Kim Major

Fall in Ashland, Ohio, is former detective Kim Major's favorite time of the year.

The maple and oak leaves turn blazing orange and deep red, and the county fair comes to town.

The fair runs for a week every September.

There's livestock shows, high school band parades, and funnel cake aplenty.

As a child growing up in Ashland County, Major used to breed rabbits that were judged at the fair.

And in September of 2016, as an Ashland police detective, Major was set to return to the fair, only this time alongside her colleagues to staff a police information booth.

A few days before the fair, the logistics of the booth were weighing on Detective Major's mind right when she woke up.

There was a lot to organize, but that was days away.

On this morning, she had an 8 a.m.

station shift, so she jumped in the shower.

Major ran through the usual mental list.

Her husband, Dan, was at home.

So were her three kids.

If it was an emergency, it wasn't about them.

Still, someone clearly wanted to reach her.

Ashland's police captain, David Lay.

Call me, his text read, ASAP.

It was September 13th, 2016, the morning of Jane Doe's frantic 911 call.

Whatever had happened to this woman, the Ashland Police Department needed Kim Major to get to the bottom of it.

Major was the only female detective in Ashland and a skilled interviewer.