Deborah Atrops

He was an amazing dad.

Do you have memories of him being hands-on?

Yeah, my dad was very hands-on.

I knew that I was his number one.

Debbie Atrop's daughter, Rhianna Stevens, says she learned about her mother's murder when she was six or seven years old.

She says growing up, her dad only shared fond memories of her mom.

I didn't know that they had separated.

Anything that I had ever heard about her was always good from him.

But things were not always good in Bob and Debbie's marriage.

Debbie's stepfather, Ed Holland, remembers meeting Bob, a construction product salesman, and talking to Debbie's mother about how quickly Bob and Debbie walked down the aisle.

Debbie's friend, Darlene Lufkin, says, like Ed, she was not confident the relationship had a strong foundation.

How long did they know each other?

Just a few months, it seems like.

It takes time to get to know someone, and I don't think she really knew Bob yet.

Bob and Debbie got married in June 1987 and adopted Rihanna the following March.

Because of conflicts in their marriage, just a few months after bringing Brianna home, Debbie moved into her own apartment in Salem, 30 miles away from Bob.

Investigators say Debbie had soon reconnected with an old boyfriend, Jeff Freeburg.

You said he was the one for her, perhaps.

That's the one she kept wanting to go back to.

She really, really liked him, and I don't think he was disready for that kind of relationship yet.