Deborah Atrops

By September 1988, Debbie had a new boyfriend, a man she met at work named John Pearson.

John was separated from his wife and had two young boys.

Darlene says she and Debbie had grown close in their 20s when Darlene was a single mom.

In that autumn of 1988, although Debbie was dating John, she stayed in touch with Jeff Freeburg, and he loaned Debbie $8,000.

He had lent her money to buy a car.

Could there have been motive in that?

He was wealthy, so I think he was happy to help Debbie.

Back in 1988, detectives had asked Freeburg for his alibi on the night Debbie was last seen alive.

And he said he was home, except for going out briefly to get some dinner.

Police had also questioned John Pearson, who said he was with his children and his estranged wife that night.

Pearson knew about Debbie's hair appointment and gave detectives a detailed description of many items inside her car.

John Pearson told police back then that there was a Burger King bag, as well as a box with cranberries and a child car seat.

Seems like a lot of details about the car.

Pearson also said there wasn't enough room in the trunk for a body and that stuff would have to be taken out.

But Detective O'Connell says Pearson had seemed truthful back in 1988.

And prosecutors Chris Luman and Allison Brown say there is an innocent reason John Pearson knew so much about Debbie's car.

They were seeing each other every day.

I mean, something to look into for sure, which is why they did multiple interviews of John Pearson and a polygraph in 1988.

And did he pass the polygraph?

He did.