Page 20 - Torrez Case News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Cathy. where the heck could she be. >> reporter: he had always been cooperative. >> he voluntary gave head ir samples, he gave a blood sample, he gave finger prints. and at the end of that, he ultimately said, you know, "whatever i can do, i'll do." >> reporter: but as he read the file, daron learned there were other things sam didn't do. for example, sam lived right down the street, yet cathy's family says he never stopped by. during that whole frantic week when they were searching. he did speak extensively with police. >> i don't think anybody thought that sam was telling the truth. >> repor...

>> reporter: it was 1996. two years had passed since the gruesome murder of cathy torrez in placentia, california. >> i had been to several places, had knocked on many doors. and all i ever wanted was the truth to come out as to what had happened to cathy. >> reporter: the case had gone cold, but its memory still clung to the breeze in this small town. daron wyatt was a patrol officer back then, and one afternoon his 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. >> he's playing the game ...

And mccoy? what happened? >> there was no communication. no association with them. . that was basically- they beca estranged. >> which made it difficult for tina, who was still married to sam's older brother, armando. police continued to work the case, but the fact was they had no solid leads, and they weren't even close to arresting anyone. then two years after cathy torres was murdered, an unexpected meeting put this investigation in the fast lane. coming up, an explorer scout with a familiar last name inspires a renewed search for a killer. >> that is a weird coincidence. >> we don't believ...

That is a weird coincidence. >> we don't believe in coincidences. >> reporter: to daron wyatt, it felt more like fate. and just months later, in january 1997, his lieutenant suggested daron apply to the homicide unit. >> so i ended up putting in for that job and being selected. >> reporter: it wasn't long before he cracked open the doors that housed the homicide files. >> and i open the cabinet and i see the torrez case. and i remembered the incident with debbie from about a year earlier. so i pulled it out and i started reading just on free time, just reading it a little bit. >> reporter: by ...

Police had their suspicions about sam lopez's involvement in the murder of his neighbor and former girlfriend, cathy torrez. but there was no physical evidence tying him to the murder. and he had a solid alibi on the night cathy was killed. sam was with his cousin, javier. which is why when police took their case to the d.a.'s office, the d.a. refused to file charges against sam. police pursued other leads too, like a possible connection to the suicide of cathy's boyfriend, albert. did you think that cathy's disappearance had anything to do with albert? >> no. >> reporter: coincidence. >> yeah...