00:00:07
in 1995
00:00:09
carolyn killeby of vancouver washington
00:00:11
got into a heated argument with her
00:00:13
husband
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she then went to a local bar alone
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no one has seen or heard from her since
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but some saliva from an envelope and a
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speck of blood on a wristwatch helps
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solve the mystery of her disappearance
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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[Music]
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[Applause]
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in 1990 carolyn and dan kilby were
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married each for the second time
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dan managed the furniture store
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carolyn was a medical technician
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employed by the u.s military
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carolyn and dan each had a daughter from
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their previous marriages
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and they moved into this home in
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vancouver washington
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my mom was basically the backbone of my
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whole family i mean she was very
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strong-willed and she just like she held
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everybody together she was the problem
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solver she was the supporters she was
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the happiness the joy she was just like
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everything you could ask for
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[Music]
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on saturday night november 11 1995
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carolyn and dan got into an argument
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she'd been in a fight with her husband
00:01:50
because her husband had decided instead
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of doing something with her that night
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that she'd counted on they were going to
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go out he was going to go out with his
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brother and have some food and drink and
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she objected significantly to that and i
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don't know whether she stomped out of
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the house and drove over there or how
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that transpired but she ended up at
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omar's and she was doing some serious
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drinking there
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a waitress said carolyn was dancing but
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was there alone and was obviously
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intoxicated
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the other indication was that she was
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alone at the table and that her head was
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down and that she had her head
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on the table and was basically passed
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out at the table not functioning not
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talking to anyone
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very very clear to everyone in the bar
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that she was highly intoxicated
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that night around 11 o'clock witnesses
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said they saw carolyn leave the bar
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and she was never seen again
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i came home sunday morning and she was
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gone
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the next day dan killaby called police
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to report carolyn missing
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family members friends and volunteers
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searched the surrounding area without
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success
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i knew that she would not leave
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unless somebody made her
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there was no way she would have left us
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[Music]
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she is the
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really the light of the family
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her personality her uh her kindness
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[Music]
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sorry
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carolyn's car was found in the bar's
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parking lot
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the killerby family hired their own
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search dogs
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the dogs tracked carolyn's scent from
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the bar directly back to her home
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the police believed this might be
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evidence that carolyn returned home from
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the bar before she disappeared
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no one else was home that night
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dan and the two girls spent saturday
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night elsewhere
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they were concerned about
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whether or not dan's alibi that he was
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out drinking with his brother was solid
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and i think that they stayed out real
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late
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and got real drunk
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and so
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the police were not 100 percent
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convinced
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that
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that
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could have been the case creating
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further suspicions was the fact that
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carolyn had a 230 000 life insurance
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policy payable to her husband i always
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stood behind dan
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there was no doubt that he had
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i could never conceive the idea that he
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had actually done something like this
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dan kilby denied any involvement in his
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wife's disappearance but police
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discovered there were problems in the
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marriage
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we found out that it wasn't the uh
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perfect marriage by any stretch of the
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imagination
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i think we figured that there were some
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difficulties and some strains in the
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marriage
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two hours after carolyn left the bar
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the police received two calls from
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people who said they heard a woman
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screaming for help in a field about a
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mile from omar's lounge
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police searched the area using night
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vision goggles
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but they found nothing
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with no solid leads
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the killerby family offered a ten
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thousand dollar reward for any
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information on carolyn's whereabouts
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and then
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a bombshell
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a customer at omar's lounge said he saw
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dan kilby with carolyn in the parking
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lot on the night she disappeared
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[Music]
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when 34 year old carolyn killeby didn't
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return home after spending a night
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drinking at a local bar
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her husband dan was an immediate suspect
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prosecutor david seeley says there's an
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old saying in missing persons cases
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before you look at outlaws you have to
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look at the in-laws
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one of the things they look at to begin
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with is a husband
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um
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in a missing person case like this
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because i think a large percentage of
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the crimes are committed by family
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members
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police found no evidence of foul play in
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the killerby home
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but in carolyn's bedroom they found some
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potent pain killers vicotin
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my sister was having some problems with
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prescription drug medication
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and i had confronted her and talked to
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her about that
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she
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had to acknowledge the problem and was
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working on that we were the whole family
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was being supportive of that
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my understanding of the mixture of
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alcohol and vicodin is it makes you
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comatose
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and that's exactly what happened to
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carolyn when she was in the bar
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witnesses at omar's lounge say that
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carolyn passed out at her table
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one of the regular customers dennis
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smith helped her to her car
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what smith told police
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was disturbing
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[Music]
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he said that he and carolyn left the bar
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and engaged in consensual sex in his
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truck
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[Music]
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as he walked her to her car a man
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approached them hit smith with a bat
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called carolyn a [ __ ] and forced her to
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leave with him
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[Music]
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when shown a photographic lineup
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smith identified carolyn's husband dan
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as the culprit
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dan killerby angrily denied this he
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offered to take a lie detector test and
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passed
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dan kiloby said he and his brother were
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out drinking together that night in a
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bar which the bartender there confirmed
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when police looked closer into dennis
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smith's background
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they discovered that smith had been
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convicted for the murder of his sister
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patricia ann johnson in 1982.
