Cold Case Files - DNA SPEAKS: A Deadly Heist

Episode Date: October 29, 2024

When jewelry seller Minerva Cantu, 26, is found bound, gagged and lifeless in her home, police suspect robbery as the motive. But who killed this mother as her infant slept in the next room is a mystery that would haunt one detective for 20 years. Greenlight: Sign up for Greenlight today at Greenlight.com/coldcase Rosetta Stone - Cold Case Files listeners can get Rosetta Stone’s lifetime membership for 50% off when you go to RosettaStone.com/coldcase 

Hi Cold Case listeners, I'm Marissa Pinson, and if you're enjoying this show, I just want to remind you that episodes of Cold Case Files, as well as the A&E Classic Podcast, I Survived, American Justice, and City Confidential are all available ad-free on the new A&E Crime and Investigation channel on Apple Podcasts and Apple Plus for just $4.99 a month or $39.99 a year. And now, on to the show. The following episode contains intensely disturbing accounts of violence. Listener discretion is advised. My mom was very strong-willed, very determined, and very family-oriented. When I think of how I was told about my mother's passing, I just remember the feeling that my mom was gone, and it was terrifying. I didn't know exactly what was going on.

There was sort of this idea that maybe one day we'll have the technology to move forward on these cases. Duct tape is like a DNA gold mine. We don't want to arrest you for the murder. We want to arrest you when that went in and killed her. He disappeared. You never forget a scene like that, and you never forget that you weren't able to solve it.

Then it turned into a big whodunit. As I got older, I wanted to see if we could get some justice. I need to know the person who was responsible for my mother's death. There are over 100,000 cold cases in America. Only 1% are ever solved. This is one of those rare stories. It's November 27, 1990. Jesenia Cantu and her mother Minerva live in Lake Worth, Florida.

When I was eight years old, I was in about second grade, I believe, at Highland Elementary. My mom would always do my hair and we would have breakfast quickly and then go off to school. That morning went to school as usual and we proceeded as a normal day. At the end of the day, I waited for my mother to pick me up on the curbside and she never showed up. This was very unusual for my mother to do. I felt very, very scared because she was never late. My mom, Minerva Cantu, she was born in Bronzeville, Texas. Her and my father met. They were high school sweethearts, got married early, and of course had children. And she came here to Florida because you have more career opportunities, and my mom wanted better for us.

The small coastal town of Lake Worth, just an hour north of Miami, provides a perfect setting for the Cantu family to flourish. I remember when I was younger, my house was always filled with people, family, parties. My mom loved to be a hostess and she just wanted for everyone to be happy. My mom and dad had so much love for each other. And you could always tell in their smiles. They continued striving for more. My mom worked for Vital Statistics in Palm Beach County. And my father worked for a tree service.

But every weekend they were at the flea market making jewelry to make money and provide for their family. It was really nice to see my mom and dad be creative. Early on a winter evening, a woman calls Lake Worth Police about an emergency at her next-door neighbor's house, where the husband came home from work to find his wife unconscious. Paige McCann is a detective with the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. The husband was unable to dial 911 because the phones had been pulled out of the wall. And he yelled for a neighbor who called 911.

Detective Tim Barbuzio arrives at the scene. As I pull up, there is people in the yard, people crying. I go in, and that's the first time I laid my eyes on Minerva Cantu. Her wrists and ankles were bound together. The towel was placed over her mouth and nose. Duct tapes wrapped around her head.

Whoever did that stopped her from breathing. Seeing that scene and how terrifying the last moments of her life must have been, it kind of made me angry. I was 24 years old. This was the first homicide that I ever was involved in as the lead investigator. I thought, here's my first chance to solve a murder. Detective Pete Ebel interviews Minerva's husband, Furman Cantu.

Shock is a good way to describe Furman that day. He just looked like, I can't believe I'm living this nightmare. Mr. Cantu said that he returned home from work around 5.40 p.m. He noticed the door was unlocked. When he entered, he noticed that it was ransacked. He entered into the living room, and that's where he found his wife Minerva,

motionless, lying on the floor. She had a towel that was wrapped completely around, covering her nose and her mouth. It was secured to her face with duct tape. Her hands and feet were bound with electrical cords and duct tape, so she wouldn't have been able to remove the towel from her mouth or to try and breathe. So he immediately tried to cut that off to see if she could breathe.

