investigators suspected that kathy heckel may have been murdered. evidence, the case went into a deep freeze for decades. kathy's family had never been able to shake the chill of their inconceivable loss. but now a new detective is about to turn until here. here again is she didn't come home. >> reporter: for more than 20 years, kathy heckel's children lived with a feeling of unfocused fear. >> it's an unsettling feeling that -- an unsettling feeling of fear that essentially something great in my life can be taken away at any moment. >> and you think that can all be traced back to your mom? >> absolutely. >> absolutely. >> reporter: for their father john, those were years spent struggling to let go and move on. >> i talked to kathy a lot about it. >> what do you say to her? >> just talk, just ramble on. >> and you just start talking to her out loud? >> yeah. something'll come up that'll remind me of something we did. >> reporter: law enforcement had not forgotten kathy heckel. in the summer of 2013, a native son inherited the case, state police inves