i begged her for an ounce of her strength so i could put one foot in front of the other. >> tonight, on an all-new "20/20," an unbreakable bond between mother and daughter, but someone came between them. >> he's like, mom's dead and he just kept repeating, mom's dead, mom's dead. >> i ran downstairs and was hysterical. >> she was found right here. >> i said, well, you can go right over there, because that's the person that killed my mom. >> but just who was she pointing at? >> this is a delicate question, whether somebody that she was having an affair with could have had her killed. >> sure. >> he started thinking about ways to engage his exit strategy. >> to get rid of her? >> to get rid of her. >> he's coming out. >> tonight, a daughter's discovery of family secrets and scandals leading to a dramatic showdown. >> drop the gun! drop the gun.

>> behind the scenes, kim was nonstop digging, digging for answers, getting proof. >> now, we're taking you inside her obsessed six-year crusade to catch the killer. >> what kind of crimes? >> you're talking murder. >> "20/20" tonight going into a dangerous underworld no one could have imagined. >> drugs and a lot of money. inevitably, the murder. >> before this hour is over, there will be another shocking death, but is that the end of the story? >> this is my life. and i feel like this is the worst made for tv movie on the planet. >> good evening, i'm amy robach. >> and i'm david muir. and this is "20/20." and here tonight, deborah roberts. >> wivj, it's the talk of south jersey. >> driving the corridor between atlantic city and philadelphia, weekdays between the hours of 2:00 and 4:00, you may have heard this voice on wivg-fm.

>> if you don't vote, i'm dragging you outside. >> that's apr kauffman, a peppery, provocative radio host. >> i love being you the truth, as unvarnished, as unpretty as it is. >> tackling topics from politics to caring for u.s. vets. >> homelessness is a big issue in our country right now. >> listeners couldn't get enough of the jersey girl with the platinum hair and high wattage personality. >> she was a whirlwind. she would come in and she would make a lasting impression on everyone. >> in her upscale town of lin wood, new jersey, not far from the boardwalk, april and her husband are the community's consummate power couple. >> the two of them were well-known individually as well as together. they really wanted to be involved in the community. they also liked to have some fun.

>> every day, the doctor and mrs. kaufman had a familiar routine. jim, heading to his medical practice before sunrise, and then, a standing phone call with april at 8:30 a.m. but on thursday, may 10th, 2012, that call to april goes unanswered. and after several failed attempts, he sends over his handyman to their home on woodstock drive. where he discovers a horror. >> 911, where is your emergency? >> yes, i have -- my boss is down, she's lying on the floor in her bedroom and she's not answering me. >> okay, where are you, sir? >> 2 woodstock drive, lynnwoin . >> okay, hold on, i'm transferring you. >> 37-year-old april kauffman found dead on the floor of her bedroom.

with the family handyman on with 911, jim calls lin wood police. >> this is dr. kauffman. i just got a call that my wife is face down on the floor. >> we're sending people out. >> i'm getting there as far as i can. >> detectives took me inside the home where the socialite was found shot dead. >> she was found laying right here. >> face down? >> face down. >> as the media got there and they started to realize who it was, that's when they knew, okay, this is -- this is really a story. it was -- it was chaos. >> as the steady whir of helicopter blades hits the sky, jim makes another phone call, to his step-daughter, kim pack. >> i answer the phone. he said, kimberly? i said, yeah.

and he just kept repeat eging ms dead, mom's dead, over and over. i got there, i said, where's my mom, where's my mom? what is happening here? i need to see my mother. he said, we think this is a potential homicide. >> no one could imagine who would have shot april kauffman. beautiful, blond, glamorous, and she was fun. no one had any idea what was going on behind those closed doors. >> she made everybody feel like they were her best friend. didn't matter who they were, the checkout, the parking lot cart guy, you know, hey, beautiful, hey, handsome, how you doing today? >> friends peg and lee knew april since she was a teenager and knew her well enough to know that her outward glow masked an inner pain.