But Furman is too late. His wife is already dead. Elsewhere in the home, he makes another horrifying discovery. He immediately looked for his children. He was able to find his 18 month old son in a crib in a back bedroom. Probably the last thing that Minerva heard other than her own struggling to breathe was her 18 month old son crying in the next room. She was helpless to move, to help herself, to breathe. She couldn't help the baby. She couldn't console the baby.

It must have been an incredibly hopeless feeling. But Mr. Cantu said that he could not locate his daughter, Yesenia. Yesenia is at school, still waiting for her mother to come and take her home. Once they noticed that I was the only child there, the teachers brought me inside to wait. My cousin, Sonia, she picked me up from school. I just remember feeling very, very worried. After that, I was with my grandmother. I had no idea what was going on, what was happening. I wasn't told anything. Back at the crime scene, police quiz Yesenia's father, Furman Cantu, and soon discover a possible motive. Anytime you have a home invasion, you have to look at it. Why did they choose this house? What did they have that somebody wanted?

During our interview with Furman Cantu, we find out that him and Minerva sold gold jewelry and that there was $50,000 worth of gold jewelry missing. Then we kind of knew what they were after. Mr. Cantu alerted detectives to the fact that their Mercury Cougar was also missing from the driveway. We immediately put a bolo out, be on the lookout for that car. As patrol officers search for the car, forensics experts scour the house looking for clues.

The main evidence that was collected was her clothing, the cords that were used to bind Minerva, the duct tape and the rag that was used to gag her. They took fingernail scrapings from Minerva Cantu as well. Reed Scott would later serve as prosecutor on the case. DNA really hadn't come on the scene yet, but with a lot of the cases in the early 90s, there was sort of this idea of, well, maybe one day we'll have the technology to move forward on these cases. As detectives collect as much evidence as possible, Minerva's body is sent in for an autopsy. The medical examiner determined that Minerva Cantu died of asphyxia due to

suffocation from the towel that was wrapped covering her nose and her mouth. Next, police take a closer look at Furman Cantu's story. He was the only person in the house when Minerva's body was discovered. Naturally, we had to look at Furman. Anytime you have a homicide case like this, a lot of times you got to look at a family member, husband, spouse, what have you. He has the most frequent and intimate contact with Minerva Cantu. He would certainly be one that knew what was in the home, knew how to get in and out. At that point in time, you can't discount anybody.

You can't discount the husband. Maybe he was the one taking the money and the jewelry. There probably was this crime scene that was staged. When you're in the middle of an investigation, you can't discount anybody. Everybody's a suspect until they're not. And anytime you're running an investigation, you can't discount anybody. Everybody's a suspect until they're not. And anytime you are running an investigation, the first thing you have to do is to consider anybody

who possibly had contact with the victim of potential suspect. Back at the station, Lake Worth detectives question Minerva's husband, Furman Cantu. Okay, Furman, what we need to do is just talk. We need to start, like, when you left the house this morning. What time did you go to work?

I went out to work around 6.30. Furman says he returned home from work about 5.45 in the afternoon. We were able to confirm with his employer that he was, in fact, at work. He obviously didn't do it himself, We were able to confirm with his employer that he was in fact at work. He obviously didn't do it himself, but could he have gotten somebody to do it? So we gave him a polygraph, which he passed. And then we were able to move on and look at other leads. Investigators get a tip from the person who last spoke with Minerva.

Minerva was on the phone with her friend around 2 o'clock, and she told her friend, I got to go pick up Yesenia from school. And Minerva never arrived. Around 2.30, the school calls a Cantu residence, and there's no answer. Around 3.30, the same friend who Minerva had been talking to at 2 p.m. drove by the house to talk to Minerva. The car was not in the driveway. So we learned at somewhere between 2 and 3.30 is likely when this crime occurred. During our neighborhood canvas, we spoke with a neighbor that lived a few doors north of the Cantu residence. Around 1.30 p.m. that day, she had witnessed two males walking in the neighborhood.

