime scenes was uh a couple of band-aids.
00:23:19
>> Detectives were able to get toe prints off those band-aids. Then, a day after the murder,
00:23:27
when they knocked on neighbor Paul Rolls' door, they immediately noticed band-aids on
00:23:33
his toes. >> So, they went and took a toe print from him, compared it against the print that
00:23:39
they had at the scene, they had their guy. >> After his arrest, Detective [music]
00:23:44
Frank was shocked when Rolls quickly confessed. >> There was no voices raised. There was no uh hate or uh anger, just
00:23:54
kind of like matter-of-factly going over something that just happened. >> Detective Frank says Rolls told him he
00:23:59
had sexual urges that he couldn't control. >> I just asked him, "How long have you had
00:24:04
these kinds of feelings?" And he said, >> [music] >> "For a while now." My thought process
00:24:08
was, this man has a severe problem. >> Detective Frank believes Paul Rolls was the most dangerous type of killer.
00:24:16
>> [music] >> When you met him at that time, you met a nice guy anybody would trust.
00:24:22
Have him over for dinner. You'd never know. You'd never know. >> Rolls was sentenced to life in prison
00:24:30
for the murder of Linda Fida. But, in 1985, Rolls' life sentence [music] was abruptly cut short when he
00:24:39
was suddenly released and out on parole. >> I thought, "Oh my god, that's not good."
00:24:44
>> That was the deal back then through uh prison overcrowding and lots of crime in
00:24:49
the state of Florida. The average sentence for life in prison was 15 years. >> Rolls only had to serve 13 years of his
00:24:58
life sentence. >> This is the kind of guy that should not be released from prison.
00:25:02
I mean, he committed a heinous crime without any guilt at all. >> In 1988, Rolls settled in Gainesville,
00:25:11
where [music] he worked as a pizza delivery man. He also had another job putting up scaffolding on that apartment
00:25:18
complex Hunter's Run, located right on Tiffany's walking route. >> He always stayed under the radar. When I
00:25:25
interviewed his boss at Pizza Hut, he said it was as if Paul didn't want to be seen. He just maintained an extremely
00:25:32
low profile, as many serial killers do. >> In 1989, just 1 year after Paul Rolls
00:25:41
moved to Gainesville, Tiffany Sessions disappeared. >> How could somebody just totally
00:25:49
disappear off the face of this earth with no evidence? >> And it turns out Rolls did not show up
00:25:56
for his pizza delivery job on the day Tiffany vanished. And then in 1992, just 3 years after
00:26:03
Tiffany went missing, Beth Foster, that other college student, was found murdered just 1 mile from where Tiffany
00:26:11
went walking. >> Every time something happened up here in Gainesville, I was concerned.
00:26:17
>> Tiffany's mom, Hillary, immediately thought that the two cases could be related.
00:26:22
>> You thought back then, back in '92, that this could be a serial killer. >> same guy who murdered Elizabeth Foster
00:26:30
could have taken Tiffany. >> Mhm. Yep. And um I've said that all this time. But nobody wanted to listen to me.
00:26:39
>> Private investigator Wayne Black says at the time, police couldn't link Rolls to
00:26:44
either crime. >> Remember, we didn't have the forensics that we have today. We were really in
00:26:49
the dark ages. >> And even though Rolls, by then 43, was an ex-con living in the
00:26:57
area, police never questioned him. And just 2 months after Beth Foster's murder, he quietly left town.
00:27:06
>> Paul Rolls had lived in Gainesville for about 4 years, and I think the heat was
00:27:11
on basically at that point. So, he got out of town. >> And in 1994, Rolls struck again, this
00:27:18
time in Jacksonville, when he raped and attempted to kill a 15-year-old girl. She was able to escape and identified
00:27:26
Rolls as her attacker. Rolls was convicted, [music] and this time he was sent to prison for good.
00:27:33
>> He was confronted soon after the crime and gave a full confession. >> To that crime?
00:27:38
>> Yes. >> To the young girl? >> Yes. >> But what about to the other crimes? Elizabeth Foster?
00:27:44
Tiffany Sessions? >> He wasn't interviewed about either of those cases in a timely fashion.
00:27:52
The dots had not been connected. >> Over the next few years, as DNA technology advanced, detectives
00:27:58
submitted Rolls' DNA to the FBI database to see if he could have possibly killed
00:28:03
others. And although it took 18 years, finally, in 2012, there was a match to Elizabeth Foster.
00:28:15
>> How big of a development [music] was that, linking Elizabeth Foster's death to Paul Rolls?
00:28:23
>> It was huge. Years go on, decades go on, and nothing's happening, no any information.
00:28:28
So, it was energizing, it was wonderful. >> Sheriff Darnell knew that if Paul Rolls,
00:28:34
who was now 64, had killed [music] Beth Foster, he could also have killed Tiffany Sessions.
00:28:41
>> She was a young, white female. They lived in the same quadrant of our county. Paul Roles didn't show up for
00:28:49
work the day that she went missing. You got to look at him. You got to look at him.