>> she had a really rough childhood. when april was 11, her mother gave her brothers and sister up for adoption and april was raised by her grandmother and her brothers and sister were put into foster care. >> you know, i think she had a thirst for feeling loved, she just wanted to be loved. >> she would discover unconditional love at 17, when she gave birth to kim with her first husband. >> she was an incredible mom. she seemed to just instinctively know what to do. >> she always spoke to kimberly like a little adult and we used to call her agnes. agnes beeswax. she was an old soul. april wanted the best for her and gave her the best that she possibly could. she worked hard. >> april dropped out of school when she became pregnant, but she got her g.e.d. she clawed her way back. she opened a salon, a catering

business, a cafe, a charity worker. >> but while april worked hard, she played hard, too. she liked motorcycles and fast cars? >> she did. when she got her first motorcycle, she said, i'll give you $300 to get on the back of my motorcycle, and i'm like, no way. she was like, all right, $500. no, i'm not getting on the back of your motorcycle. just the need for speed and wasn't afraid. >> after two failed marriages, she immediates dr. jim kauffman. friends and family say the wild child finally had found her match. >> he drives a harley, he's smoking cigars, she's a green beret in the military. a doctor. >> in fact, this caricature sketched for jim's 60th birthday seems to sum up the couple's life. there's april, the buxom jersey girl, overshadowed by her larger than life new husband, who is

depicted with a gun, big cigar and something else. military tattoos. >> he had purple hearts, he had medals, sharp-shooter medals that he had gotten from being in the war. ♪ war ♪ what is it good for ♪ absolutely nothing ♪ uh-huh >> the vietnam war. back when protest songs permeated the radio airwaves in the u.s. jim kauffman makes clear he distinguished himself on the battlefield. kim was so impressed, she asked her step-dad to be the subject of a college project. he agreed to be interviewed with some conditions. >> there were two rules to this interview. one, you can never ask my mother about this, anything pertaining to this interview, and two, you have to destroy the tape when you're finished. >> that's a little mysterious. >> yeah, but you know, i just thought, out of respect, this is what he's asking, he talked about how the viet cong had

ambushed his camp, stabbed him, but stabbed and left all of his comrades and left them for dead, and his soul mission, he had said, was to grab these dog tags and bring the dog tags to their families so they know what happened to their boys. >> that's an amazing story. >> yes. >> it's no wonder april was motivated to mount a campaign. using her radio voice to demand quality health care for veterans. >> this was such a big issue that affected our veterans, so, i will thank my husband for a lot of the things i've learned over the years. >> april felt that veterans should be treated like rock stars. >> so, how did this fierce and loved advocate for casualties of war become a casualty herself? kim has an idea, and approaches investigators with a shocking declaration. >> as i made my way out, i look

up in the air and there's all these news choppers flying up above. and i said, well, you can go right over there, because that's the person that killed my mom. >> stay with us.

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♪ ♪ (both) exhausted. but finally being able to make that volunteer trip happen was... awesome. awesome. you have to scrub. what do they... they use for washing. ♪ ♪ let's do it every year. we'll do it every year. i thought you'd say that - let's do it. ♪ ♪ see how investing with a j.p. morgan advisor can help you. visit your local chase branch. attended today's funeral services for 47-year-old april kauffman. >> mother's day 2012. the town of lin wood, new jersey, turns out for one of its own. complete with a core edge the of veterans leading their champion, april ufo t local radio host, who was shot multiple times and discovered dead in her lin wood

home last thursday. >> it was like a state procession for april kauffman. no one could leave what had happened. >> she just was so caring, so compassionate. she just was an inspiration to everybody. >> the loss heaviest for april's daughter kim. >> i miss her calling me nonstop, all the time. i miss her laugh. i muiss her smile. i miss her infinite wisdom, because she really was my rock. >> after the mourning came the murmuring. sometimes talk is cheap, even in wealthy towns. this is a delicate question, but there were questions about whether your mom was having affairs. >> you know, they had a very unhealthy relationship, the both of them, and i will just say that there were indiscretions on both sides of the fence and i'll leave it at that. >> did it concern you that maybe somebody that she had been involved with could have killed her? >> no, but i certainly provided

