Ashley Flowers

But he was never put on Milagros' case.

He climbed the ranks and became a financial fraud detective.

And for 33 years, he assumed that the murder of Milagros Nieves was a closed case.

And that might sound strange, but when you hear about Milagros' murder, the violence of it, the brutality of it, you'll understand why even the most hardened investigators would want to erase it from their memories.

But it's time to start talking about her again.

I'm confident that's how we're going to get this case solved.

And you want to know why I'm so confident?

Because in the short time that we've been reporting on this case, kicking up dust,

New information has surfaced that Milagros' family never knew in all the years since her murder.

And I believe this is just the beginning.

I'm Ashley Flowers, and this is The Deck.

Frank Papalucha was a rookie cop on September 22, 1993, when he and his partner got a call.

There was a possible break-in at an apartment complex on Arniston Avenue, number 223.

They arrived at the three-story building overlooking the picturesque Long Island Sound at around 3.48 p.m.

Alongside our team, Papalucha, who is now a detective, retraced his steps from that day back in September 1993.

He walked down Arneson Avenue, recalling every detail of what he saw after he walked up the two flights of stairs and entered apartment A7.

There was a woman lying face up on the kitchen floor with blood smears beneath her legs.

She was motionless, dressed in a red nightgown, and contrasted to all of that horror was a baby girl present.

Mercifully, she was alive.

Papalucha cleared out the apartment and stood guard by the door until investigators descended on the scene to take over.