that does it for me today. be sure to follow the show on twitter, tiktok, and instagram, and you can now listen to every episode of the show as a podcast for free. follow the show and listen anytime on the go. we will be back here next sunday at noon eastern but stay where you are because there is much more news on msnbc ahead. . this is dateline. it has been a mystery for more than 30 years. who took amy?

now investigators are opening their files to us. >> this is more like your ted bundy guy. >> and you'll get the chance to have help crack this case. >> there is still a killer out there and somebody has to know something. hello, and welcome to dateline. never stop investigating until the mystery is solved. that is the mission of detectives determined to crack the kidnapping case of 10-year- old amy. there are many clues and the trail of evidence has not grown called. the police have decided

to do something rare, ask your help to answer a burning question. here is josh mankiewicz with what happened to amy. >> you see here, these are all boxes of leads and they're all numbers. the first week we got this case going down to will pass 10,000 leads. >> marks but so was a patrol officer here in ohio when amy mihaljevic disappeared. he worked the case for decades along with a team of investigators including detective jay hellish and fbi agent phil. i know it goes against your creed to be opening up the evidence locker and be showing evidence to reporters. >> we feel the benefit would be to show people what we have and what we are looking for. >> will remind anybody about

anything involving evidence from back then? >> there is one missing piece of the puzzle and somebody could bring that to us. even now we are happy to get it. >> it is a piece they have been searching for ever since october 27th. the day amy's mom came home from work to find her daughter missing and called everyone in the neighborhood. >> and she sounded different? >> hysterical. is amy there? is amy there? please tell me if amy is there. no, she's not. i'm sorry. where is she? why are you looking for her? she never came home from school. she never came home from school. i don't know what to do. >> it is a day amy's father, mark, has lived with for more than 30 years. >> talking to a customer or

somebody oh, you are amy mihaljevic 's father. i still get that today. >> and what do people say? >> oh, i'm so sorry to hear that. i did not realize you were amy's father. one thing i try not to do is never answer no. i am amy's father. >> it is a day these investigators have poured over for decades. here is what they have learned, and what they want you to know about the day amy mihaljevic disappeared. october 27th, 1989. >> she went to school about 7:20. she rode her bike from her home. usually she writes with a friend. on this particular day, she did not. >> one of the friends amy normally rode with was kristy

sabo. i remember her being really sweet and really fun. she was also my first friend, my first sleepover. >> and you guys were inseparable? >> yeah, we were. >> kristi's home was just a few streets over from amy, who lived in this quiet cul-de-sac with his her mother, her dad and her big brother, jason. >> it was a town where everybody knew each other growing up. you know your neighbors. it was a place where everybody learned how to ride bikes. >> amy made the short trip to school. she parked her bike in the rack and headed in. that day, amy was wearing black boots along with turquoise earrings shaped like horses heads. you can see them in these drawings, just normal school kid items that you can see would become vitally important in the months ahead. at 7:45 a.m., the bell rang. amy began her day in the fifth

grade gifted class. she was a good student and love to read. here she is giving a book report. >> they are trying to get to their aunt's house because the mom left them. >> amy adored animals, especially horses and her dog, jake, and wanted to be a vet when she grew up. she also loved to draw and for her dad, mark. >> how old was she? >> probably fourth-grade, maybe. >> i like how she signs it, amy mihaljevic . like otherwise you won't know who it is. >> she was very accomplished for her age. kristin came in with this little girl and said this is my new best friend, amy mihaljevic and i said well , hi, amy.