00:28:56
>> Detective Allen couldn't wait to confront Roles, hoping he would cave and confess to Tiffany's abduction.
00:29:03
But when the detective went to question him in December of 2013, Roles was in a coma and dying of lung
00:29:11
cancer. >> Did you hope that maybe he'd wake up? >> I'm sure and with a last twinge of
00:29:17
conscience, you know, could, would, should say, "I did it and this is where she is." But that didn't happen.
00:29:26
>> Paul Roles died almost 2 weeks later. But Sheriff Darnell was not giving up. >> I sent an email [music] to Kevin Allen
00:29:35
saying, "Crap, crap, crap. Get down there and get his personal belongings as soon as possible."
00:29:42
>> Something in her gut told her to get a hold of Paul Roles' personal property.
00:29:46
>> And what Paul Roles left behind changed the entire investigation. >> I got chills when Kevin showed it to me.
00:30:10
>> When Detective Allen went to retrieve serial killer Paul Roles' personal belongings from jail, it was 24 years
00:30:18
after Tiffany Sessions disappeared. >> It was just one box. >> He didn't think he would find much.
00:30:25
>> And it just have a lot of letters and loose writings stuff. >> But then he came across Roles' address
00:30:32
book. >> So I thought I should copy this. This might be relevant. And there in the dead center [music] of
00:30:38
the book is a date, 2 9 89. >> I went, "Oh my gosh." Cuz that's the day [music] Tiffany
00:30:47
disappeared. >> Then he saw what Rolls wrote next to the date. >> Then number two.
00:30:53
I knew Linda Fite was his first victim. And chronologically, Tiffany [music] Sessions would have been his second
00:30:59
victim. I almost fell down when I when I saw it. >> What was going through your head?
00:31:05
>> [music] >> We have a possible link to the Tiffany Sessions disappearance from Paul Rolls'
00:31:10
personal property. >> That's a huge break. >> Lucky. Really lucky. >> And that's not all that was in the
00:31:18
address book. Rolls had also written down the names of all of his other victims.
00:31:26
Linda Fite, Elizabeth Foster, and the 15-year-old girl Rolls raped and attempted to kill in Jacksonville,
00:31:35
>> [music] >> a minor whose name we won't disclose. >> [music] >> Some serial killers like to keep a
00:31:42
diary. Some keep artifacts. Some like to write down what they've done, a feeling of
00:31:48
accomplishment. Look what I did. I've got two, three, four. >> I said, "Can I see it?"
00:31:53
>> This could be the smoking gun piece of evidence Sheriff Darnell has been looking for all these years.
00:32:00
>> I was literally shaking holding it to see it and to see the depth of what that
00:32:07
meant. After all these many years, there's a possibility, just a possibility, that this case could be solved.
00:32:19
>> Once he discovered the address book, Detective Allen ordered up cadaver dogs to search the site where Rolls buried
00:32:27
Elizabeth Foster. >> They all alert about 20 ft from where Beth Foster was buried.
00:32:33
>> So, what did that say to you? >> There's human remains here. >> [music] >> And it could be Tiffany.
00:32:38
>> Could be Tiffany Sessions. He obviously was in a comfort zone there. He left Beth Foster there for a
00:32:44
reason. >> [music] >> So, he may have left multiple bodies there. >> So, on January 13th, 2014,
00:32:53
just 1 month away from the 25th [music] anniversary of Tiffany's disappearance, Pat Sessions and Detective Allen have
00:33:00
gathered a team of people to help at the excavation. >> 25 years ago we started.
00:33:06
I hope we're going to finish. >> I want to be there for the end of this if it if it is.
00:33:11
>> Some members of the team have been searching for Tiffany since she went missing.
00:33:18
>> Uh I've probably been on over 20 searches for Tiffany. >> Dr. Michael Warren is a world-renowned
00:33:23
forensic anthropologist, an expert in identifying human bones. >> I've had Tiffany Sessions master file on
00:33:30
my desk for 21 years. >> He's been actively involved in the search for Tiffany since 1991.
00:33:37
>> She's just been uh one of the one of the cases that I would really like to resolve.
00:33:41
>> And he knows it is not going to be an easy task. >> It's very hard to go out and do an
00:33:46
organized search over such a large area. So, we've got to be pretty aggressive. >> And if they find any bones, Dr. Warren
00:33:59
will know if they are Tiffany's. >> I've memorized her dental pattern and and her dental chart. So, I'll know if
00:34:04
it's her or not. To find her would just be a remarkable feeling. >> Their plan to dig for 5 days.
