it is ira yarmolenko, her body, her car, found 100 yards upriver from carver's fishing hole. the police found ira's body right beside the driver's side of the car. >> reporter: elizabeth leland the case for "the charlotte observer." she says the bizarre crime scene posed far more questions than answers. >> she wasn't raped. she wasn't robbed. there were lots of things that just didn't make sense about this case. >> reporter: among them, the odd manner of death. these three ligatures around her neck. >> there was the drawstring had been taken out of her hoodie and wrapped around tight and knotted in several places. there was a bungee cord that had and lastly, a very dainty little blue ribbon. >> disturbing discovery on the catawba river, a body. >> reporter: as the media descends, police begin canvassing the area for witnesses. they talk to those two jet skiers, and to construction workers who were in the area where ira's body was found. >> we went to see if anything could be done but it was too late. there was no movement. >> reporter: and of course they find that fisherman, c

question that the dna never answered and the police never could was why these men would kill ira yarmolenko. >> reporter: groping for answers, the police come up with a theory that ira had somehow seen carver and cassada doing something so outrageous they had to kill her to keep their secret. >> their theory was that ira was down there to photograph and caught the men doing something that they didn't want anybody to know about. and so the men violently strangle her. and pushed the car down the embankment. and that's why their dna was found on it. >> reporter: so now mark carver finds himself on the hot seat. >> do you know what dna is? >> yeah. >> i found your dna inside her car. how can you explain that? >> no, you didn't find my dna. >> oh, yeah, i did. i found yours and neal's both. >> my dna >> how much money do you want to bet? >> i bet you $1 million my dna ain't in that car. i didn't know that car was even up there. >> i ain't buying it. >> i can't help you. i didn't do it. >> you said you didn't see a car, you never heard a car, you never touched a car and lo and behold guess whose

today, ira yarmolenko is in a north carolina cemetery. and mark carver is in this north carolina prison. serving life sentence for her murder. >> did you kill ira? >> did you strangle that young woman? >> no. i didn't even see her. horace: wow! get the entire story from "20/20" tonight on abc7 at 10:00. next on "abc7 news at 4:00" -- forget the cold. we are talking baseball this weekend. where and when you can meet your favorite nats players along with other great activities around. kidd: time for the weekend kickoff. nationals winter-fest takes place tomorrow and sunday. games exchange activities and special appearances by your favorite nationals players, coaches, mascots and even santa claus! it should be a great event. don't miss that. the washington chorus presents a scandallight christmas at brass, organ, percussions, playing all your favorite christmas classic, even a sing-a-long. rosslyn holiday market festival returns to gateway park today and tomorrow. family-friendly fun, food and shopping from local vendors. there is also the g