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smith served 10 years of that sentence
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and had recently been released on parole
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and the witness told police that she saw
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mud on smith's truck on the night
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carolyn disappeared
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he came to a shell station
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and
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clark county his truck was all dirty he
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asked the attendant there who was a
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friend
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whether or not he could go to her
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parents house and wash his car
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the employee also thought she saw a
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blood smear on smith's shirt
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with this new information
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smith's truck was confiscated
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and police noticed that the inside of
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the truck had been wiped clean no
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fingerprints hairs or fibers even though
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smith said carolyn had been in the truck
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for consensual sex
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investigators did find
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a tiny speck of blood on the steering
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wheel
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and there was evidence of a recent fire
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smith said a cigarette butt accidentally
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ignited the upholstery
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an alert homicide investigator also
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confiscated smith's wristwatch
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in the forensics lab scientists found a
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tiny speck of what appeared to be blood
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in the crevice of the wristband
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tests indicated
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it was human
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but whose was it
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since we get half of our dna from our
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mother and half from our father
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scientists could identify whether it was
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carolyn's blood in the truck by
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analyzing dna samples from carolyn's
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parents
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but carolyn's mother delivered some
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shocking news
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despite raising carolyn as his own the
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man carolyn called dad wasn't her
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biological father a fact withheld from
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carolyn during her upbringing
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carolyn's biological father had died
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years earlier this made the blood stain
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analysis much more difficult
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we didn't have any solid dna we didn't
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have a a piece of skin or a blood sample
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from her from her body that we could
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compare to the blood stain so we are a
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little up in the air about what to do
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without a body
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scientists would have to improvise
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when dennis smith learned that he was a
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suspect in carol and killaby's
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disappearance he fled and the nationwide
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manhunt was underway
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we didn't know who she'd left with we
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had the thought that maybe she was in a
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hotel and angry
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and then we found out that she had been
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seen leaving with this guy dennis and so
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we didn't know what that meant and then
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we found out that he was a murderer that
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had been out on parole and so that took
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away some hope
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while the fbi searched for smith
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forensic scientists analyzed his truck
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arson experts discovered hydrocarbons on
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the upholstery of smith's truck
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hydrocarbons are present when an
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accelerant or flammable liquid is used
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to start a fire
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a clue that the fire was intentionally
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set
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the damage was extensive and smith's
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story didn't match the evidence
