this particular senseless tragedy took the life of evelyn heitman's oldest son. >> he stepped backwardsover the edge of the rock. and went down into the river about 40 feet below. >> steve heitman was just 20 when he drowned, and 25 years later, in wenatchee, washington, his mom still grieves. can anybody who hasn't lost a child understand what it's like? >> i don't think so. it's a feeling you never ever get over. >> she was facing another melancholy fourth of july, the anniversary of steve's death, when she came home to find a reporter had left a message on her machine. >> he says i suspect somebody is using your dead son's identity, so i listened to that message at least three or four times. >> do you remember how you felt? >> oh, i mean, just feel like your whole world is -- been shattered. i mean, how could somebody do that? >> but there was the story in the seattle paper called "the eastside journal." a mystery man set up big businesses with other people's money, lived the high life and skipped town with as much as $1.2 million. leaving the business and millionaire partner bankrup