those people's names to the police. and i allowed them to do their due diligence. >> while the community's in shock and awash in rumor and innuendo, listen to this. april's final radio broadcast, where she sounds like a woman who thinks her days are numbered. >> and my bottom line is, if nothing else of my legacy of leaving, you know, a really beautiful daughter and two grandchildren on this planet, i really hope to god that people, you know, hey, i could get a flyover at my funeral now. >> you listen back to that, and you think, did she have a premonition? it's kind of like she was trying to tell us something, i believe. >> in those early days after her mom's death, there's one thing gnawing at kim. one person she's curiously not getting consolation from? her step-dad, dr. jim kauffman. >> dr. james kauffman was a very well-respected and well-regarded member of this community.

but to kim, step-father jim, was a very different person. >> he was very cold to me. always kept me at an arm's length. >> literally. just look at the pained body language in this video taken on kim's wedding day. >> one, two and three. there you go. >> take a close look. he steps into the scene, he smiles one time for the camera to flash, then he goes back to very taciturn demeanor. no warmth, no nothing. >> i would be talking to my mom in the dining room and he would turn the lights off and walk away. >> he would control her cash flow? >> oh, yes. sometimes calling her, where are you, who are you with? >> it seems the bloom was officially off the rose of her nearly ten-year marriage. kim recalling a lunch where her

mother confides she's had enough. >> she talked about that she really needed to start aligning herself and getting herself in a good spot to be able to leave. i think that he had made it clear to her that she wasn't going to divorce him and take half of his empire. that was his famous words. >> did you get any feeling that your mom might have been in any kind of danger? >> she had made it clear over the years that he had threatened to kill her several times. but would always follow up with, he doesn't have the guts to do it. >> though jim is not named a suspect, some might say he begins acting like one. >> within days of april's body being found, jim hires a lawyer. >> not only a lawyer, but the lawyer, a mob lawyer. >> ed jacobs, one of the biggest legal names in atlantic county. he's even defended bill cosby in one of his sex assault accusations. >> he loves defending high pro file criminal cases. his walls in his office are

covered with news clips of himself. >> one possible reason he's not named a suspect? he's got an airtight alibi.alib. that's him enters a local convenience store around the same time his wife is being gunned down. >> authorities are not releasing details, but it appears kauffman's shooting death was not random. >> i meet him in a restaurant, and he says, let me tell you something, i have a very good attorney and i've been advised to not speak to anybody about this. he's like, you might need to really start to realize that this is never going to be solved. and i said, well, i'm not going to realize that, i said, because, i will never stop finding out, and i walked away and i never spoke to him ever again. >> as the months drag on, kim says the only could shoulder icier than jim's is the one she's getting from then atlantic county prosecutor mcclain. >> he would just say it was active and open and not say much more. >> did you get the impression that he was determined to get to the bottom of this?

>> no, no. >> then, on the one-year anniversary of april's murder, many turn out for a candlelight vigil, including so many vets she made her cause. noticeably absent? dr. jim kauffman. he marks the milestone another way. >> we discovered that he was getting ready to auction off all of april's belongings, and hadn't given anything to kim. >> how crushing was that for you? >> beyond, because the things that i asked for, that belonged to my mother, were family heirlooms or possibly -- disney coffee mugs. >> with her mother and all those mementos lost, kim tries to adjust to a new normal, while raising her two young sons and holding down her job as a pharmaceutical sales rep. >> marching through every single day, waking up with another day of hopelessness while trying to keep that glimmer of hope alive is a very tricky thing to do. >> yet, while life for kim seems hopelessly on pause, for jim