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we got a similar car seat
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we tried to recreate the fire in three
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or four different ways
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and each time we couldn't come up with
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that type of damage that we saw in his
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car
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in a small crack in the steering wheel a
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phenolphthalein test identified a tiny
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stain
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as blood
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and on dennis smith's wristband
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scientists found another speck of blood
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but without carolyn's body
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scientists had no dna sample for
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comparison
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so detectives searched for a sample of
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carolyn's dna
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and they found it
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in alaska
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ten years earlier
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carolyn mailed a letter to her
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girlfriend in alaska
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and her friend had never thrown it away
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on the envelope flap and stamps was
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carolyn's saliva
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still a rich source of dna even after 10
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years
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the samples were too badly degraded for
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traditional dna testing
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so scientists used a newer and less
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exact dna test called mitochondrial dna
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traditional dna testing analyzes the
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nucleus of the cell
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but outside the cell nucleus are what
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are known as mitochondria
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cells that can be identified although
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not as precisely as in traditional dna
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testing
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mitochondrial dna is inherited from a
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mother to her children and therefore if
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you want to make a match between a
00:13:49
sample of evidence from a missing person
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as as was in this case blood stains from
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someone whose body was not available you
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need only go to
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a maternal relative
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the dna from the envelope flap and
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stamps
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matched the dna from the blood found in
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smith's truck
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and with dna samples from carolyn
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killeby's mother and daughter
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dr melton concluded that the
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mitochondrial dna in dennis smith's
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truck
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was that of carolyn kiloby
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it was a dna profile that existed in
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only one out of two hundred 000
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caucasians
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because there was no body found in this
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case and i believe the remains of miss
00:14:36
kilby are still missing it was very
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important to place her
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in the presence of mr smith and of
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course a blood stain on his watch band
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that comes back to her would be very
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powerful evidence
00:14:50
on the one year anniversary of carolyn's
00:14:52
disappearance
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friends and relatives gathered for a
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candlelight vigil outside of omar's
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lounge
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the last place she was seen alive
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then i'm glad they're here and i'm glad
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they want to show that they cared too
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for over a year
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dennis smith had been on the run
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then the television series unsolved
00:15:18
mysteries profiled the case asking
00:15:21
viewers for help in bringing smith to
00:15:23
justice
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four days later an anonymous tip
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revealed smith was living in florida
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the trick now
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was to find him
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and i turned to drugs and my stepdad
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turned to alcohol
