Detective Bratton News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Over the years, and that just kind of struck me as odd of -- >> reporter: introduce that thought, huh? >> you introduce that thought, she falls out of your car, but yet you've got to interject, "we weren't fighting or anything." >> reporter: the investigator also wondered why dana would have suddenly fallen out of the bouncer's car. there was talk back in the day that the car had a defective door. but detective bratton told the new investigator he didn't think so. he'd taken a look for himself. >> i know i got in the car and i checked it because i had pushed up against it. and i'm a pretty goo...

She'd been a passenger in his car. he admitted as much to the original detective in 1982, when he was called in for an interview. >> one of the first things that russ said to detective bratton was the reason i didn't say anything was because i was on parole and i was scared to have police contact me. >> and he was gonna get jammed up if he -- >> correct. >> reporter: the bouncer had served time for receiving stolen property. he didn't want any trouble, he told the detective. but he did want to help. here was the truth, he said: he was driving dana home, nearing a corner, when suddenly he heard...

When i found out what she was doin', i just didn't want her to be pushed to the side like it never mattered. >> and if she's kicking over this rock anew again, you know, there you were gonna be with the bull's-eye again, right? >> i got another bull's-eye on my back. >> reporter: when the investigator cracked open the thin case file. this is what it told him -- where dana's body had been found. the file also told him who found her -- that young man who'd been driving by in his car. but just as interesting was where dana had been partying that night -- that nightclub on the seamier side of town...

Dying on an ohio back road, deb's family made the decision to take her off life support. >> how did you say goodbye to her? >> that was so absolutely horrible, it was horrible. once they took the ventilator off, probably less than three minutes and she was dead. it was horrible. >> reporter: deb says her family was shattered. >> you never heal from this ever. ever. you grieve and you're angry. and then you grieve, but you never get over it. >> reporter: and with the grief came the rumblings of suspicion. no one believed dana had been killed in an accident, deb says. and some people in the fami...

And he just said -- "you know, you need to keep pushing" and that's all he'd say. >> reporter: so she did. brittany says she began calling the prosecutor's investigator every week like clockwork. and amazingly he started showing some interest in the case. >> and he'd say, you know, "nothin' new," or -- >> you're looking for a killer? >> right. >> is he looking for a killer or just trying to find out what happened? i tnk at thatoint at first he was just trying to put the es together. >> reporter: it wasn't going to be easy. what brittany didn't know was that detective bratton had done a fair bi...