♪ we were scared. who did it? who killed her? can this happen to anybody? >> tonight, on an all-new "20/20," a cold case murder for more than two decades. now, solved in just two days. >> giving up hope that they would find the person that did this. would have been giving up on her. and i couldn't do that. >> a young elementary school teacher who never showed up for work. iw something was wrong. so i'm yelling, christy! i told the police what i saw. but i've never told anybody else. >> i understand that a priest at one point told you not to look at her. >> he said it was probably in

our best interest not to view her. >> it's been 10, 20, 25 years. >> i just couldn't let go. >> tonight, the family that never gave up. the revolutionary science that turns a drop of dna into a portrait. and the detective that broke the case without leaving him. >> it took just a couple of days to find a real, serious tip. >> now we're getting close. i said, i can't be this guy. if he did do this, it almost seems like he was taunting or enjoying the fact that he got away with killing her. >> that mystery starts right now, on "20/20." >> good evening. i'm amy robach. >> and i'm david muir. thanks for joining us. tonight, a grieving family waiting 26 years for an answer.

>> after just two days, they may have one. here's ryan smith. >> reporter: lancaster, pennsylvania. a popular destination and wedding location, attracting tourists for the beautiful venues, food, and flowers. but is it possible that one of these wedding professionals responsible for creating people's most cherished moments, is also responsible for a brutal murder 2 1/2 decades earlier? >> 25-year-old christy mirack was murdered. >> this girl was also severely beaten around the head and neck. >> this quiet neighborhood is in disbelief that such a tragedy could happen so close to home. >> the last person anybody would have ever linked to her murder or suspected. >> reporter: this story does not begin at a wedding, but during another time of anticipation and excitement. days before christmas, 1992. >> it's very scary. this is such a quiet neighborhood. >> we keep our doors locked. this is horrible.

>> reporter: christy mirack grew up in pennsylvania, in coal country. the middle child of a close-knit family, and older sister to vince. what was she like as a sister? >> she always was funny. very talkative, very opinionated. i think she would make a room kind of lighten up if it was down. >> she had a smile that just drew people to her. >> reporter: annie adams was one of christy's best friends. >> when we were in high school there was a show on tv called "dancing on air." >> reporter: a music show for teens. >> that's all she wanted to do, she was just -- she was getting on that show, she was getting on that stage. and she did get us on the stage. >> reporter: that's christy on the right, next to annie. ♪ >> christy mirack!

>> reporter: by december of 1992, she was living in lancaster, pennsylvania. >> her one goal and dream is that she always wanted to be a schoolteacher. >> reporter: and she got that job. >> let's go with what we have up here. >> reporter: teaching sixth grade at roherstown elementary school. principal harry goodman hired her. >> there are certain teachers where you can walk in their classroom, and you almost get chills because they have the kids captivated. and she taught with her heart. >> what would you look at, emily? >> she was so cool. she was young. she had good clothes. she had that big smile, pretty blond hair, and just that energy, it just made you want to spend more time with her. >> reporter: december 18th, christy has dinner with her brother vince. it would be the last time he would see her. >> it was just like any other time you say, "good-bye, we'll see you in a couple days," and, you know, assumed we would. >> reporter: the evening of december 20th, christy is at home preparing for the holiday. wrapping copies of the book

"miracles on maple hill" for each of her 24 students. >> she wrote a message to them. "merry christmas and have a great year." >> i did talk to christie the night before. we always made plans to get together on christmas day. >> reporter: the next morning is a chilly one, with temperatures below freezing. christy is up before sunrise. >> it started out like any other day. >> christy always got up very early in the morning. on this particular morning she sat on the couch, in a blanket and watched a little bit of tv. >> reporter: her roommate leaves first, at 7:00 a.m. christy would usually leave shortly after, by 7:45. but on this morning, she did not. in the next 45 minutes, something unspeakable would happen. >> i called her apartment about five times. nothing. >> reporter: over at christy's school, principal goodman gets worried when she doesn't show up to her classroom. >> i called her mother, and i said, "have you heard from christy?"

