The Girl From Wahoo

Summary

48 Hours: "The Girl From Wahoo"

Original Air Date: February 16, 2026
Host: CBS News

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Episode Overview

This episode of 48 Hours revisits the haunting 1969 murder of Mary Kay Hesse, a 17-year-old from Wahoo, Nebraska. After decades as Nebraska’s oldest unsolved cold case, the investigation’s breakthroughs, setbacks, and eventual resolution are explored in depth. Through interviews with investigators, family, and key witnesses, this episode paints a portrait not only of a persistent search for justice but also the lasting impact on Mary Kay’s family and community.

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Key Themes & Discussion Points

1. Impact of Mary Kay Hesse’s Murder on Wahoo

• The episode opens with community members reflecting on the shock and fear that gripped Wahoo in 1969.
  • “The murder of Mary Kay Hesse has been on the minds of the people of Wahoo, Nebraska, for 56 years now... It didn't happen that often in Nebraska. Murders were rare.” – Ted Green [00:10]
• The crime changed the town’s atmosphere, leading to lost innocence and increased fear among residents.
• Family members recall the immediate aftermath and long-term trauma:
  • “It’s the kind of pain you feel across the room.” – Interviewer referencing the reaction of Mary Kay’s mother [09:04]
  • “Everything changed. What our parents allowed us to go do. We lost so many things...” – Ted Green [09:42]

2. Initial Investigation & Missed Opportunities

• The early investigation was hampered by inexperience, lack of coordination among agencies, and an overreliance on polygraphs.
  • “They polygraphed virtually the entire male population of both the schools. I mean, can you imagine the uproar would happen today?” – Ted Green [13:51]
• Crucial evidence, like the potential murder vehicle, was never examined.
• Major suspects emerged early but evidence remained circumstantial.

3. Prime Suspects: Joseph Ambrose & Wayne Greaser

• Both were connected to Mary Kay through the local Wigwam Cafe and social circles.
• Ambrose, new to town and on parole for unrelated crimes, became the main person of interest:
  • “He wrote a $10 bad check with his buddy...they escape...they catch up in California and bring him all the way back.” – Ted Green [14:36]
  • Ambrose drove a vehicle matching witness descriptions seen near the crime scene.
• Greaser, Ambrose’s close associate, died by suicide in 1977; both had alibis for each other that later cast suspicion.

4. Decades of Cold Case Efforts

• The case languished for years until the Nebraska State Patrol Cold Case Unit revived it in 1999, led by Sgt. Bob Frank.
  • “One thing about doing cold cases, you find, is that stories grow, stories change. So trying to separate truth from fiction is sometimes difficult...” – Bob Frank [17:57]
• Forensic advances provided new hope, but testing on old evidence (books, clothing, gloves) yielded no usable DNA or fingerprints.
  • “We're hoping for prints to come off. It's been 30 years.” – Ted Green [19:50]

5. Community Involvement & Social Media in Modern Push

• In 2019, a Facebook tipline revived local interest and produced new leads regarding Ambrose’s car potentially being dumped in a reservoir.
  • “Dear Mary Kay, 50 years have come and gone since someone took you from us all. I sit here...working to find justice for you.” – Josh Eberhardt (reading a post) [30:22]
• Underwater search teams pulled up debris consistent with the missing vehicle, but the reservoir couldn’t be fully drained for confirmation.

6. Exhumation & New Forensic Insights

• In 2024, Mary Kay’s body was exhumed for a modern autopsy, revealing her wounds matched slaughterhouse killing techniques—skills Ambrose would have possessed:
  • “The angle, exactly how her body was showed in the autopsy is exactly how [slaughterhouse workers] were told to do it.” – Ted Green [35:01]
• Investigators tied shoeprints at the scene to Ambrose’s known shoe size and potentially to prison-issue shoes he would have worn on parole.

7. Interview & Interrogation Breakthroughs

• Greene personally interviewed Ambrose in 2021, pinning him down on forensic coincidences and inconsistencies:
  • Regarding blood on Ambrose’s car:
    “He said that blood is on the left rear fender, the back, the back fender. You don't hit a deer or rabbit on the left rear fender...” – Ted Green [36:17]
• Witnesses remembered Ambrose confessing to handling Mary Kay and to the presence of blood.