kauffman, it's full speed ahead. just 15 months after his wife's murder, he ties the knot again. >> he remarries. carol weintraub. when did that start? now, the version we've gotten is that they started dating after april was found murdered. now, that's some romance. >> april's friends and family were devastated, and they felt like it with us a slap in the face, but the people who support jim kauffman said, you know, he's a widow, and he's moving on with his life. >> but dr. kauffman's next move sets off a chain of events that takes kim out of limbo. >> he went after my mom's life insurance policy. >> your reaction? >> no way. >> this is the only attempt to get some answers and the truth would start to comw,'skis turn lawyer up. believing jim is the killer, she files a wrongful death suit against her step-dad to keep him from getting her mom's $600,000

life insurance policy. >> i have no choice but to respond and to begin to fight for what i know is right. >> the most significant kind of civil lawsuit you can have is a wrongful death case. coming up, a daughter undaunted, and the dynamic duo attorneys she hires begin digging into the case. and what they say they uncover is shocking. >> we were talking to people that were critical witnesses, to us, that had not spoken to the prosecutor's office. >> and their chance to grill the grieving good doctor. >> he was under oath in a civil deposition, they could ask him anything. >> next.

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♪ miss america >> but the boom and the bust of the casino industry has made america's favorite playground a hot bed for crime, corruption and a startling number of unsolved cases. cases like april kauffman's. but kim pack and her dogged attorneys, patrick and andrew d'arcy, drill down, determined to get answers. >> behind the scenes, kim, with us, was nonstop digging, digging for answers. getting proof. we were on an island, all on our own. >> but the tide may be turning. >> i grew up on the beaches and the boardwalk of atlantic city and i always say i have sand in my shoes. >> meet damon tyner. son of one of atlantic city's fabled firefighters and a long-time cop. your dad was a bit of a legend. >> yeah, he was very well-known throughout the community. >> but the younger tyner made a name for himself as a superior court judge.

>> good to see you. how you making out? so, they named a pizza for me. >> i think right here? >> yeah. that would be me. >> and then, last year -- >> i, damon g. tyner -- >> became the first black prosecutor in the county's history. >> so help me god. >> congratulations. >> many seeing him as the city's much-needed savior. >> doing a great job, man. >> thanks a lot. >> you all right? no, i'm not judge anymore. good to see you. >> that man's cleaning up a.c. >> there you go. >> you took a pledge when you took the office. tell me about the pledge. >> dating back to 1970, there are about 140 unsolved homicides. i urged my executive staff to tell me which cases were most solvable. unanimously, they all came back to me and said, the murder of april kauffman. >> but tyner is sworn in almost five years after april kauffman's murder. five long years. >> a lot of people wondered why five years passed and no recognizable work had been done.

>> it wasn't that there were glaring mistakes, it was just an omission of effort, you might say. >> we wondered about that, and tried asking former prosecutor jim mcclain about the investigation. his spokesperson tells "20/20" mcclain has no comment. >> fortunately, damon tyner became prosecutor and his team came to the conclusion that this case should be prosecuted. >> for the first time, someone is listening here. >> tyner agreed to meet kim pack and her lawyers within that first month. what did that mean to you? >> the fact that i was lucky enough for him to say, i'm going to take a second look at this. me, my case? thank you. like, this is all i've been asking for. this entire time. is for someone to care. >> it took three hours for kim's lawyers to unpack all they had uncovered. >> you should take a look at these records. >> but no evidence as compelling or illuminating as this -- >> today is july 11th, 2014.

>> a four and a half hour-long video deposition of jim kauffman himself. finally talking for that wrongful death lawsuit kim has filed. >> i ask the questions, you give the answers. understood? >> yes. >> four and a half hours under oath is a lot of time. it's a lot of questions. >> i do. >> good. we may proceed. >> that was the first time he could be compelled to talk. >> there he is, in the hot seat for the very first time. getting grilled on everything from his love of guns -- >> how many guns do you own? >> approximately 18. >> to the moment he first saw his wife lying lifeless on the floor. >> i ran upstairs, i looked and saw it and unfortunately saw april lying there. and she wasn't moving and she had a pallor, which i've known for 30 years, is obviously that someone has passed away. and i ran downstairs and went out on the lawn and was