>> the phone rang. my mom was upstairs. she came downstairs and she said, "christy didn't show up for work." >> she was worried, i was worried. and i said, "i'll tell you what. i'll drive down, and i'll probably end up changing her tire on the car." so i started driving. her mother had given me her address. the farther i went, i did not see her, and then i started to panic. i pull up. her car was parked there and i knew something was wrong. and the door was cracked open. so i'm yelling, "christy! christy! christy!" >> reporter: when he walks up, he's horrified by the scene in the living room. >> i told the police what i saw, but i've never told anybody else what i walked in on. >> i was at home when i got the call.

there's a young woman who was found murdered in her apartment. >> reporter: joseph madenspacher is the lancaster district attorney in 1992. >> i said, "i'll be there in 15 minutes." >> and we kept calling and calling and calling, and finally when somebody answered her phone at her apartment, they acknowledged themselves as being someone from law enforcement and that there's been an accident and she passed. >> reporter: what was your reaction when you heard that? >> devastated. >> reporter: officers begin to piece together what has just taken place. a horrific scene. christy dead on the floor, her head beaten, her jaw broken. she had been raped and strangled. >> i struggled for years with this. screaming, nightmares. >> reporter: she is still wearing her coat and gloves. >> it's not a great leap of faith to say she was going out the door. >> reporter: it is immediately clear to investigators that christy was in a violent

struggle for her life. >> her footprint was found on the top of the door, suggesting that she had perhaps been lifted up and that her foot would've hit at that height. >> we found scuff marks just inside the foyer area. >> i saw a cutting board. it was in the living room. which seemed relatively strange to me. >> initially, what is believed is that she may have grabbed the cutting board as a way to defend herself and then the suspect used that on her. >> reporter: in that scene of destruction, police are able to collect multiple samples of the killer's dna. and those christmas presents she had so meticulously wrapped the night before, are now strewn about the apartment. >> that has always, always, always haunted me. that there was her body, and close to it were these books that she had taken the time and put the thought into writing and for her kids.

>> the cause of death has been listed as strangulation. >> reporter: at christy's school, a classroom full of students is wondering why their teacher never showed up. assistant superintendent bob wildasin is there. >> we just knew that she was dead, that harry goodman was the one who discovered her. but it was just -- everyone was in shock about it. >> reporter: when 12-year-old christina butler gets off the bus that afternoon, her mother is waiting to break the news. >> it was just almost incomprehensible to us at that time. we didn't understand the magnitude of it. we knew she was gone and that was awful. but we couldn't grasp just how violent and scary it was at the time. >> who could this person be and why would this person do this to her? because she was just someone that everyone loved. >> reporter: who would do this? still ahead, a disturbing visit the next day from a mystery man

looking for christy at the school. >> i thought this was, perhaps, the killer. >> reporter: stay with us. is important to me so father being diagnosed with advanced non-small cell lung cancer made me think of all the things that i wanted to teach my kids. (avo) another tru story with keytruda. (roger) my doctor said i could start on keytruda so i did. with each scan things just got better. (avo) in a clinical study, keytruda offered patients a longer life than chemotherapy. and it could be your first treatment.

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or... you could just trust duracell. >> reporter: drive a few miles out of downtown lancaster, pennsylvania, and you will find some of the most bucolic farmland in the country. >> a lot of the farmla you will see buggies, you will see horse-drawn plows. >> lancaster has a very strong family feel. it's founded on strong faith. that draws people to this area, because they feel this sense of safety. >> reporter: that sense of

safety is shattered by the murder of 25-year-old schoolteacher christy mirack, just four days before christmas in 1992. her family is now planning her funeral. i understand that a priest at one point told you not to look at her. >> he said it was probably in our best interest not to view her. just remember how she was. >> reporter: the day after christy mirack's murder, teachers and students are mourning. >> we will continue our counseling center tomorrow. >> it was awful. i don't know how i got up in the morning and went in. but it was almost like it was my salvation to be able to get up and to go into school. >> reporter: her principal is griefstricken, but he's also under suspicion. >> he found the body, and those kind of people are automatic suspects right off the bat. >> reporter: as police launch their investigation, a

