(NBC News) — On Friday’s “Dateline,” for decades, a mother searches for answers in the unsolved murder of her 14-year-old daughter Gloria until new DNA technology changes everything.
Here is a preview of Andrea Canning’s report:
After they identified Gloria’s body, police went to Yvonne’s house to deliver the awful news.
YVONNE POINTER: I remember them saying, “We found a body.”
Before they could say another word, Yvonne collapsed to the floor.
YVONNE POINTER: I was having an out-of-body experience. It’s almost like you go to a place– of comfort, of denial.
Yvonne’s denial was easy to understand. Just hours earlier, Gloria had bounded off to school, upbeat and full of life. Typical Gloria.
ANDREA CANNING: What kind of daughter was she?
YVONNE POINTER: Gloria was the type of daughter that every mother wish she could’ve had. Very obedient. Just a caring, loving person. A child that the school loved, and the teachers loved, and everybody. And I probably make it sound like she was so perfect, but she was.
ANDREA CANNING: What happens that– in those first days? What are you doing? What can you do?
YVONNE POINTER: The first days after the homicide, you’re just trying to adjust to the emptiness. But now you have a funeral to plan. How do you plan a funeral for your child?
At the funeral home, Yvonne was warned not to look inside the casket. But she insisted on having a private moment with her daughter.
YVONNE POINTER: I pulled the cover back and I just looked at her from head to toe. And I said, Gloria, don’t worry. I’ll find out who did this.
ANDREA CANNING: You made her a promise that day?
YVONNE POINTER: I made a promise to her. And grief took a backseat at that moment. ‘Cause we needed to find the killer.
Watch “Dateline: A Promise to Gloria,” Friday at 10 p.m. on NBC4.
