Deborah Atrops

Darlene, like many in Debbie's life, longed for answers.

And in 2022, she got one step closer.

when the cold case team sent Debbie's coat and those soil samples for testing.

The soil was sent to the FBI lab.

The DNA was sent.

While they waited, the cold case team continued to examine Bob's behavior back in 1988, which prosecutors say was suspicious from that first call.

He calls law enforcement within, you know,

probably 20 minutes of calling the friends and family.

And to us, that seemed a little quick.

So we believe he was attempting to get his story out there and to portray himself as a concerned husband and try to develop that narrative that he wanted to early on.

Detective O'Connell says he had the same feeling.

Remember, Bob had called police four times that night.

The cold case team also turned their attention to the road where Debbie's car was found, next to that construction site.

Bob's former boss at Allied Building Products told them he believed Bob had a connection there.

He was selling roofing products.

We knew, I knew that he was selling products in that area.

In 2022, the results from those DNA tests came back.

The lab said they found a mixture of DNA on the collar and shoulder of Debbie's coat.

The lab compared that sample from Debbie's coat to her boyfriend at the time, John Pearson.

It's not present.