Sometime after midnight in July of 1986,

Stephanie Brown took some friends home who lived in an unfamiliar part of town.

Make sure you go I-5 north. Don't go south and you get lost.

To get back to her apartment,

Brown was told to take Interstate 5 North,

a major thoroughfare in California.

I-5 North?

Despite the directions,

Stephanie Brown made the wrong turn.

It took both science and psychology to discover what happened next.

A fisherman walking down this trail in a remote mountain area outside of Sacramento, California,

discovered the semi-nude body of a young woman lying face down in a flooded irrigation ditch.

Around her neck, a band of purple discoloration, the sign of ligature strangulation.

It was a very isolated, desolate area next to a cornfield, and there were no houses or lights

or civilization anywhere around. It was a very lonely spot to have been driven to, and certainly

she was conscious during the drive. We don't

know how long he toyed with her. We don't know how long he assaulted her, how long it was before

she was killed. The autopsy found traces of semen, but the samples were too badly degraded

for DNA testing. The victim was identified as 19-year-old Stephanie Brown, who worked as a teller in a Sacramento bank.

Stephanie was a very sensitive, loving, caring daughter who wouldn't hurt anybody.

Monday after work, she came by and did laundry. She called a couple of friends on the phone.

Then when she was through, she gave us a kiss goodbye.

...