suspicious visitor shows up at christy's school, carrying flowers and heading for her classroom. >> i said, excuse me, may i help you? he said he's a good friend of christy's. and he just wanted to stop and say hi. which made me very, very suspicious. things just didn't make sense to me, that he didn't know anything about christy's death. at all. it was on the radio, tv. it was all over. you hear all those things about returning to the scene of the crime. i thought this was, perhaps, the killer. >> reporter: the assistant superintendent escorts him fro suspicious the next day, when the man calls wildasin at home. >> he heard we have counselors in the school and he wondered if he could avail himself to the counseling services. i said, no, he was not welcome in the school at all. >> reporter: the man turns out to be christy's secret boyfriend.

twenty years her senior, and married. >> there certainly was suspicion around him. >> reporter: those close to christy are convinced her killer must be someone she knows. she never would have opened the door to a stranger. i understand that she was a stickler for safety. >> yeah. it was always something she was very conscious of. when i went to her apartment to visit her, i'd knock, ring the doorbell, and she would make sure it was me before she'd open the door. >> reporter: police run the dna found at the crime scene through the national law enforcement database. but there is no match. investigators begin weeding through everyone she knows. >> she was very likable and had lots of friends, which meant lots of people to talk to. my god, at least 1,600 people were interviewed or something. >> they felt the suspect was someone who would not be the life of the party, more of an observer, on the sidelines.

>> reporter: ultimately both principal goodman and christy's married boyfriend provide airtight alibis and are cleared. the suspect list grows shorter and shorter. >> initially, we thought we had plenty of viable suspects. but when you start running out of them, you're running out of them. >> we were scared. who killed her? why couldn't our parents answer that question? >> her friends were extremely fearful. they didn't know if it was someone in their circle. >> reporter: weeks turn into months. months into years. >> day by day went by, went by, went by, and nothing. >> this case went on and on and on. nobody wanted to give up on it. >> reporter: just before the tenth anniversary of christy's murder, there is another blow. a devastating cancer diagnosis for her mom. >> it did not look like she was going to live much longer. and she wanted one last

opportunity to go public to see what she could do to remind people of her daughter. >> you can't help but have your heart break for her mother. >> reporter: she calls reporter barbara hough roda to give one final newspaper interview, pleading for answers. >> there was a sense of grief, but also a sense of hope. i think christie's mother knew that soon she would be with christie. and that was some small comfort for her. >> my mom, before she passed said, "don't let this go." >> what did you say to her? >> i won't. and i didn't. >> i absolutely did not give up hope that they would find who did this. sorry.

i felt like i couldn't give up hope. giving up hope would have been giving up on her and i couldn't do that. >> reporter: amazingly, the young student who lived through the trauma of losing her teacher is now all grown up and a reporter covering the cold case. >> this is the school where christy mirack or miss mirack, as she was known to her students, never showed up the day she was murdered. >> reporter: she says her teacher's murder influenced her decision to become a reporter. >> i think her death really did shape a lot of us in ways we didn't even know were shaping us. >> reporter: trying to keep his sister's case front and center, vince leases a giant billboard next to the highway. >> there's people out there that know stuff, we know they know stuff. >> it generated a lot of things. but there was nothing. never anything that was concrete

enough. >> i think it was the appropriate time to get some fresh eyes. >> reporter: flash forward, two decades after the murder, district attorney craig stedman's office takes over the cold case. >> we took the entire file and the evidence and started again from the ground up. >> reporter: coming up, a dna revolution allows them to stare into the face of a killer. what was it like to look at a sketch of a person who could potentially have raped and murdered your sister? and a break in another famous cold case would lead to a ough in this one.his one. t. win! game has 1-in-4 odds of winning instantly. so, you won't need luck. alright, free fries! don't miss your chance to win your share of over 100 million prizes.