00:34:14
>> I feel good about the operation. I feel good about the people on the ground. So,
00:34:18
we're all thumbs up, trying to stay positive. >> After clearing the trees, they now begin
00:34:23
the tedious job of sifting through every bit of dirt, looking for pieces of human
00:34:29
bone. And in the afternoon, they do find a bone. But, it's not human. It's a deer
00:34:37
bone. Pat is disappointed, but he knows they have a lot more ground to dig. >> We've waited this long, worked this hard
00:34:50
to get here. It's amazing, the commitment from everybody. >> And if they don't find Tiffany here,
00:34:57
Jason will never stop looking for his sister. >> I don't have any doubt if I drop dead
00:35:02
tomorrow, you know, that he'll just keep on going. And I hope he doesn't have to.
00:35:08
Maybe we'll get lucky. >> [music] >> Yeah, I'll continue looking forever. As long as there's a lead to follow,
00:35:16
we're going to continue looking. >> [music] >> With just 3 days left to dig, Tiffany's
00:35:23
mother, Hillary, is adamant the search will be over. >> This is [music] definitely the one. You
00:35:30
know why? The pieces are fitting. Everything is fitting in place. This is it. >> Is it hard to imagine that Tiffany
00:36:00
might be in that spot? >> I don't know what's worse, having absolutely no idea what happened
00:36:05
to her, or having [snorts] someone as bad as Paul Rhodes having done it. >> Believing serial killer Paul Rhodes
00:36:17
murdered his daughter makes it even harder for Pat Sessions to understand how, after receiving a life sentence in
00:36:24
1976, he was ever released from prison. >> That makes me sick. Tiffany would probably be alive today if they hadn't
00:36:33
let the guy out. >> On day three of the excavation, >> we're really moving some dirt. There
00:36:44
isn't a chance we're missing anything. >> Pat starts to wonder if Rolls may have
00:36:48
buried Tiffany someplace else. >> Am I losing optimism that we're going to find Tiffany this go around? It's hard
00:36:55
not to. >> Later that day, Pat's fears come true when excavators finish digging in the
00:37:02
areas where the cadaver dogs alerted and find nothing. >> Certainly dogs are very good at finding
00:37:08
the recently dead who are giving off these these human specific uh scents. >> Forensic anthropologist Dr. Michael
00:37:15
Warren says cadaver dogs sometimes can be unreliable when trying to solve cold cases.
00:37:21
>> Skeletons are a different thing. They just don't have any odor uh you know, associated with them.
00:37:31
>> And with no focus on where to dig, by the end of the week, the excavation comes to an end.
00:37:38
>> [music] >> We have not found Tiffany Sessions. Was it disappointing? Yeah, really
00:37:44
disappointing, but we're never going to find out if we don't keep trying. >> Good morning everyone and thank you for
00:37:53
being here. This is uh been a long journey. >> And then, just 3 weeks after the dig,
00:37:59
Sheriff Darnell goes public about Paul Rolls. >> He was in this community. He murdered in
00:38:05
this community. He had made comments about this site being a dump site. >> Darnell hopes that someone will know
00:38:12
something that leads them to Tiffany's remains. >> If you had any involvement with him, if
00:38:18
you know of anyone who had involvement with him, bring it forward. >> For Pat >> and Hillary, there's a sense of finality
00:38:24
to this moment. They think they have their man, even if they don't have their little girl. And above all, they're
00:38:32
grateful. >> I want to thank the people who have come over the last 25 years. >> They're especially thankful to Detective
00:38:41
Kevin Allen. >> This is the guy that's made everybody work. >> He's the one who gave Pat and Hillary
00:38:46
the answers they've been longing for. >> I think he solved the case. I think we found who took Tiffany.
00:38:53
I believe that. >> I think anyone who has children is touched by the case of Tiffany Sessions,
00:39:00
especially myself. I know the sheriff, too. >> Oh, yeah, you take care. >> It was an emotional day for all of us.
00:39:06
>> Tiffany's case is still officially open, but over the years, Pat and Hillary have
00:39:12
tried to bring closure to other parents of missing children. Hillary has worked with advocates on child protection
00:39:18
legislation, and Pat works directly with families. >> You know, you try to find something, as
00:39:24
corny as it sounds, try to make some meaning out of something, try and do something positive out of a terrible
00:39:29
thing. And I think that's the best thing I could do. You know, somebody calls me,
00:39:32
I'm there. >> [music] >> My cute little missy. I'm very comfortable here in her room.
00:39:48
On bad days, like sometimes her birthday, I come and sleep here in the room because I just
00:39:54
feel very close to her at that time. >> I honestly do think that if Tiffany were
00:40:03
here, she'd say, >> [music] >> "Get over it." I don't think she'd want me to be spending my entire life,
00:40:09
having already spent 25 years of this, trying to do something that isn't going to bring her back.
00:40:18
>> So, if you imagine that she would tell you, "Knock it off, Dad. Move on." Why do you keep doing it?
00:40:27
>> For my own benefit. To try and to do what I think I should have done. I I don't want to ever
00:40:36
if she walked in the door tomorrow, you know, I want to be always be able to say
00:40:41
that I did the best I could do. It's all I can do, anybody can. >> [music] [music]
00:41:11
[music] [music]