how are you? >> and with that, you're kind of amy's second mom. >> oh, absolutely. i adored amy. >> during one of amy's classes that day, a young patrol officer visited the school to give a talk about safety. amy sat there and listened along with her friend, kristy. >> if somebody calls you, don't go with somebody who calls you. don't go with somebody in a car you don't know. >> amy was there for that. that young officer, mark's battle rose through the ranks to become chief of police. you have to have looked back on that talk to your students. >> i do. i do and it is one of those things, you know, it is something else i could've said? >> lunchtime. up to this time it had just been a regular day at school than in the cafeteria, amy mentioned

something to one of her friends. >> in talking with her friends, we learned that amy had received a call or calls from a male who wanted to take her to go buy a present from her mother who had received a promotion at work and that they were going to go to the mall with $45 and buy this gift. >> did she say the man had told her to keep this a secret? >> that secret would become the focus of intense investigation for the next 30 years. >> lured by the chance to surprise her mom, amy heads out to a strip mall and into a trap. coming up >> she didn't say anything out of the ordinary that day? >> no. >> she is seen walking down toward that shopping center and walking with a purpose. >> the kidnappers plot is set in motion. >> 210-year-olds that saw this both describe that a male walked up to her, engaged her in conversation. he looked away and when they looked back, amy was gone.

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>> just before noon on the day she disappeared, amy mihaljevic told a friend during lunch at school that she had a secret , a man had called her at home, she said, and offered to take her shopping to buy a surprise present for amy's mother. amy was going to meet the man

after school. her brother, jason, knew none of this. >> she didn't say anything about that guy? >> she didn't say anything out of the ordinary at all. >> i remember walking by her classroom that day and looking in her classroom. i saw amy. that was the last time i saw her. >> after school, which ended at 204 in the afternoon, instead of riding her bike home like she normally would, she walked with a couple of friends to bay square. bay square is a very small kind of strip mall shopping area that is only a quarter-mile from the middle school, so kids would often walk from the middle school to the bay square. there was a baskin-robbins ice cream store there. >> fbi agent phil torsney. >> she is seen walking down. that shopping center as if she is walking with a purpose. >> amy walked to the plaza with another little girl and mentioned the man to her. that girl later told kristy

about the conversation. >> she told me that amy told her i'm going to meet a friend, and she thought nothing of it. like okay, have fun. i'm going shopping with one of my friends. >> she would have just walked down the sidewalk year to the plaza, to the right. >> detective jay ellis retrace the few steps amy took that day. >> so she would've felt safe walking over here and hanging around. >> very safe. a lot of kids from the middle school would've been here. >> it two 2 p.m., she was waiting here. >> two kids saw her. they described that a male approached her and engaged her in conversation. they looked away and when they look back she was gone. the 210-year-olds who saw this,

helped provide a composite drawing of the individual they saw. >> these are the composite sketches based on descriptions from 210-year-olds who each had different memories of the man. they were widely circulated, and came to symbolize the face of amy's abductor. the police want you to know they may not be entirely accurate. >> these were done by recollections of a couple 10- year-olds who were standing at opposite ends of the shopping area down here and down here with amy standing in the middle. >> investigators believe the man is a white with a medium build, who was 30 to 35 years old at the time. he would be about 60 to 65 years old today. >> you want to hear about anybody, even if they don't match the sketch? >> even if they don't look like that man. that is correct. >> police say the man was somehow able to gather enough information about amy to get her to trust him. >> that is a key to figuring

out who did it, what is his method of operation that he is able to identify the the mother with enough information to use her employer's information, and also know the child's name. >> however the man did it, it worked. amy walked off with him willingly, right in front of everyone. the spot where amy was taken was directly across the street from where the police station was, barely 500 feet away. this was mark mark spaetzle's view from his office window. >> amy was standing right down the sidewalk there when she was last seen. >> you literally could have seen it happen if somebody had been looking out the window at that moment. >> yeah. >> just after 3:00 that afternoon, amy's big brother jason got home from school and noticed amy was not there.

