Page 23 - Torrez Case News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

It did give me a lot of leverage when i went forth and said, "hey look, i need time to concentrate specifically on this case." >> reporter: daron pored through the files and hunted down new leads. and then a tip came in, seemingly out of nowhere. >> so a guy from a repossession company calls the police and says, "hey i repo'd this car earlier today, and there was a folio in the trunk of the car. and as i'm going through the folio, there are articles in there about this murder in placentia from 1994 and there are receipts from sav-on. >> reporter: sav-on. the drugstore chain where cathy was wor...

The torrez family searching for cathy. >> we know god's there for you. >> reporter: police did jump on the case, and it seemed as if all of placentia did too. >> we had strangers, people coming to the house asking, "what can we do? where can we take the flyers? can we have some flyers" to pass out flyers. >> reporter: tina drove to the school where cathy worked. all the while, mary's mantra echoed thru her mind -- find the car and you'll find cathy. >> when i drove into the parking lot, i said, "let me just see her car. let me just see her car." because i knew a lot of things were going on in ...

>> correct. >> reporter: and where was he? >> he was in state prison. >> reporter: so whatever's going on with this guy, he's not your guy. >> he -- well, he's not personally. but is he related to -- does he know? what's the connection? why is this stuff in the trunk of his car? >> reporter: when you say to him, "why would you have articles about cathy torrez's murder and receipts from sav-on in the trunk of your car," his answer's what? >> "that's all my wife's stuff." he disowns it. he separates himself from it, which now raises a little bit more suspicion. >> reporter: could you tell if he ...

>> reporter: but he also knew he was working with a cop on a mission. >> daron wyatt was not going to quit until i filed this case or i died. or he died, i guess. daron was absolutely dedicated to this. >> reporter: the truth was, if murphy declined the case a third time, the cathy torrez file would almost certainly go from cold to dead. what would he decide? no one understood the stakes better than cathy's mom. >> daron had told me that we were going to meet with the d.a. my interpretation of it was that he was going to tell me that there was nothing they could do. >> reporter: a key piece of...

Promoted to detective sergeant and his caseload shifted to other types of crime. but he never forgot his promise to mary. in part because of a milestone in his own life. >> my first daughter was born. and i remember going to mary shortly after that and looking her in the eye and saying, "i know -- i know now how you feel. i know it. i can feel it myself. i'm a dad now. you haven't given up. i won't give up." >> reporter: in 2003, nine years after the murder, daron once again approached a friend in the d.a.'s office. >> i said, "i've got a cold case that i need you to take a look at." and he ph...