TULSA - The Sheriff's Cold Case Task Force has only existed for a year, but it has come closer to solving an infamous 19-year mystery in the killing of 16-year-old Dena Dean.
Dean was reported missing when she didn't come home from work in west Tulsa 19 years ago.
Deputies found her body days later in an abandoned field.
Her death was ruled a homicide, but no one was put behind bars.
"I will not go away, I will not give up. And eventually you will get caught," said Diana Dean.
A mother in pain made a chilling promise years ago.
One she had no idea a group of perfect strangers would dedicate themselves to keeping.
"It's an eerie feeling to show up to a place you haven't been to in many, many years," said Dr. Josh Turley of the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office.
Turley sifted through the grass and the trees 19 years ago, a day he'll never forget for one reason.
"Her. You know, when you see a 16-year-old child you know that is someone's child, and that is hard."
The investigator and his partner found Dena that day.
"It's tough. It's very, very hard."
A couple weeks ago he agreed to go back to the scene for the first time with the Sheriff's Cold Case Task Force.
A group of retired police officers, sheriff's deputies and FBI agents, who have only been together a year.
They say this day is a big step on their roadmap to answers.
"This team has already made progress. We've already discovered some things that hadn't been discovered before," said the head of the task force Mike Huff.
Detectives say the lay of the land has changed a lot in almost 20 years, from the road moving positions to the levy, but one thing they can all agree on is her body was found next to the pond alone.
Among a murky pond, knee-high in dense woods, Turley shares his theories with the team.
Combining an old scene with new technology they're hopeful it will bring the team now what pen and paper couldn't long ago.
"If we didn't think we could, if we thought it was unsolvable, we wouldn't be here," Huff said. "If we do go to court this will be presented to a jury."
Standing before a jury, a dream for a family that's suffered, but never wavered.
"I want my day in court. I want to hear a judge say guilty, and then I'm a happy person," said Dena's father Larry Dean.
He's grateful for the task force and the chance to give his daughter one last gift.
"I know she wants answers and we're going to get answers for her soon. Real soon."
The task force anticipates some sort of resolution to the investigation within the year.
If you have any information on the case you're asked to call the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office.
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