hysterical and started vomiting. >> okay, do you have tissues, by the way? >> i have them. >> do you need to -- >> no. >> when i look at a deposition, i sometimes turn the sound down. i don't want to hear what they're saying. i want to see what they look like and what their facial expressions are. he struck me as a manipulative guy. >> but there's a barrel-sized bombshell about to drop. the doctor's casual and stunning admission about a secret he's been keeping for years. seems that time he spent in the special forces wasn't so special. >> have you ever served in any branch of the military? >> no. >> that's right. dr. kauffman forced to come clean about his so-called stellar military record. those purple hearts? those sharpshooter medals? all lies. >> did you ever tell kim pack you were in the military? >> yes. >> did she ever do a project for

college and part of the project was you being in the military? >> yes. >> and what you went through? >> yes. >> and that you carried bodies? >> yes. >> and the torture that you had gone through -- >> yes. >> did you ever tell anyone that you were a green beret? >> yes. >> who did you tell? >> i don't recall how many people i told. >> so, he created this background that didn't even really exist. >> that is correct. once you start examining someone who is bold enough to engage in stolen valor, you start realizing that there are other aspects to this man's life that would require us to investigate. >> but in that deposition, dr. kauffman has his own theories about who may have killed his wife. >> who do you think did it? >> i thought it could be someone who was one of the veterans. the last choice was that it was someone in a motorcycle gang. >> what motorcycle gang? >> the pagans.

>> the pagan motorcycle gang? remember, april had a penchant for motorcycles. could that mean she was in deep with the kind of people known for violent behavior? >> the pagan outlaws are the equivalent of the hell's angels. they are felons of the most dangerous sort. coming up, a stunning turn in the kauffman case. >> no, i'm going to kill myself. >> leading to a standoff in the garden state. >> drop the gun! >> no, i'm not going to jail for this. >> put the weapon down. >> no. >> stay with us.

♪

we're on the beat with the lead detective determined to crack a big case for atlantic city's new prosecutor. >> was happy when prosecutor tyner came in and he allowed us to work on a case and investigate it like we believed it should be. >> meanwhile, kim and her lawyers keep their eye on what they believe is the prize, jim kauffman. using his pictures on social media as incentive. >> i would get a picture of jim kauffman and carol at the final four and, you know, smiling and i would put it on my brother's screen, so they when he came in in the morning, that would be the first thing he'd see is a picture of jim kauffman saying, yeah, so what, i killed her, what are you going to do about it? >> but there's an unexpected canary in kauffman's coal mine. it's coming in the form of a tip from the fbi. the feds believe kauffman may be involved in another unrelated crime. >> lo and behold, another investigation related to

insurance fraud, his role as a doctor, comes up. >> investigators get a warrant to search his office. >> so, they show up at kauffman's clinic, just to look at his records. >> on june 13th, 2017, we attempted to serve a search warrant at dr. kauffman's office here. >> within minutes, it's clear this will not be a routine visit. >> detective with the prosecutor's office. i met you last week. just stay right here. keep your hands off -- >> no, no. >> what does he do instead of ushering them in, as most of us would with the feds? no. he grabs a .9 millimeter ruger. >> you can see him and hear him refusing to let authorities inside. >> dr. james kauffman, he has a weapon. drop the gun! drop the gun. >> for 45 minutes, there's a heart-pounding standoff. >> drop the gun. >> at one point, dr. kauffman

threatening to take his life. >> i'm going to kill myself. >> it sure seems like jim thinks they're there in connection with april's murder. >> listen, let's talk. >> i'm not going to jail for this. >> we got movement. >> finally, a hostage negotiator gets the disgraced doctor to surrender. >> dr. kauffman, please step out to the curb. now slowly, reach down and pull your shirt up. keep walking backwards. >> watch the building. to make sure there's no one else still inside. >> this video changes everything. >> the husband of a murdered south jersey radio host and advocate is behind bars following an early morning standoff. >> investigators say that same day, they seized more weapons from kauffman and at least $100,000 in cash. >> that was a game changer. >> after the standoff with jim kauffman, he goes to jail, not for murder, but for weapons charges. he fights to try to get out, the judge would not let him out, based on his conduct, and that