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>> reporter: this past spring, another cold case becomes big news. >> the so-called golden killer. >> i was finishing eating dinner one night and i saw the case of the golden state killer. and i stopped and listened to that. >> they used a genealogy websi to connect him to the murders. >> and my first reaction was, "why can't they do something like that with christy?" >> reporter: across the country in california, a former actress and singer is also watching with keen interest. >> i'll have sup supervisor. >> reporter: her name is cece moore and she is now a genetic genealogist. she is also watching this story

with keen interest. you may have seen her on this show. >> you may be my father. >> reporter: helping foundlings, babies abandoned at birth, and adoptees find their biological parents. making family connections never thought possible. >> i love you. >> reporter: moore got hooked on genealogy when she researched her own family years ago. and although she didn't break the golden state killer case, her groundbreaking methods helped. she has received international recognition for her pioneering techniques. >> this was a different way of applying the science. it's not taught in schools, there's no degree you can get in genetic genealogy. there's no certification, you had to think outside the box and perhaps you needed some creativity, and i came from a creative background. >> reporter: moore has always known she could use her genetic genealogy skills to catch criminals, but she was reluctant. >> there were some bioethicists and legal experts that i expected to be against this and

i was very surprised after the golden state killer arrest that they were completely supportive. >> reporter: and she is now teaming up with a company called parabon nanolabs, who is already familiar with the mirack cold case. >> off the bat, we're talking a little bit of an older sample, 1992 -- >> level of mixture? >> they have over 600 nanograms. >> they've ruled out 60 men using dna. >> reporter: in 2017, the lancaster district attorney connects with parabon nanolabs, who are able to use an innovative technique to create a rendering of the suspect using dna found at the crime scene. months later, the composite is released to the public. >> for almost 25 years, the perpetrator has walked out there among us. he could be your neighbor, your friend, your co-worker. >> reporter: what was it like to look at a sketch of a person who could potentially be who raped and murdered your sister? >> it was gut-wrenching. i went through those images over and over with people i've ran

into in my lifetime, and people she knew. >> reporter: ultimately the sketch doesn't shake loose any viable leads. but now parabon has their new secret weapon, cece moore. could this dna detective help catch christy mirack's killer? >> i feel a real affinity to her, and so i'm thinking about her a lot and really keeping her right where i can see her. so, i'm always inspired to work hard on these, but i think it'll make me work even harder, if that's possible. >> it was a no-brainer at that point in time to go ahead and do that. this might truly be the last thing we can do for the case. >> reporter: in the mirack case, there was dna found both on the carpet and christy's body. cece moore and parabon convert that dna into a data file and upload it to a free, no-frills genealogy website called gedmatch designed to find genetic relatives. >> we just need a second cousin, third cousin, or closer to do so. >> reporter: they get a hit. the dna file matches up with several distant family members

of the killer. >> i built back to great grandparents for each of the second cousins and then i started building forward. i flipped that tree upside-down, do what i call reverse genealogy. i'm building forward in time, trying to find the right person in the right place with the right ancestral mix to be the subject. >> reporter: cece narrows her search down to a target family in lancaster of northern european descent. >> those top few matches i was working with led to a specific family in lancaster, pennsylvania, so i knew that the suspect was closely related to that family, but i didn't know how. i had to find the right person in that family. >> reporter: she also notices that the suspect has some latin american heritage. >> i was seeing a lot of people that shared dna with this suspect that had four puerto rican grandparents or eight puerto rican great-grandparents. i started digging into newspaper archives, and i came across an engagement announcement for the son of that target family.

it listed his father, who had a latin american name, and i thought, "aha. now we're getting close." there was an online magazine that had an interview with him, and it talked about how he loved to cook puerto rican food, because he was half puerto rican, and then i knew this was the guy. when i first identified him, i couldn't believe it was him. i said, "it can't be him. it can't be this guy." i went back and rechecked my work over and over again. >> reporter: cece's conclusion stuns district attorney craig stedman. >> this was big news. biggest break we may have had in the whole case and it turned out to be the biggest break we had. how long did it take you, from the time you started working on this case, to find that person? >> i think it took a couple of days. >> reporter: well, my mouth drops open, because this is a case that went unsolved for over 25 years. and it took you just a couple of days to find a real serious tip. >> genetic genealogy is incredibly powerful, and i've known that for a long time.

