TWO-HOUR '20/20' REPORTS ON THE MURDER OF MANDY STAVIK, THE COLD CASE FINALLY SOLVED AFTER NEARLY 30 YEARS
Details How the Killer's Co-Worker Cracked the Case With Used Water Cup From the Office
'20/20' Airs Friday, Sept. 20 (9:00 - 11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC
In 1989, 18-year-old Amanda "Mandy" Stavik disappeared while jogging in her rural Washington hometown; and later, police discovered her body in a nearby river. News of her rape and murder shook her tight-knit community, but with no leads and police unable to find a DNA match to her killer, the case went cold for decades. This spring, a jury found a former neighbor of Mandy's, Timothy Bass, guilty, finally bringing an end to the nearly 30-year-old case. A two-hour "20/20" unfolds the details of how police finally got their man, including the key role a colleague of Bass' played in cracking the case. "20/20" airs Friday, Sept. 20 (9:00 - 11:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC.
"20/20" features interviews with Mary Stavik, Mandy's mother; Gina Malone, Bass' ex-wife; Kim Wagner, Bass' co-worker who helped break the case; Molly Brighton, Mandy's sister; Bridget Whitson, Mandy's stepsister; Rick Zender, Mandy's former boyfriend; David McEachran, former Whatcom County district attorney and prosecutor on the case; Bill Elfo, Whatcom County sheriff; and Kevin Bowhay, lead detective on the case.
While on Thanksgiving break during her freshman year at Central Washington University, Mandy went out for a run with her dog but never returned home. When her dog came home hours later without Mandy, her family and neighbors began a frantic search. Days later, police found her body while searching the Nooksack River by boat.
In 2009, Detective Bowhay took on the case and performed a DNA sweep of the town, requesting samples from dozens of men who lived in the area in 1989, but no matches surfaced. Soon, Bowhay focused on Bass who lived on the same street as Mandy at the time of the murder. Bass quickly married and moved out of the area following Mandy's death. When detectives first approached Bass in 2013, he refused to hand over his DNA for testing. After Bowhay visited Bass' workplace, his co-worker Kim Wagner figured out authorities were interested in Bass. On her own, she collected Bass' used plastic water cup from the garbage and turned it over to police for testing. Bass' DNA retrieved from the cup matched the DNA taken from Mandy's body, and police arrested him in December 2017. This July, Bass received 320 months in prison for the first-degree murder of Mandy.
"20/20" is anchored by David Muir and Amy Robach. David Sloan is senior executive producer.
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