gives the new prosecutor, tyner, a chance to really dig into the murder case. >> starting with the crime scene. >> so, this is the house here. the bedroom that april was found is upstairs. >> but the biggest break in the case doesn't come from inside this house at all. >> we knew dr. kauffman, that there was a point in time that he was inquiring about having her killed. >> how did you find that out? >> we were able to get a witness to cooperate with us this past november, that broke the case. >> and who was that witness? a former member of the pagans motorcycle club. remember them? they're the ones dr. kauffman had pointed the finger at in his deposition. >> the last choice was someone in a motorcycle gang. >> what motorcycle gang? >> the pagans. >> but now, the tables have turned. one of those pagans ratting out kauffman, and not just for murder.

prosecutor tyner on january 9th, 2018. >> hey, sergeant. >> hello, sir. >> good afternoon, everyone. my name is damon g. tyner. >> at a press conference, tyner lays out the case of an elaborate and secret double life that dr. jim kauffman was leading. treating patients by day, writing fraudulent opioid prescriptions for those pagans by night. >> they would come in and be patients, and all of a sudden, you had a prominent endocrinologist that was prescribing opioids and all kinds of other painkillers. when that wasn't quite his practice. >> he's got the power of the prescription, and they've got the gang activity. >> essentially, they were flooding the market with opioids and selling them at a marked up price. >> what a bombshell. this straight-laced doctor that everyone had respected was part

of a pill mill, a drug ring? not outlaw motorcycle gang? and april kauffman found out. >> found out and, according to tyner, threatened to expose his secret, seedy double life. >> he started thinking about ways to engage his exit strategy. >> to get rid of her? >> to get rid of her. >> for the past five and a half years, since april kauffman was found shot to death, there's been little movement on this case, and no arrests have been made in connection with the murder, that is, until today. >> an explosive breakthrough in the murder of radio host april kauffman. >> murder charges just filed against dr. james kauffman in a plot that police say involve members of a motorcycle gang. >> but wait a minute, didn't have doctor have an air-tight alibi? remember that early morning stop at a convenience store?

tyner says kauffman wasn't the shooter, that he paid one of those pagans roughly $20,000 to do his dirty work and kill his wife. >> he went inside and he shot april kauffman twice. >> and ironically, that alleged hitman died a year and a half after april's murder of an opiate overdose. his pills prescribed by -- you guessed it, dr. jim kauffman. >> when i heard the details of everything, it really -- really was unbelievable. i feel like this is the worst made for tv movie on the planet. >> the prosecutor worries dr. kauffman could be targeted by pagan members in jail, so, they move him upstate to the hudson county correctional facility, as they begin gearing up for their first major trial. finally, a chance to close one of those atlantic county cold

cases. but then, another shocking turn. >> dr. james kauffman, dead. officials with the hudson county correctional facility confirm that he died at 9:20 this morning. >> what was your reaction when you heard this? >> i was stunned. >> the story started off terrible and is ending terrible. >> dr. jim kauffman, dead. but how? were you worried that he could be hurt in prison? >> that's always a concern. >> will justice ever be served? stay with us.

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it's been a long, strange trip for dr. jim kauffman. from a plush suburban cul-de-sac to the hudson county jail. his new home, a six by nine-foot cell like this. >> so this is unit -- >> this is charlie 500 east. >> the guys here are -- >> maximum security. >> the inmates were considered violent and dangerous, as dr. james kauffman awaited his trial just across the river in new york city. what kind of crimes? >> you're talking murder. >> it's rare to get a look inside these tight quarters, unless you're an inmate. but corrections officers agreed to take us in, recalling that fateful morning. just after serving dr. kauffman breakfast, they made a grim discovery. the doctor was dead, hanging himself with a laundry cord. >> i was stunned. but that, in retrospect, that's what convinces me now more than ever that he understood that the end was near. >> he realized it had all caught up with him? >> yes, i think so.