>> reporter: now it's up to law enforcement to confirm cece's findings by obtaining dna from the possible suspect and matching it to that dna from the crime scene. >> you don't want to walk up to a homicide suspect, particularly one this brutal, and just say, "hey, can you give us your dna?" so we made the plan to get his dna through surreptitious means. >> reporter: an undercover unit begins to stake out the suspect, trailing him as he enters this elementary school. they sit and wait for their moment. >> i was nervous waiting for reports about whether they got it, whether they didn't get it. he was observed using a kirkland water bottle and chewing gum. he threw them out, and these things that he threw out became the most valuable things for us. >> reporter: dna from that water bottle and chewing gum is rushed to the crime lab. after 25 years, police think they have their man. >> when we finally got the confirming dna, we wanted to arrest him pretty quickly. >> i was shocked because he seemed like such a normal person, a successful, talented

family man. >> reporter: when we come back, an arrest that would stun lancaster. the alleged perpetrator had been hiding in plain sight. >> he had been at liberty, enjoying his life after this terrible, brutal crime for longer than christy mirack was alive on the face of the earth and we wanted to get him. ♪ >> reporter: stay with us. resib. he needs insulinntrol his high blood sugar and, at his age, he's at greater risk for lows. tresiba® releases slow and steady and works all day and night like the body's insulin. (vo) tresiba® is a long-acting insulin used to control high blood sugar in adults with diabetes. don't use tresiba® to treat diabetic ketoacidosis, during episodes of low blood sugar, or if you are allergic to any of its ingredients. don't share needles or insulin pens. don't reuse needles. the most common side effect is low blood sugar, which may cause dizziness, sweating, confusion, and headache. check your blood sugar. low blood sugar can be serious and may be life-threatening.

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good afternoon, thanks for coming. i'm craig stedman, the district attorney in lancaster county. >> reporter: on june 25th, 2018, lancaster district attorney

craig stedman calls reporters together for a late afternoon press conference, but he doesn't tell them why. >> it was unusual that there would be this last-minute press conference. we knew it was something big. >> the managing editor and i turned and looked at each other, and at the very same time said, "christy mirack." >> reporter: unbeknownst to reporters, hours earlier, the man police believe savagely murdered christy mirack and eluded law enforcement for 26 years was arrested. tell me what it was like when you got the call from the d.a. >> i looked, and i saw a number, and my stomach turned. the number was in my cellphone, but i hadn't seen that number in years. they told me there's been a break in the case, and they made and arrest. >> reporter: what was that like? >> it was unbelievable. i took a deep breath and it just felt like all that stuff that was pushing on me for all them years just kind of fell away. >> reporter: vince immediately jumps in his car to make the two-hour drive to lancaster for the press conference. >> i was kind of blown away when

i walked into the room, because there was a big picture of christy sitting in the front of the room that kind of caught me off-guard. >> apologies for holding you up for a bit. this is a fluid situation and we just wanted have things organized before we spoke to you. >> i just felt like i could feel the energy from these investigators who have been at this case for so long. >> today we are announcing the arrest of raymond charles rowe for the murder of christy mirack from december 21st, 1992. >> reporter: the man police have charged with criminal homicide is raymond rowe. and now looking at that parabon sketch created from the dna at the crime scene, a chilling resemblance. >> it's just really interesting to see how close parabon gets. i mean, this is a younger picture which is closer to the age he was at the time of the murder. i mean, look at the shape face, i think that's right on.

>> reporter: most people know raymond rowe by a different name in this community -- dj freez. >> dj freez was not who anybody expected, at all. >> he is somebody who is very well known in the community. >> reporter: dj freez was many things in the lancaster community. a renowned dj, a business owner, a father, husband, and churchgoer. but now, a new adjective was being used to describe him -- murder suspect. he was one of the most sought-after wedding djs. this ad touts him as the best in lancaster. >> i think people would plan their weddings around his availability. >> if you wanted dj freez as your dj, you'd have to ask him as early as you could, because his schedule would be very busy. >> reporter: derek dienner has filmed numerous weddings where raymond rowe was the dj. >> bride and grooms connected to

