in fact, they went public naming sung koo kim as a person of interest in the wilberger abduction. w (voiceover): investigators insist it was a lead they had to follow. when it came to sung koo kim, there were moments where we were challenging each other with how much time do we spend here versus spend it over there. looking for someone else. and we didn't want to chase the red herring with 100% of our resources. it was the healthiest thing for the investigation. it made sure nothing fell through the cracks. kate snow (voiceover): it took months, but authorities officially cleared kim. kim's family filed a lawsuit claiming excessive use of force in that nighttime swat raid. the state of oregon, without admitting any wrongdoing, eventually settled with the family, paying them more than $330,000. there was a lot of pressure to try and save this young woman. undoubtedly, the officers were hoping that they could find her, and hoping they could find her alive. but they really didn't have many facts here, and the search was done in a very aggressive, i think quite radical fashion. kate sn