>> bottom line, he had his wife murdered and the only way out for him was suicide. >> kauffman did leave something behind in that jail cell. this note obtained by "20/20." >> even in that jail cell, when he killed himself, he had to write this very lengthy suicide note, to be in control at the very end, to get the last word. >> kauffman adamant that he didn't kill april. >> i cannot live like this. i -- no matter what anybody says -- did not do anything to my life. >> the six-page suicide note is bizarre. >> throughout the note, he quotes latin, including phrases that roman gladiators would say to the emperor before they fought in the coliseum. really? >> his final words do add a surprisingly new angle to the sordid saga.

>> april came to me and said, would i like to go to a motorcycle rally to meet some of her friends? i was slightly shocked to say the least, that they had the colors of pagans. >> the most important thing that jim kauffman wants people to take away from this note is, i didn't kill april, she introduced me to this outlaw gang. i was prescribing pills. they then got aggressive with me, they then started threatening me and they're the ones who killed april. >> were you able to determine whether april had any involvement with either the gang or the pill mill? >> our investigation at the time did not lead us to believe that she had any involvement. i believe that at some point, she became aware of it. i think ultimately, that's the reason why she was killed. >> but dead men tell no tales, at least not in court. and with both that alleged hitman and jim kauffman deceased, tyner's last call for justice would rest with the case

against the accused pagan ringleader, who he believes conspired with kauffman to kill april. just weeks ago, that case unfolded in a new jersey courtroom. it took a jury less than two hours to find freddy augello guilty of all counts in connection with the murder of april kauffman. a painful conclusion for a grieving daughter, yet a measure of solace. kim pack may finally find the justice she's been seeking for years. why do think this case wasn't solved six years ago? >> i don't know. that's the million dollar question. but what i do know is that i was blessed and granted the ability to have peace in my life for the first time in six years by a man with determination and that believed in my story, and that is damon tyner. and i am forever grateful to that man. >> though in a tale as twisted and tragic as this, there's hardly any true closure.

>> and that's the saddest part of this entire story. her mom's still not coming back. when everything is quiet and it's just kim and she's alone and she's thinking, her best friend's gone. >> we were robbed. and for what? i still don't have the answer to that. for what? when we come back, one of those precious family heirlooms sold at auction has been recovered. the secret message from beyond the grave found inside, next.

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♪ kim pack doesn't just resemble her mom, she's inherited the same passion that made april kauffman so beloved.

>> she's like a pit bull. >> she is. >> she latches on and she's not letting go until she get what she's looking for. >> she's a mini april. >> there's been dark days. very dark days, where i just didn't know how i was going to do this. but i knew that i needed to stand up. this story needed to be told. >> but in that darkness, something special. remember when jim sold off all of april's belongings? turns out, lee and peg, dubbing themselves april's angels, swooped in. >> these women got together and they were on the phone calling people, raising money, to be able to buy back things that belonged to my mother. >> so, that's how you got the last remnants of your mom's things? >> yes. and my mom collected these little things, and this was the first item that i touched from

the auction, and inside, this note that says, "to kimberly, from mom. whenever you look at this, you know you're always loved. you're so special. best wishes for the rest of your life." >> and you had no idea that note was there? >> no. and i feel like this was meant to be. i feel like i was meant to have this. i keep this by my bed. it reminds me that my mom is with me all the time. >> out in the community, other reminders. >> my husband and my boys got this bench dedicated for her. it's special, because it's a spot that we stop and my kids will bring up a memory or they will talk about her. >> and if mom could say just one more thing to her daughter? >> i think she would say to me now, you can breathe. you can go on and live. you don't have to be sad anymore. and -- thank you for fighting.

>> a fighter to the finish. remember, kim pack's civil case to get her mother's life insurance? >> we can report tonight that her attorney now says that's been amicably settled with kauffman's widow. that is "20/20" for tonight. i'm david muir. >> and i'm amy robach. from all of us here at abc news and "20/20," good night. they survived four days stuck in snowgy wilderness

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