They walked down and stood in front of the Cantu residence. She was able to describe the two males and make composites of both suspects. One of the men was taller than the other. He had dark, wavy hair and was carrying a pouch. These composites are released to the news media and the newspaper and on the 6 o'clock news. Minerva Cantu's Mercury Cougar was recovered in an alleyway a block and a half from the house, indicating that the suspects got rid of it immediately. We're hoping to find physical evidence, fingerprints, hairs, fibers, something that they left behind. But being that they only drove it a block and a half

and were probably wearing gloves, the chances of getting anything out of that car became slimmer. We didn't recover any physical evidence from the vehicle that helped us in the case. It was clean, totally clean. Meanwhile, a composite sketch of the two suspects yields a promising lead. Detectives did get a call from someone advising that one of their employees by the name of Sean worked at a local supermarket. He resembled the composite. He also had recently got engaged and purchased a ring that kind of probably was above his means. So all of these things combined was suspicious.

When detectives try and track Sean down, their suspicions only deepen. It was also learned that Sean had shortly left town after the homicide. And we're like, oh, okay, this could be our guy. We had gotten another tip around the same time from a pawn shop owner who said that a female came into his store and she had some gold charms that kind of fit the description of some of the charms that was missing from the Cantu residence.

And the pawn shop owner began to question the female, hey, do you have any more? And she became nervous and grabbed her stuff and walked out. So we thought, okay, maybe this is Sean's girlfriend. We thought this was a great lead, that maybe it could be Sean and his girlfriend who were involved in this homicide. Eventually, police locate the couple and bring them in for questioning. We interviewed Sean at length.

We asked him if he had known Minerva Cantu, where he was at at the time that Minerva Cantu was killed, why he left town. We took a photo of the ring that he gave his girlfriend, and we showed that photo of the ring to Fermi. And Fermi did say that the diamond ring was not his wife's. Sean and his girlfriend cooperated with the investigation fully. Sean was able to verify his whereabouts

on the date that the Cantu murder occurred. Sean and his girlfriend were both cleared. It was very frustrating. The longer this takes, the harder it is going to be to solve. At my mom's funeral, I wanted to just wake up and say this was just a nightmare and, you know, that she would be there the next day. All I recall is the feelings. I don't recall details on whom was there,

what was going on. It was just so not real. Being an eight-year-old, having your mother not there, and knowing that she was not going to come back was a very empty feeling. Minerva is laid to rest just as the investigators stumble on a promising empty feeling. Minerva is laid to rest, just as the investigators stumble on a promising fresh lead.

Detectives received information regarding a lot of home invasion robberies that had been occurring in the area around that time. One recent robbery in Boynton Beach, just six miles from Lake Worth, stands out. In both cases, duct tape was used. Both cases, the vehicles were stolen. And in both cases, the house was ransacked. Just the difference was Minerva Cantu was killed where the other people were not injured. Unlike Minerva, the victims of the Boynton Beach robbery

are able to give police a description of their attacker. The victims in that case were shown a photo lineup which they identified Randy Roberts. Roberts fully admitted that, yes, he had gone in and done this other burglary to a home in Boynton Beach. And Randy Roberts does tell investigators that he and somebody else had cased a Cantu resident, but that he is not the one that actually went in. His accomplice, he's the one who committed the crime.

This seemed to be a big break in the case. Randy Roberts had committed a home invasion robbery in a Boynton Beach area several weeks prior to the homicide, very similar to that of the home invasion robbery of the Cantu residents. Randy Roberts was interviewed. He did admit to this home invasion robbery and did admit that his accomplice was Jesse. He didn't know his last name at that time. Roberts does

know the last names of two more people he says were involved in setting up the Cantu robbery, Julio Flores and Esther Rodriguez. Esther actually was friends with Minerva Cantu and purchased all her jewelry from her. So she knew that they had a lot of cash and a lot of jewelry inside their residence. They had been friends for several years. These two individuals know there is jewelry and most likely cash being kept in the Cantu house. This couple becomes two more people of interest. Investigators arrange for a confidential informant to covertly record Flores and Rodriguez. And there's obvious indications that they have knowledge of this burglary of the Cantu house. During the oral intercepts, it was clear that they identified Jesse as being the person who committed the homicide.

Esther had no idea that Minerva Cantu would be murdered, so she was very upset. After hearing Julio and Esther discuss valuables in the house, police bring them in for questioning. These two individuals now are potential suspects. There was always the possibility that this couple had essentially set up this hit, but there's got to be enough evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt and get those charges before a jury. Police have no physical evidence connecting Flores and Rodriguez to the crime, and they're released. We probably had 50 names of people to look at. Detectives have conducted numerous interviews. probably had 50 names of people to look at.