>> i walk in the door or she would have normally been, the tv room, watching tv or doing homework, sort of notice that she was not around so i looked at the house, looked in her room, made a phone call to my mother about where is she. >> the mother, margaret, was at her job working for a local newspaper called trading times. she was not too concerned because amy had told her earlier that she would be at choir practice that afternoon. >> i hang up and go back to doing my own homework, whatnot. >> not long after that conversation, another phone call would become one of the most haunting moments in the case. >> at 3:30, margaret gets a phone call from amy. margaret assumed that call came from home? what did margaret say? >> just good to have you home, make sure you get a snack, or something like that. there was no sense of urgency. >> in that moment, margaret did

not realize that phone call, at the time almost to routine for her to remember, would be a call she would never forget. >> coming up >> when amy calls her mother she does not appear upset. there is no indication anything is wrong. >> that phone call from amy did not come from home. >> you let amy call her mom. i mean, he is taking a huge chance. >> he is willing to take risks. he can come across as charming and ingratiating, more like your ted bundy guy. >> correct, intelligent, but will commit a heinous crime. it is a very unusual pairing. >> when dateline continues. ng. >> when dateline continues. with my coworkers. good for you, shingles doesn't care. because no matter how healthy you feel, your risk of shingles sharply increases after age 50. but shingrix protects. proven over 90% effective, shingrix is a vaccine used to prevent shingles

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at 3:30 p.m. on the day she disappeared, amy mihaljevic called her mom to check in, the way she always did, even though she was, at that moment, with her kidnapper. >> when amy calls her mother, she does not appear upset. there is no indication anything is wrong. there are no red flags up. she doesn't say anything to her mother. >> that shows an astonishing amount of daring and planning by that man. he is taking a huge chance and yet, he goes ahead and lets amy call her mom.

you have no idea how that conversation is going to go. >> he is willing to take risks, but risks he is comfortable with, and people do that when they plan things out. >> suggesting that he knew that if amy's mom received a phone call, she would not start looking for her right away. >> right. and he bought himself also some time to make sure amy still felt comfortable. >> police do not know where amy was when she made that call, because back then, local calls within an area code were not even logged. we do know this. amy was in the hands of a calculating and devious planner. >> we are talking about somebody who is intelligent and yet will commit a heinous crime. it's a very unusual pairing. >> fbi agent phil torsney wondered if amy might have called from the westgate mall, which was about six miles from the shopping plaza where amy was last seen. >> it is very likely during the initial part of the subduction,

she is still shopping. >> phil torsney says a woman gave a detailed description of a little girl who looked like amy in the westgate mall that day between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m., roughly one hour after amy was taken. she said the girl was with a man. >> it was really her walking through a food court into a mall with a white male. >> now, police want to know if anyone out there remembers seeing anything similar at the westgate mall that day. and even though this is 30 years old, you're kind of hoping somebody remembers them. 5:30 p.m. is when amy's mother returned home from work and realized amy was not there. she raced to the school and to a horrifying sight. her daughter's blue bike was still parked in the rack. >> we immediately took it at

face value that the child was missing. >> amy's dad, mark, arrived home from work to a chaotic scene. >> margaret was running around the house, you know, amy is not here. >> could you tell something was wrong? this was not margaret overreacting? >> no, this was the real thing. >> mark shook his family dog and went right out to search for amy himself. >> he took down to the shopping center and tried to find amy. >> and amy rushed to the local tv station with amy's class photo and i said look, i'm not leaving until you put this picture on, and i didn't leave until they put the picture, and i drove in the yard. i heard this primal scream. margaret was screaming because she saw amy's picture on the television. >> and realized, all of a sudden, she is that moment this

is that kid. >> yes. she did. she was heartbroken. >> amy had been missing for about five hours in the company of a man who had lured her with lies, a man who had meticulously planned the whole thing. who was he? investigators have an idea about his profile and now, they want you to hear it, too. >> that is another thing you want viewers to think about, is who was around back then who liked kids, could get kids to trust him, is a planner, is manipulative, and is methodical and not impulsive. >> all those things. manipulative is the key, and may be able to interact socially with other people. some of the people that are

