Page 6 - Finding Cindy News Today

Find this little girl. >> by then it was getting late in the day. >> and its getting dark, its hot, mosquitos. >> outside the dig area, cindys brother and sister were waiting for any news. the shadows getting longer. >> what happens when it becomes dark? are they going to bring lights out there and keep searching? and i said thats when we pray. and i prayed. my exact prayer was that, if they are going to find her, lord, tonight, let them do it now. >> mac and the chief anthropologist had been re...

>> the jury, listening to closing arguments, was totally unaware of the 11th hour plea negotiations. the prosecution went first. >> well, cindys not coming home, cindys dead. this man not only killed her, but he deprived the family of a burial. >> and then closing from the defense. >> if youve got reasonable doubt, you can come back with a verdict, and that verdict is not guilty. >> then the jury went behind closed doors to deliberate a first-degree murder case. and to the surprise of nearly eve...

>> the next day, the casket bearing cindys remains was brought to the cemetery that would be her final resting place. cindys long-suffering father welcomed her home after 22 years of paralyzing uncertainty. ed zarzycki had bought the burial plot for her two years before. his faith told him that some day cindy would be laid to rest next to a sister lost in, infancy, and across the way from her grandmother, fanny, who spoiled her with those got to have white shoes. other family members, old and ne...

It was by the river. and when we left, it almost felt like her spirit went with us. and she was with family again. ♪ and so we trust in god ♪ >> in november 2008, with dna lab results finally confirming what everyone knew, cindys remains were returned to her family for a memorial service. hundreds of mourners filled the funeral home in eastpointe. her pastor from the 1980s remembered cindy. >> a great girl. just right on the edge of being a kid sometimes and being a young lady some other tim...

But she didnt. and now art ream, the father of her long-ago teenage boyfriend was about to stand trial for her murder. even if he wouldnt admit it to his persistent interrogators. cindys sister connie was prepared to testify. >> it was very stressful on our family. i mean, weve already wondered what happened for 22 years and we have to relive it on the stand. we know he did it. we just need the jury to know he did it too. >> remarkably, cindys dad was still holding out for a miracle. >> i was st...

Missing, it was cindys birthday, june 8th. >> had a birthday cake and nobody to blow out the candles. >> obsessed with finding cindy, their runaway, looking at the mall, on the street, how many times did a young blond teen with a similar build catch their eye for just a moment? once late at night, the authorities in detroit called ed. >> a body had come up at the morgue and asked if i would come down and identify because it had similarities of cindy. >> were you relieved when you left the morgue...

Teenage runaway was as outdated as her old mix tapes. this was a murder investigation. and the detectives thinking followed two paths. could he make the boyfriends father or others for the crime? and secondly, did he have any way of finding cindys remains? as a sign of either how desperate mac was or how wide he was willing to throw his net, he paid a call on a psychic. the mystic had a strip mall storefront, sandwiched between a dry cleaner and a chicken joint. a cousin of cindy said she was we...

Jail for what he did. >> a mandatory life sentence. art ream had overplayed his hand. >> it took us 22 years to bring justice to her. >> but it was a bittersweet victory for the zarzyckis. theyd lost their cindy and now theyd lost their leverage with ream to get her remains back for a proper burial. >> and i told my wife, i said, well never know now. i probably would go to my own grave not knowing where she was. >> except for one thing. the zarzyckis still had detective mclaughlin on the case, a...

Linda zarzycki were well aware that the search for cindy had started but mac spared them the agony. >> you stay put. and i promise when we find her remains, well call you. >> it was turning into a frustrating day. four holes came up empty. she could be anywhere. still, the searchers pushed on as the july day became a scorcher. they were doing it for the girls father and for mac. >> you had promised the father. you said ed, im going to get you your girls body back. >> and thats something that i s...

Deal, though. >> the defense lawyer needed mac as a negotiating ally to prod eric smith, the elected county prosecutor, to make a deal. >> my first inclination was, hell, no, im going to make sure he goes to prison for the rest of his life. the idea that the defendant thinks he can take control of this process and use this poor 13-year-old girls body as a bargaining chip, may be the lowest thing ive ever seen in a criminal case. >> ream held one trump card, cindys body. and the zarzyckis wanted ...