Detectives conducted numerous interviews. Unfortunately, there just wasn't sufficient evidence to charge anybody with the murder of Minerva Cantu at the time. Sometimes you gotta put a case on a shelf and maybe revisit it later, hopefully get a phone call. But in a city as busy as Lake Worth, crime never stopped. We were getting new cases on a daily basis that we had to give our attention to. You could feel the case starting to go cold.

Eventually, leads dry up, and the case of a flea market jeweler goes cold. This message is sponsored by Greenlight. As your kids get older, some things about parenting get easier. My kids now brush their teeth and go to their room without any fuss at bedtime. Now, if they would only stay in bed. Other things don't get any easier,

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Sign up for Greenlight today at greenlight.com slash coldcase. That's greenlight.com slash coldcase to try Greenlight today. greenlight.com slash coldcase. That's greenlight.com slash coldcase to try Greenlight today. greenlight.com slash coldcase. It's now November 1991, one year after Minerva is murdered. My father, after my mom's passing, it was very difficult for him.

I recall my grandmother saying that me and my brother were going to live with her and that she was going to be adopting us. I knew that this was going to be a different life, and this was not going to be the same. Me and my brother were no longer going to really, truly have that father figure that I had while growing up. It's heartbreaking. I don't know what was going on at that moment in his head. Maybe he just had no clue how to deal with it. I had to grow up a little bit quicker. I had to be that person for my brother. I did not have my mother there for special events. The

holidays and birthday parties were just not the same. My grandmother tried her best, but it is always hard. You can't replace those moments. My mother's case still being an open court case was very difficult. We never had closure. That person or those persons were still out there who were the ones that did this. The mystery of who killed Minerva Cantu endures for decades until a new team of investigators reopens the files. Working a cold case, it's a passion just because you're the last person who can possibly help the victim's families. Each story is different. And this one really struck a chord with me.

You know, just to think that somebody would go into a residence and kill a mother while an 18-month-old baby was lying in a crib, that's just horrific. In 1990, collecting the items, like DNA was relatively new at that time. Back then, you needed a lot of DNA in order to get a profile. The number one thing you have to worry about is just degradation. The DNA chains and the double helix, they do start to degrade and you start to lose information. Now, in 2014, the evidence in this case was actually very well preserved, but it's still old.

Items submitted to the lab consisted of the towel that was wrapped around her face, as well as the duct tape. Also the extension cords and the duct tape that were used as ligatures to bound her hands and her feet. I was very hopeful. I thought for sure we would get a profile on some of the items. Duct tape is like a DNA gold mine. Your body sheds 40,000 skin cells a minute.

Every one of those skin cells has got something in it. Hair, mucus, a sneeze, anything. It's now March 15, 2015, 25 years after Minerva Cantu is murdered. Kevin McElfrish is a DNA expert. But with all forensic evidence, whether it's duct tape or a shirt or even a bed sheet, it has a lot to do with what's on it to start with. Duct tape can be very good in some instances if there's blood or other material that's on the duct tape. But in this case, all you're really getting is lots of victim from the duct tape. I mean, not a single shred of DNA evidence. Disappointed? Oh my gosh. I mean, I can't even describe to you how disappointed I was. But, you know, we kept on. We also tested her shirt and fingernail

scrapings. Anytime she might have grabbed onto the assailant, maybe she cut him, maybe he bled under her fingernails. So those items became very, very important to us. While the forensic team works on testing Minerva Cantu's shirt and fingernail scrapings, detectives turned their attention back to two earlier suspects, first interviewed 24 years before. Before bringing Julio and Esther in, detectives want to collect more information and go back to the confidential informant. The confidential informant advised that Randy Roberts, they had a mutual friend who provided information on good potential victims, people who might have large sums of money or jewelry

or items that somebody might want to steal. So at that point, the confidential informant advised that he and actually Randy Roberts had been provided the name of Minerva Cantu and her address, and they had actually cased the residents. and actually Randy Roberts, had been provided the name of Minerva Cantu and her address, and they had actually cased the residents. So they sat outside the residence a couple times to determine a pattern

because their intention was to go in and do a burglary. They never committed the burglary. I located both Julio and Esther. Both of them recalled being interviewed during the initial investigation. They had since divorced. Julio refused to cooperate at that time. However, Esther continued to cooperate.