like this, people even find them somewhat charming. >> so, you are not looking for some frightening freak. this is more like your ted bundy type. this is somebody who can come across as charming and ingratiating. >> correct. >> as the sun began to set that october 9th, amy's parents hunkered down, desperately hoping to hear from their daughter. >> they had a wall phone in the kitchen and that is were margaret slept that night, right underneath that phone on the floor. >> the long night passed, and the call margaret longed for did not come. >> coming up -- >> we want to know if anybody else out there, any children in this age group had received similar phone calls. >> was amy the only target? >> the person on the phone introduced themselves as my mom's boss, by name. >> two women speak from the

shadows. >> there had to be a moment when you thought to yourself, this could be me on the posters. >> when dateline continues. >> when dateline continues. the other side of the rest stop. bundles as far as the eye can see. if you're looking for a first mate, i know a guy. me. i'm the guy. is this oak? [ sniffs ] four types of jerky. this is where i live now. you could save a ton with progressive by bundling your boat or rv with your home and auto. hey, guys! free bags! they're just giving them away! with a majority of my patience with sensitivity, i see irritated gums and weak enamel. sensodyne sensitivity gum & enamel relieves sensitivity, helps restore gum health, and rehardens enamel. i'm a big advocate of recommending things that i know work. some luxury creams just sit on top of skin. but olay goes 10 surface layers deep. our clinically proven hydration beats the $500 cream. to strengthen my skin for smoother, brighter results.

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welcome back to dateline. i am andrea canning.

amy mihaljevic 's mother spent all night by her phone, hoping to hear that her daughter was safe. that call never came. police were now searching for both amy and her kidnapper, a man believed to be intelligent, manipulative, and possibly well practiced. turns out amy may not have been the first little girl on his wish list. back to josh mankiewicz, with what happened to amy. >> we have called everyone we know. >> the day after amy mihaljevic was taken, her parents went on tv asking for help. >> just bring her, tell her to come home. whatever is wrong, whatever is wrong, tell her to come home. >> anybody who has seen her get into a vehicle, i think that would help quite a bit. >> detectives pushed forward with their investigation, looking for any information about the man who had called amy at home. >> we want to know if anyone else out there had received similar phone calls. >> they sent out a letter to thousands of local students and received a frightening response

. in the months before amy disappeared, two young girls living in a neighboring town received calls almost identical to amy's. police believe the girls may have actually spoken with amy's kidnapper. those two girls are now grown women. all these years later, they have asked us to shield their identities, a measure of the lasting damage this crime has inflicted on so many. they still wonder if that man is out there watching. >> the person on the phone introduced himself as my mom's boss, by name. >> you knew your mom's boss's name? >> we are calling this woman pam. she was just 10 years old when the man called her. what did he want? >> he expressed that my mom was getting a promotion. he was excited about it, and he was not sure what to get her

for a gift, and they wanted it to be a surprise and he wanted to pick me up after school to go pick something up because they wanted to get something special. >> but, when the man overheard pam tell her brother about the call, his tone suddenly changed. >> he was like angry almost, like you're going to ruin it. and at that point, i was like well, i'm sorry, i can't go. >> you really saw several different guys of sides of the sky, because at the beginning he was trying to charm you. >> at the beginning it was excitement and wanting to collaborate and all that then await, is not -- >> just the unknown is scary. >> this woman, who we will call katie, spoke with the man several times before her older sister made her hang up. these calls would only happen when your mom was out of the house, as if the person knew

that your mom was out of the house or just a coincidence? >> i think they definitely know that my mom was out of the house. >> katie said she noticed a car parked outside of her home around the time the man was calling, and remains convinced the man was watching her. there had to be a moment when you thought to yourself, this could be me on the posters. >> over the years i have thought about that a lot. i pray on it and i pray for my family and i prefer amy and i pray for amy's family. it ripped the family apart, it ripped the town apart. >> armed with this new information, investigators searched for a link between the children who had been called. they got all the families together in a room and had them fill out questionnaires. >> did they shop at the same places, go to the same dry cleaners, use the same dentist, did they get their car fixed at the same place? we asked all these questions to try to draw comparisons and commonalities to see if we could get a lead.