him as a dj, because he made their wedding reception seem like a miami club. ♪ watching ray as a dj was pretty incredible. he was very precise and very focused. he could really build out music, almost as a conductor would. >> reporter: dj freez has been a fixture in this city since his late teens. he started making a name for himself breakdancing, which he spoke about in this documentary. >> i was breakdancing a lot all over town, and we'd go to different bars. we went to a place called tom payne's. we didn't know the name, we didn't know it was the chameleon club. >> reporter: the chameleon club, lancaster's nationally renowned live music venue. in the late 1990s he was the house dj there. and also an advocate against

violence, which now in hindsight has people's jaws dropping. >> ray rowe in 1992 was an organizer of an event called "stop the violence" and the idea was to encourage kids to move away from violence. this happened just a few months before the homicide of which he is accused of committing. >> reporter: he later talked about violence in that documentary. >> i'm not a violent guy. i'm a very nice guy. you know. >> reporter: rowe, the man accused of committing the christmastime murder, comes across as quite the family man on this christmas card of his own. >> recently, i don't know when, but he found god and found faith. he wouldn't necessarily talk about it publicly, but if you talked to him one-on-one, he would be very open about it. >> raymond rowe was the exact opposite of what everybody thought the killer would be like.

that fbi profile said somebody who keeps to themselves, who might not like attention. this is somebody who seeks attention, and thrives on it. it's the complete opposite. >> reporter: how is it possible, the successful business and family man allegedly committed this horrific crime? >> i'm shocked, but i'm not surprised. >> reporter: up next, we hear from a woman from dj freez's past. >> would it have happened to me if i had stayed? what would've happened? >> reporter: stay with us.

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>> reporter: lancaster, pennsylvania, a city coming to grips with the realization that the man accused of the horrific rape and murder of christy mirack has been living among them. he had played at their weddings, their kids' elementary school parties, their high school graduation dances. >> the arrest in ms. mirack's case was big. the fact that dj freez is accused of killing her, that made it off the charts. nobody saw that coming. >> when you started learning more about what his life was like, what was your reaction? >> i couldn't believe it, that this person, who supposedly committed this crime, is living his life the way he lived his life. still can't believe it. >> reporter: and a part of this that strikes me as ironic is, he spent all of his time in the middle of peoples' celebration of the milestones of their life. and yet, if he is the person that did this, he didn't give christy that same chance.

>> no, not at all. he was out there living his life longer than she lived her life, doing what he was doing. >> if raymond rowe did do this, it almost seems like he was taunting, or enjoying the fact that he got away with killing her. he wasn't hiding. >> reporter: for that tight-knit professional wedding community, it is utter disbelief. the dj and friend they have been working side by side with is now being charged with criminal homicide. >> i think everybody in lancaster was shocked by the news that ray was arrested and his dna was found, everybody knew him and his family. >> when i got the phone call that he had been arrested for this crime, i believe my first words were, "i'm shocked, but i'm not surprised." >> reporter: emily noble dated raymond rowe in 1996, four years after the murder of christy,

while they both worked at the chameleon club. noble looking eerily similar to mirack. >> i met him for the first time when i began waiting tables. cocktail waitressing, actually. he was sort of the house dj. he was very shy. everyone knew who he was, because he had made a good name for himself in our little small town. >> reporter: the two shared a love of rap music. a favorite, the sugar hill gang, one of the soundtracks for their courtship. ♪ >> when we first started dating, it was fun. it was exciting. it was dangerous. he was married. he was the cool dj. after we kind of had settled into our relationship, he became very jealous. he became very possessive. >> reporter: although emily said

he wasn't violent, he became controlling and emotionally abusive. >> would just quietly say, "you're worthless." those red flags started to come up more often. the insults, the putdowns, the controlling behavior. >> reporter: emily says rowe hated that she smoked and once caught her sneaking a cigarette. >> he caught me smoking, and sort of drug me back inside from outside, reading me the riot act. saying, "since you can't abide by the rules, you're gonna clean the kitchen floor." i felt horrible, i felt demeaned, i felt scared. >> reporter: emily says during an outing at red lobster celebrating mother's day with rowe's mother and his daughter, she showed up in an outfit that set him off. >> i had worn sandals with socks out to dinner, and that was something that he totally hated and he sent me to the car to sit in the car while everyone else had dinner.

