D Torrez News Today

And the police said? >> "well, you know, you dont know that. maybe she went off and --" but i knew. >> reporter: that she could have met some guy and theyre in vegas right now. and youre saying -- >> no. >> reporter: not possible? >> at that point you want to yell and scream at them and tell them, "thats not true. you dont know, not my cathy." >> reporter: the torrez family was not going to wait for police to catch up to what they already knew -- that cathy was not someone whod just disappear. t...

Then-california governor pete wilson about cathys murder. they even contributed to reward funds, some of it by selling tamales at the local fair. you were doing just about everything you could think of, werent you? >> yes. yes. well, you have to. you have to, because you dont have the name or the resources to do it on your own. so then you look, then you knock on a lot of doors, trying to keep it out there. >> reporter: the torrez family says they spent thousands of hours knocking on doors, spea...

Cathy torrez." >> reporter: it was a shot in the dark. a tactic hed picked up at a seminar for cultivating informants. >> and the patrol officer that is next to me starts kind of kicking my foot. and hes got an explorer scout whos riding with him -- a young hispanic female. and i look at her name tag and it was "d. torrez." turned out it was debbie torrez, cathys youngest sister. >> reporter: who just heard you ask that question. >> correct. >> reporter: you had no idea it was her? >> i had no i...

Torrez was missing no longer. >> she had been stabbed multiple times. all about the upper chest and neck. >> reporter: detective sergeant daron wyatt. >> you know, theres no way to time the death. but i think its pretty safe to assume that she had been dead since she disappeared on that saturday night on the 12th. >> reporter: it was devastating not just for the torrez family but for all those in placentia whod been searching so tirelessly for cathy. >> she was a vibrant, very intelligent young ...

You want to know, just you know, ask the right questions and ill tell you and then you wont take me to jail." so, you know, just almost as a flippant remark, i tell him, "okay, so tell me who killed cathy torrez." >> reporter: it was a shot in the dark. a tactic hed picked up at a seminar for cultivating informants. >> and the patrol officer that is next to me starts kind of kicking my foot. and hes got an explorer scout whos riding with him -- a young hispanic female. and i look at her name tag...

They marched in rallies, lobbied officials for greater victims rights, and spoke with then-california governor pete wilson about cathys murder. they even contributed to reward funds, some of it by selling tamales at the local fair. you were doing just about everything you could think of, werent you? >> yes. yes. well, you have to. you have to, because you dont have the name or the resources to do it on your own. so then you look, then you knock on a lot of doors, trying to keep it out there. >> ...

>> at that point you want to yell and scream at them and tell them, "thats not true. you dont know, not my cathy." >> reporter: the torrez family was not going to wait for police to catch up to what they already knew -- that cathy was not someone whod just disappear. they went to reporters. mary spoke to knbc in los angeles. >> this is one thing that nobody should have to go through. >> reporter: and took the search into their own hands. >> the police department wasnt receptive. so i told my mom...

I was yelling, "not my cathy. not cathy." >> reporter: mary bennett had been right all along. cathys toyota corolla had been spotted in a hospital parking lot. a plastic bag was peeking out of the trunk. officers opened it, and cathy torrez was missing no longer. >> she had been stabbed multiple times. all about the upper chest and neck. >> reporter: detective sergeant daron wyatt. >> you know, theres no way to time the death. but i think its pretty safe to assume that she had been dead since sh...

Shift brought him to this park just across the street from where cathy had grown up. daron was about to bust a drug suspect when the guy started talking. >> hes playing the game of, you know, "ill tell you whatever you want to know, just you know, ask the right questions and ill tell you and then you wont take me to jail." so, you know, just almost as a flippant remark, i tell him, "okay, so tell me who killed cathy torrez." >> reporter: it was a shot in the dark. a tactic hed picked up at a sem...

Boyfriend attempted suicide. now her family was pulling out all the stops to find them but this missing person case was about to take a tragic turn. here again is josh mankowitz. the torrez family had planned a major search for cathy on saturday, a week after she disappeared. but at 3:40 that morning, mary had a visitor. >> a police officer. >> reporter: he asked for cathys keys. >> i gave him the key and i asked him if it was cathys car. and he just looked straight and he didnt look at me. an...