>> did it go anywhere? >> unfortunately, not. >> there is one undeniable link. the story the man told about knowing each girl's mother. it is his signature, and it is unique. investigators want to know if that m.o. rings a bell with any other law enforcement agency out there. >> it's not going to be something that this person is going to just be able to turn off after he abducted amy. it would most likely be a person that maybe did it before because he did a very good job of luring amy to the shopping plaza on october 27th of 1989. >> as a really, what you are looking for in a case like this is what happened before that that was not as refined. the amy case was him getting better at it? >> possibly. maybe not a case of someone getting abducted and killed, but may be a case where this guy had some type of sexual relationship with a child and

got away with it, or maybe he did do time for it and he was out at that point. >> fall turned to win. there was still no trace of amy. >> snow covered ribbons remembering amy shiver all over town. >> there were times when we would cry and just be scared, just be scared not knowing what was going on, talking about when is she going to come home. >> december 11th was amy's 11th birthday. she had been missing for 45 days. >> margaret invited me in on amy's birthday. >> connie deacon was a reporter for nbc station wkyc, and live just down the street from amy. >> she still believed that amy was alive and she was going to

throw this birthday party that she hoped that if there was some publicity, somebody would see this and would decide to let her go. there were birthday presents stacked up on the fireplace. >> it is very difficult to have a birthday party without the birthday girl. >> i was holding back tears. so is my photographer. >> even kristy sabo, just 10 years old, did her best to she reached out to her friend the best way she could. >> happy birthday. i hope you're still alive and i hope you come home soon. >> a weird feeling to be talking to your friend through television? >> i it was weird. i was nervous. >> i felt sorry for jason. when we were off camera, he would just cling to jake. >> a lot of the way i handled it was to not be in the way. a lot of days were spent riding my bike with jake, going up to

the lake. just sort of watching the water. >> mark tried to keep to the family routine as best he could. >> amy had a paper route that came out every thursday and i would get up before i went to work, and her and i -- excuse me. her and i and the dog would go deliver the papers before school. >> after she disappeared? >> i kept the paper route running for maybe three weeks. i still deliver the papers on thursday morning, me and the dog. >> so, she had something to come back to. >> yeah, yeah. we deliver the paper. so. >> for margaret, there was the added torment that the kidnapper had used her name to lure amy away. >> it is the constant pain, the

constant torment wondering what she is going through, where she is and why. you keep asking why. >> it would be months before amy's mother would find out what had happened to her little girl. >> coming up -- >> she was adamant. it's not her. it's not amy. >> a discovery on a country road. heartbreak in bay village. >> i remember just putting my head down and crying. >> and, how you can help solve this case. >> one of the things you are looking for is whether anybody had seen these earrings or a pair of child's boots like

that. >> correct. these items are unique items, so if anybody had ever seen them before, they would probably recollect it. >> when dateline continues. without knocking you out. feel the clarity and make today the mos wonderful time of the year. claritin-d. somedays, i cover up because of my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. now i feel free to bare my skin, thanks to skyrizi. ♪(uplifting music)♪ ♪nothing is everything♪ i'm celebrating my clearer skin... my way. with skyrizi, 3 out of 4 people achieved 90% clearer skin at 4 months. in another study, most people had 90% clearer skin, even at 5 years. and skyrizi is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses.