i started thinking about how i was going to exit the relationship at that point. >> reporter: eventually emily moved away to new mexico. and when she got the call that rowe had been arrested decades after the relationship, it gave her chills. >> so then my mind went to why didn't it happen to me? would it have happened to me if i had stayed? i truly believe that his relationships with women were not healthy. >> reporter: so, was there a relationship between christy mirack and raymond rowe? it's a mystery everyone is trying to unwind. do you think she knew raymond rowe? >> i don't know. i mean, knowing her and talking about how secure she was, i just felt deep down inside that she knew the person some way or another. >> she was young, she went out with her friends. he might have been a dj at some place that they went to. >> reporter: investigators hope they will be able to piece together the connection before trial.

but even if they can't, they are feeling extremely confident about the dna evidence. >> the chances of a randomly selected unrelated person matching this were octillion, septillion, nonillion. i had never heard of those numbers. i am embarrassed to admit that. i had to look them up to see what they were. but the zeroes behind those were between, like, 24, 27 zeroes. octillion is 1,000 trillion trillion. i can't really conceive of that. >> reporter: rowe is being held without bail. his lawyer did not return "20/20"'s calls asking for comment. cece moore says cases like this should put potential criminals on notice. >> my greatest hope is that we'll start to work as a deterrent. if you're going to commit a violent crime like a rape or murder you're going to leave dna behind. and if you leave dna behind, we can find you. >> reporter: coming up next, an emotional surprise for the victim's brother vince.

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arduous 26-year journey for vince mirack. that's 26 christmases, 26 birthdays and hundreds of other life milestones without his radiant sister by his side. no matter what happens at the trial, nothing will erase that heartbreak. >> not having her for 25-plus years. i just want to have her back. obviously we know that's not gonna happen. but i just wish it could continue where it left off. those couple days before this all happened when i last saw her. the teacher that she was, the person that she was, a lot of people missed out on the opportunity that she had to offer to them. >> reporter: today, vince is getting the chance to meet that woman whose tireless determination led to the arrest in christy's case and provided him with a small measure of relief after all these years, cece moore. >> i recognize you. >> how you doing? >> good.

it's nice to see you. >> you, too. >> you look exactly like your picture. >> i hope so. thank you. it's been such a long time. i mean, a lot of people have worked hard on this. i don't doubt anything they did, but to find out that this is how we're going to find the person who did this is just amazing. and we thank you. >> let me say the investigators on this case were incredible. >> absolutely phenomenal. >> i was so impressed with them. they jumped through hoops. they care so much about this case and about you and your father and your sister and christy. >> they were really good. >> i felt really drawn to christy's case. she seemed like somebody that i would have liked.

>> there are other christy miracks, and other cases and families in anguish. >> reporter: and that is exactly why cece and parabon will continue to use genetic genealogy on other cold cases. >> i'm not getting very much sleep because it's hard to put aside these cases. i have dozens of cases waiting for me and it's hard to do anything else. >> reporter: her work with parabon has already led to breaks in ten other cold cases. one just earlier today. >> you can't help but think how many other families may finally get answers. >> reporter: and vince has a message for those families out there searching for those answers, who may be losing faith. >> stay positive and stay on top of it. don't give up. >> there have been times over the years that i have had dreams about christy. always somewhere at some point

in that dream she would say, "i'm okay." i never really got it but the more i put it together, i do believe that she just wants people to know that she's okay. >> the murder trial is expected to start next may. >> prosecutors are extremely confident, and will press for the death penalty. in the meantime, that's "20/20" for tonight. i'm david muir. >> and i'm amy robach. for all of us at "20/20" and abc news, have a great night. just hours from now the most controversiual supreme court nominee in recent memory is

expected to be confirmed. this is customizable str...whatever size.r family. it's saving money with flexible channel packs. live tv and the latest shows to stream. and all your streaming apps in one place - even netflix. this is how xfinity makes life. simple. easy. awesome. get started with xfinity internet and tv for just $34.99 a month for 12 months and customize by adding flexible channel packs.