We're ready to make this case moving, and we just really need your cooperation and your honesty. But they're going to see me? If it ever goes to a trial, I'm going to be honest with you, there is a possibility that there might be a chance where you might ever goes to a trial, I'm going to be honest with you, it's a possibility. There might be a chance where you might have to come testify. We just want you to be truth, OK? Yeah.

She admitted that she knew that Jesse was going to go commit a burglary. She had no idea that Minerva Cantu would be murdered. You knew Jesse did it. Mm-hmm. OK. And you knew Jesse did it. Yes, I knew Jesse did it. Mm-hmm. Okay, and you knew Jesse did it? Yes, I knew Jesse did it.

Okay. We don't want to arrest you for the murder. We want to arrest Jesse, because Jesse's the one that went in and killed her. Did you see Jesse after that? No, he disappeared. He disappeared. Esther says she has no idea where Jesse is now,

and detectives fear they've hit another dead end. But then the lab results from Minerva's clothing and fingernails come in, giving them a fresh lead. When I received the call with the results, I was very happy because we were able to obtain a form for DNA profile. It was great because I knew that we had a suspect. There was a three-person mixture on the left fingernail scrapings and a three-person mixture on the orange shirt. None of the profiles connects Jesse to the crime. One of the samples belongs to Minerva, and police upload the others into the DNA database to see if they can find a match.

They strike out with the first one, but the second gets a hit. The other DNA results that came back at a very, very high likelihood ratio was a person named Jaffer Negron. Detectives studied Negron's criminal history and discover he sometimes goes by the name Jesse. A background check revealed that Jaffer Negron was living in North Carolina. So I had to contact the Harnett County Sheriff's Office and requested their assistance. After numerous hours of following him around, they were able to obtain a discarded cigarette butt from Jaffer Negron, and that was submitted to our crime lab.

They did obtain a DNA profile, which then was compared to the foreign profiles from the fingernail scrapings in Minerva Cantu's shirt. And it was consistent. It was a match. I was almost doing cartwheels. I couldn't believe it. We nailed him. After 26 years, the Palm Beach Sheriff's Office finally has the evidence it needs to identify Minerva Cantu's killer.

The next step was to go confront him and interview him. So at that point, we hop on a plane, and we travel to North Carolina to conduct our interview. Harnett County Sheriff's Office was able to arrest Jaffer Negron while we were in flight. When I entered, he was sitting in a chair, just calm, like it was just another day for him. Morning.

Morning. Hello. Hello. Hello. I'm Detective McCann. This is Detective Worth, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office. OK. So when we sit down with him, we just kind of

want to get a background. We were investigating a homicide that occurred back in 1990 in Lake Worth. First, you want to establish if he knows the victim, if he's familiar with the location of the crime scene, and to see if he admits to being inside the residence. I'm going to show you a picture of the victim in this case, and just let me know if you recognize her or if you know her. I don't recall. Detectives show Negron pictures of the couple

who identified him as the burglar. Julio Flores. The top one is him in 1990. Do you remember him? He remembered, he remembered talking to you, I guess you both

before you were together. The bottom one looks familiar. The top one, you know, I don't recall, you know. And then this is Esther. That was his girlfriend, wife, Esther, the top ones, obviously, her back then. I don't know Esther. You don't know Esther? You don't remember? I don't know, Esther. You don't know Esther? I don't recall.

Randy Roberts and Julio Flores and Esther, all their names were brought up, and they were all interviewed during the initial investigation. Your name came up, okay? Your name came up with doing a home invasion with Randy a couple weeks prior to the homicide, and Randy was eventually arrested for it. Do you know why they would bring your name up?

I don't know. Did you ever hear about Minerva Cantu being murdered? Do you remember that? I don't recall that. I mean, you're telling me that? She was found inside of her residence. Her baby was inside the house. I'm telling you the truth. If I was inside the house. I'm telling you the truth.

If I was in that house, I'll tell you, I don't remember doing it. Negron denies he's the killer, but he can't explain how his DNA ended up at the crime scene. So there'd never be any reason, there wouldn't be any reason at all for your DNA to be anywhere in that house? I have no idea.