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after advil. feeling better? on top of the worlddddd!!! before advil. advil targets pain at the source of inflammation. when pain comes for you, come back fast with advil liqui-gels. to 50 years with my best friend. [sfx: gasp] [sfx: spilling sound] nooo... aya... quick, the quicker picker upper! bounty absorbs spills like a sponge. and is 2x more absorbent so you can use less. bounty, the quicker picker upper. >> reporter connie deacon was at work when the news broke on february 8th, 1990. >> in our newsroom we have the scanners going all the time and the news that the body had been

found 50 miles south of town in ashland. >> deacon had become friendly with amy's mother, margaret, and called her right away. >> i talked to her this afternoon. she was adamant, connie, it's not her. it's not amy. she honestly thought amy was somewhere in the area being cared for by someone who wanted a child. >> within hours, authorities had their answer. it was amy. >> it all came to a heartbreaking end about a quarter of a mile down this quiet country road. >> i came home and the chief of police was at the house. our minister came to the house. i think somebody from the fbi came to the house and we all sat around and held hands and explained what they found. >> christie heard the news at school. >> we all found out it was amy and there were guidance

counselors at school and i remember just putting my head down and crying. >> did you go to the funeral? >> yes. it was huge. it was my first funeral, my friend. it was packed. her poor mom and dad and brother, the poor family. >> the thing that still sticks in my mind is going past the police department and seeing the flag at half staff. after that -- excuse me. after that the police all the

time, always pushing, always asking, always looking for something. they never stopped. >> for hundred and five days we were looking for anything. we were looking for a killer. we were looking for amy. the day her body was found, we were down looking for a killer. >> the search ended here, county road 8150 miles from a village. >> the perpetrator more than likely is comfortable with this area to dispose of the body because this is not just a place you would stumble onto or drive-by. >> not at all. it is well off the highway. not as if you take a couple of rights off the highway and you are there. it's a very rural, very out of the way but for some reason, this perpetrator chose that location. >> investigators collected every bit of debris within one mile of where amy was found. her body yielded few clues. there was some indication of sexual assault, but nothing conclusive. medical examiners believed she had been in the field for a while, and was most likely killed shortly after she was taken.

amy had been hit on the head and stabbed in the neck. the most telling clue might be what was not found at the scene. her backpack wasn't there. it contained a buick binder like this one, which her dad had given her from his job. it said best in class on the clasp. also missing, amy's boots and those horsehead shaped earrings, the one she had put on that last morning. is it reasonable to believe the items that were missing from amy, her backpack, the binder, the boots, the earrings, that those were retained by her killer? >> it's possible. it's possible they were kept as a trophy. >> one of the things you are looking for is whether anybody had seen these earrings, or a pair of child's boots like that. >> correct. these items are extremely unique items, so if anyone had ever seen that before, they would probably recollect it.

>> decades have brought many theories about what happened to amy mihaljevic . recently, the case was in the headlines again with a possible person of interest. no arrests have been made and police say their overall investigation continues. >> we could go on and on about the number of investigative leads we had been following up on. >> 10,000 tips, 30,000 interviews and 100,000 man hours later, they are still looking. >> every officer that works in our police department is aware of the case, whether they work there in 1989 or if they started after that, and it is something we never will forget about. >> there is one more clue, a very important one and investigators want you to know about it. it might just be the key to solving this whole case. >> discarded cigarette butts, maybe a soda can.

this is the kind of evidence detectives might use to zero in on a killer. in this case, the clue that caught their eye is something you may have seen. will you be able to help? coming up -- >> it is so unique that we are hoping somebody can identify that. if you saw it someplace, we want to hear from you. >> we would think it would be someone that would recognize it and say to themselves you know, i suspected this guy of this. it is like a needle in a haystack, but we are hopeful. >> when dateline continues. new emergen-c crystals pop and fizz when you throw them back. and who doesn't love a good throwback? [sfx: video game sound] new emergen-c crystals. throw it back. martial arts is my passion. i work out whenever i can.

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welcome back. for three long months, police searched for amy mihaljevic , hoping to bring her back alive, but after that little girls body was found, the hunt was on for her killer, and it never stopped. investigators are looking at old clues with fresh eyes, and there is one piece of evidence they hope leads to a breakthrough. here is josh mankiewicz with the conclusion of what happened to amy. >> when detectives found amy mihaljevic in this field, they gathered every shred of evidence they could find. >> anything that didn't grow there, we basically grabbed up. even cigarette butts, papers, whatever. >> including this green curtain. >> it is very unique. it is a homemade curtain. it looks like a bedspread was made into a curtain.

