. >> 58-year-old diane tilly was one of the school's founders. her success with troubled students earned her the nickname the miracle worker. >> diane was the kind of teacher who really believed in her students and saw potential in them and they responded to that. >> and she had something about her that she was able to work with these individuals and get the most out of them, motivate them, raise their self-esteem. >> the day before thanks giving in 2004, diane wasn't at school at her usual time. >> we knocked on the door. no one there. so they looked in the window. they saw the state was in a state of disarray and became alarmed. >> police were called to the scene and they knew immediately there had been a robbery. >> it's ransacked. things scattered all over the place. >> the house looked like it had been turned inside out. even the linen closet had been gone through. >> i started thinking to myself, okay, what could have happened here. >> electronic equipment was missing from the home. as was diane's .357 magnum pistol she kept for protection.