If my DNA was in that house, okay, then the reason to me would be, okay, that I was in that house. All I'm telling you is I don't remember that. Once he was confronted with the evidence, he really had no other way out. He had to admit that he possibly could have been in the residence. And that's when you know you got him right then. I know I didn't do it, okay? So I'm ready just to get this over with and do what I gotta do, right? To get on with my life. I guess we'll see you back down in Florida. Police arrest Jeffery Negron and charge him with first-degree murder.

As I was traveling back to Florida from North Carolina, I felt confident and I knew that we had the right person in custody. I remember when I got a phone call from my mother-in-law. She's like, I think they have made an arrest. And it did obviously open the wound again and just bring out a lot of different emotions. I was sad. Obviously, a little relief for someone to be arrested. It was just all over. My feelings were all over. The goal whenever I prosecute a cold case is,

can we bring this case to trial? When I saw the evidence in this case, I felt compelled. But cold cases are very challenging. You're dealing with old evidence. You're dealing with old witnesses. During the initial stage of the investigation, both Julio Flores and Esther Rodriguez provided information to law enforcement.

Ultimately, they refused to take part in the trial of Mr. Negron. It's possible that they were frightened and didn't want to have to testify against him for fear of retaliation. As the trial started, I did feel nervous and it did obviously open the wound again. One of my good friends is about to take off

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Cold Case Files listeners can get Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership for 50% off. Visit rosettastone.com slash coldcase. That's 50% off unlimited access to 25 language courses for the rest of your life. Redeem your 50% off at rosettastone.com slash coldcase today. It's now June 4th, 2019, in West Palm Beach, Florida, 29 years after Minerva Cantu is murdered. We always start a trial with the actual crime scene itself. We want to give the jury an opportunity to actually see and feel what happened in that house,

and then it sort of sets the stage of the story that we're trying to tell and the story the evidence is trying to tell this is a burglary gone bad which is why we're looking at close touch evidence you've got a statement from your prime suspect that basically my dna shouldn't be in that house and it's there the defense strategy was to muddy up the waters. The defense is in a very difficult position because they have what would easily be the worst of all their fears, real data that really implicates their client. The key here is being able to say, look, this makes sense. All of this data works together. And that's really how I approach interpreting the case.

In my closing, I want to stick to the facts, and I want to keep the jury focused. The centerpiece of my case was, you've got DNA. Had he said he knew the lady and purchased jewelry from her, OK, well, that might be a more plausible explanation of why your DNA is there. But when you deny it, saying that, I don't know that lady, I was never in that house, there was only one logical conclusion,

that Jafir Negraan was there, was one of the people who burglarized the Cantu home, and was responsible for her death. A couple of my family members and my brother, we sat through the trial. I was feeling very angry, how he could possibly do this and leave my brother there crying by himself and take my mother's life.

The trial was very, very, very difficult. The state wraps up its closing arguments, and then the case goes to the jury. After deliberating for two days, jurors deliver their verdict. There's a very, very tense moment at which the verdict is handed to the bailiff and then handed to the judge. Jeffer Negron was found guilty as charged of first-degree murder. It's always a great feeling.

I remember hearing the word guilty. It felt like something was lifted off my shoulders and I felt immensely, immensely grateful. A judge sentences Jeffer Negron to life in prison. Detectives never found a match for that second foreign DNA sample found on Minerva's body. A lot of the evidence clearly indicated that there was a second person also involved in the murder of Minerva Cantu. But the only way the second suspect in this case is going to be brought to justice is if there's other unidentifiable DNA that exists, which I don't know, or somebody comes forward. Maybe even Mr. Negron has a guilty conscience or wants to give up his partner.

The Minerva Cantu case had stayed with me the rest of my career. You never forget that. You never forget a scene like that. I was very disappointed as a young detective, being my first homicide, that I wasn't able to solve it. I started to question my ability. I would ask myself constantly,

am I doing everything that I could be doing? And here we are 30 years later. It's kind of bittersweet not being the guy to bring it to closure was the bitter part. Being able to testify against him is the sweet part. We got justice for my mother's case. But, you know, not being able to call your mother, it's hard. Me being a mother, I want to show up for my kids every day just to be that person that I did have for the first eight years of my life. I go to my mom's cemetery, like, all the time.

This last birthday of hers, I brought a speaker and I danced with her because she loved to dance. So, you know, as I'm getting older, I'm learning that sometimes it doesn't always have to be so sad. And sometimes you have to celebrate who she was. Cold Case Files is hosted by Marissa Pinson, to celebrate who she was.

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