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and my sister turned away from all of us
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and my whole family just fell apart
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everything that i'd known
00:15:52
for 15 almost 16 years
00:15:55
in one night was all unraveled
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for 15 months carolyn's family waited
00:16:01
for some word on the search for dennis
00:16:03
smith
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law enforcement searched all over the
00:16:07
country and an informant said smith was
00:16:11
living in florida
00:16:14
police there stopped the vehicle on the
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suspicion it was stolen
00:16:19
the man driving the car
00:16:21
was dennis smith
00:16:23
smith tried to get away
00:16:26
there was a fight and smith was shot in
00:16:28
the scuffle
00:16:30
i was hoping that he was in a lot of
00:16:31
pain
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i wanted him to hurt
00:16:34
i crossed my fingers though that he
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didn't die
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as much as i
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hate him and do not want him in this
00:16:42
world
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if he were to die there was really no
00:16:45
hope of finding my mom's body
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or for him having to suffer in prison
00:16:51
smith survived the gunshot wound and
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returned to washington state to stand
00:16:56
trial for kidnapping rape and the murder
00:17:00
of carolyn killeby
00:17:02
even though police still hadn't found
00:17:04
her body
00:17:06
smith pleaded not guilty
00:17:09
and stood by his story that he was
00:17:10
attacked by carolyn's husband in the
00:17:12
parking lot of the bar and that carolyn
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left with her husband
00:17:18
the defense reminded the jury that smith
00:17:21
identified dan kiloby from a
00:17:23
photographic lineup
00:17:25
but prosecutors said smith probably
00:17:27
recognized dan kilby from television
00:17:30
news reports about his wife's
00:17:32
disappearance
00:17:33
and it's just amazed me and i see other
00:17:37
i mean on tv on court shows on
00:17:40
anything real or not
00:17:41
how the defense always tries to twist
00:17:44
the victims into this horrible person
00:17:46
when they never did anything to ask for
00:17:48
what they got
00:17:49
and they didn't deserve it
00:17:56
prosecutors believe that carolyn killeby
00:17:59
was inebriated in omar's lounge and that
00:18:02
smith offered to drive her home
00:18:08
somewhere along the way
00:18:10
smith raped and murdered carolyn killeby
00:18:13
in the cab of his truck
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her blood spattered onto the steering
00:18:17
wheel smith's watch and probably on the
00:18:21
upholstery
00:18:23
prosecutors suspect that smith buried
00:18:26
carolyn's body somewhere near
00:18:28
larch mountain
00:18:30
a few hours later a gas station
00:18:33
attendant said she saw a blood stain on
00:18:35
smith's shirt and that his truck was
00:18:37
full of mud
00:18:40
smith attempted to remove the blood
00:18:42
inside his truck with detergents
00:18:46
and when he couldn't remove it all from
00:18:47
the upholstery
00:18:49
he set it on fire
00:18:54
but he missed a tiny speck of blood on
00:18:57
his wristband
00:18:59
and a tiny speck of blood on the
00:19:01
steering wheel
00:19:02
proof that carol and killiby had been
00:19:05
bleeding inside his truck
00:19:08
some of his friends happen to be
00:19:10
nurses he went into a great detail with
00:19:13
his nurse friends about what is dna how
00:19:16
do you get rid of dna i used pine sol
00:19:19
and lysol and other cleaning agents in
00:19:22
my car is that going to get rid of dna
00:19:25
and the nurses said hey i don't think so
00:19:29
prosecutors also discovered that when
00:19:32
smith was in prison for killing his
00:19:33
sister he told his cellmate how he would
00:19:37
get away with murder the next time
00:19:40
mr smith told an inmate that if he would
00:19:42
ever committed another murder he would
00:19:44
dispose of the body by digging a hole
00:19:46
placing the body in it recovering the
00:19:48
hole and planting a tree on top of it so
00:19:50
that no one would know that a body is
00:19:51
under there and wherever she is it's out
00:19:54
in
00:19:56
most likely a dark cold place where we
00:19:59
can't go and visit her physically where
00:20:01
her remains are
00:20:02
he also told the inmate
00:20:05
that he would dispose of the other
00:20:06
evidence by burning it
00:20:09
the only scientific evidence in this
00:20:11
case
00:20:12
was the mitochondrial dna taken from two
00:20:16
tiny specks of blood
00:20:19
dennis smith was found guilty of
00:20:22
aggravated murder and sentenced to life
00:20:25
in prison without parole
00:20:28
after his conviction
00:20:30
dennis smith offered to disclose the
00:20:32
location of carolyn's body
00:20:35
in return
00:20:36
for some taco bell burritos and ten
00:20:39
thousand dollars in cash
00:20:42
we obviously all know that he knows
00:20:43
where the body is and now he's trying to
00:20:45
get something
00:20:46
for him when he should do the right
00:20:48
thing and give up carolyn's body to to
00:20:50
give closure to this family i think it's
00:20:52
pathetic what he's trying to do now
00:20:55
he's not
00:20:56
he's not getting any money he already
00:20:58
has
00:21:00
more things in prison that we have i
00:21:01
mean he has free cable he has free
00:21:03
pay-per-view i mean i have to pay for my
00:21:05
cable i have to go rent movies and then
00:21:08
he wants extra spending money
00:21:12
i mean
00:21:13
he just
00:21:14
there's no way
00:21:16
that i would give him a cent i wouldn't
00:21:18
give him a penny
00:21:20
[Music]
00:21:21
the killabee family
00:21:22
may never recover carolyn's body for a
00:21:25
proper burial
00:21:27
but they've purchased a burial plot with
00:21:29
a headstone anyway
00:21:32
for carolyn's daughter gina
00:21:35
not a day goes by
00:21:36
when she doesn't think of her mother
00:21:39
she has this beautiful new granddaughter
00:21:42
that she never
00:21:44
got the chance to meet and be a
00:21:45
grandmother too
00:21:48
but
00:21:49
that her granddaughter
00:21:51
her granddaughter will always know who
00:21:53
she is
00:21:54
and that she will always be a part of
00:21:56
this family and that we love her and
00:21:57
miss her very very much
00:22:02
[Music]
00:22:12
[Music]
00:22:17
[Music]
00:22:33
you