>> the curtain, along with all the other evidence, was periodically tested over the years. because maybe the constant march of dna science might one day yield a clue. and in 2016, it did. >> what we found was there were minute hairs identified on this curtain, and these hairs were identified as being dog hairs. >> and, not just any dog hairs. >> and amy went missing, one of the things the investigators did was take samples of their dogs, jake's, hair for later comparisons. >> jake is long gone. his hair outlives him, carefully collected and preserved in this file for decades. a lab compared it to the hairs on the curtain. the result was a huge leap forward. >> so, the dog hair and the hair on this curtain matched up. based on that, the theories that possibly she was wrapped

in that curtain. >> jape, amy's constant companion during her short life, may have provided a crucial key to finding her killer. >> she loved jake very much. 13 years after his death, he is still trying to save amy. he was a good dog. he was the best dog. >> and now, the curtain has yielded a new clue, when detectives are revealing for the first time. further testing uncovered even more hairs. this time, they were human, and they were amy's. strengthening the theory that amy was wrapped in that curtain, and that the killer may have used it to transport her body. investigators really want you to take a close look at it.

it wasn't professionally made. >> it's not something you would've bought in sears or jcpenney's. it's something somebody made quickly out of something they had, but it is so unique we are hoping somebody can identify that. >> you want viewers to look at that curtain and say whether they have seen anything like that before. >> yes. if you saw it in a house or saw it someplace, we want to hear from you. >> remember, the curtain may have been a brighter green back in 1989. the quilting and design are unique, as is the crude way it was sewn together. >> we think that it would be someone that would recognize it and say you know, i remember that curtain being in so-and- so's house, or that curtain being in so-and-so's barn. we are hopeful that somebody will see that curtain and say to themselves you know, i suspected this guy maybe of this. and by the way, i remember seeing that curtain on his property. it's like a needle in a haystack, but we are hopeful.

>> we are not made to bury our children. it leaves parents shattered, sometimes on men doubly so. shortly after amy disappeared, her parents marriage fell apart. mark says the relationship was already on the rocks before the abduction. 12 years after amy's disappearance, margaret died. she was only 54. >> whoever killed amy kind of killed margaret, too. >> definitely. margaret sold her house and moved out to las vegas where her mother lives. >> she was broken by then. >> oh yeah, she was broken. >> mark keeps in touch with the investigation. will the police solve it? >> yes. >> mark spaetzle, who spoke with us before he retired as police chief, kept amy close right up until he left.

you still have a poster of amy in your office. >> i do. i don't need it as a reminder, but i keep it there, just so she knows we're still doing it. >> phil torsney retired from the bureau and moved away but still works the case when he can. >> i've done this a long time and here's what i know, the case doesn't have the potential to get solved if no one is doing anything. we are doing something and we are always doing something. i hope this is the last interview i have to do on this before it is solved. >> amy's bike still sits in a small room at the bay village police department. her case notes remain front and center. she has been gone for more than 30 years, but amy mihaljevic is still here, and she is waiting for justice. maybe you can help her find it. >> if you have any information

you think may help with amy's case please call 440871 if you have any information you think may help with amy's case please call 440-871-1234. investigators are offering a $50,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction. >> that is all for this edition of dateline. i am andrea canning. thank you for watching. he was so good at understanding how to comfort other people. >> he was counseling women who were very vulnerable. >> a popular pastor, hiding something wicked. >> they found text messages. i love you, i can't wait to see you. it was like somebody put a hole right through your heart. >> lust, lies, adultery. was there more? >> there was blood everywhere. >> there was something fishy. >> you have a pattern of behavior. >> just how far ahead this man of god fallen? >>