COUNCIL BLUFFS, IA (WSIL)---In June of 1982, 32 year old Lee Rotatori was found murdered in her hotel room in Council Bluffs, Iowa.
For 30 years, the case remained unsolved. About a decade ago, Detective Steve Andrews took on the case.
Related:ÌýIowa cold case linked to murdered West Frankfort man
"In 2011, I was assigned this case. They had some advancements in DNA at the time and my sergeant at the time came to me and said 'hey can you take a look at this case and see if you can do anything with it," said Andrews.Ìý
A piece of evidence collected at the crime scene, would be the key to solving the case.
"When the case all started, they collected, they did a DNA kit, at the time they did a rape kit. So we had a DNA sample at the time, but we'd never had a profile put together on it," said Andrews.Ìý
The case is solved, with a catch.
"We've officially closed our case. We know that Thomas Oscar Freeman was the suspect who was the perpetrator of our crime in 1982," said Andrews.Ìý
The catch, Freeman, who is from West Frankfort, was killed and found in a shallow grave in Cobden Illinois, 6 months after the death of Rotatori.
Illinois State Police said they are actively investigating Freeman's murder, but Andrews does not believe the timing of the two murders is a coincidence.
"I don't believe in coincidences, especially in the way that Thomas met his demise, in being in such a short time frame following our homicide," said Andrews.Ìý
While the case can now be filed away, and families can have some closure, some questions will never be answered.
"Very early on in the investigation, we knew the where, the when, and the how, we knew that in 1982. Just recently we discovered the who, we know who that is, but the why now is the question. Why did this happen?" said Andrews.Ìý