8. Grand Jury, Indictment, and Plea Deal

• In 2024, a grand jury indicted Ambrose for first-degree murder. Prosecutors hurried as time and living witnesses waned.
  • “We were getting to a point that... we’re starting to lose witnesses. So the decision was made to take it before the grand jury.” – Ted Green [37:02]
• In 2025, Ambrose, by then frail and elderly, took a plea deal for conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. He maintained his innocence and gave no details, to the dismay of Mary Kay’s family and investigators.
  • “There's no justice for Mary Kay. There's no justice for the family.” – Ted Green [39:11]
  • “He gets off. I didn’t do it. ...I laid my keys on the table and walked out two minutes after he pledged. I retired right then and there.” – Ted Green [39:39]
• Due to 1969 sentencing guidelines and time served, Ambrose was released from prison almost immediately after sentencing.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|--------------|-------| | 00:10 | Ted Green | “The murder of Mary Kay Hesse has been on the minds of the people of Wahoo, Nebraska for 56 years now...” | | 07:32 | Ted Green | “Rage. Rage.” (on the 14 stab wounds) | | 13:51 | Ted Green | “They polygraphed virtually the entire male population of both the schools. I mean, can you imagine the uproar would happen today?” | | 19:50 | Ted Green | “We're hoping for prints to come off. It's been 30 years.” | | 30:22 | Josh Eberhardt (reading post) | “Dear Mary Kay, 50 years have come and gone since someone took you from us all. I sit here at my computer every day working to find justice for you.” | | 35:01 | Ted Green | “The angle, exactly how her body was showed in the autopsy is exactly how [slaughterhouse workers] were told to do it.” | | 39:11 | Ted Green | “There's no justice for Mary Kay. There's no justice for the family.” | | 41:48 | Interviewer | “...the maximum penalty under the law as it existed in 1969 and which is applicable today...is two years of imprisonment.” [On Ambrose’s sentence] | | 42:11 | Ted Green | “He got all these years to live. And Mary Kay never had the chance to live.” |

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Important Segment Timestamps

• 00:10 – 06:38: Ted Green recounts the day of the murder and the immediate shock to the community.
• 08:22 – 10:05: Family reactions and changes to town life.
• 12:43 – 14:36: The two primary suspects, the Wigwam Cafe, and early investigation focus.
• 17:29 – 20:54: The cold case unit’s renewed efforts, evidence review, and forensics.
• 28:04 – 29:33: Ted Green tracks down old and new witnesses, uncovers new claims, and interviews.
• 30:14 – 32:50: The social media campaign and reservoir tip.
• 34:21 – 35:41: Exhumation and new forensic revelations.
• 35:53 – 36:30: 2021 confrontation with Ambrose and the significance of blood evidence.
• 37:02 – 42:11: Indictment, plea deal, sentencing, and family/investigators’ disappointment.

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Conclusion

“The Girl from Wahoo” explores the persistence, sorrow, and frustration that comes with half a century of searching for justice. The final resolution—marked by a plea bargain, minimal sentence, and lack of closure—deeply disappointed the family and those who worked the case tirelessly. Through the episode’s nuanced narrative, listeners experience the emotional and investigative complexities of one of Nebraska’s most stubborn cold cases.

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Transcript

[Ted Green]

The murder of Mary Kay Hesse has been on the minds of the people of Wahoo, Nebraska for 56 years now. I remember being about 9 years old out in the front yard. My mom came out and said, hey, get in this house right now. A girl in Wahoo has been murdered. And I remember that plain as day. It didn't happen that often in Nebraska. Murders were rare. Mary Kay hesse was a 17 year old high school student from Wahoo, Nebraska who was killed by stabbing in 1969. The Mary Kay Hesse case is unique because of how many people have tried to solve it. And they just hit brick walls right and left. I'm Bob Frank. Back in 1999, I was a sergeant in charge of the Nebraska State Patrol Cold Case Unit. She was running, you could see the struggle. The blood on the ground and the footprint showed there was a struggle in this area. Her shoe and another spot of blood was found and then her body. I'm hoping the integrity of the evidence is still there. As far as it's not too old to test. As far as DNA, we're hoping after 30 years we can pull a fingerprint off those books. The purse was found at the crime scene. This stuff has been in here for the last 30 years. Rabbit's Foot with a key and a nail clipper on it. Better be dead sure than sure dead. Kind of ironic, isn't it? With the makeup, the pencils, the handkerchiefs, the Kleenexes, just your normal 17 year old's purse. I have one prime suspect. What I'll say right now is he knows who did it or he was there. I can't positively say he did it yet.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

What did you learn about what the connection was between him and Mary Kay?

[Ted Green]

Through reports that we had. They were both at the Wigwam Cafe about the same time.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

How long did you end up working this case?

[Ted Green]

We probably stayed on it for about a year.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Did you think, well, I couldn't make any more headway here. It's never going to be solved.

[Ted Green]

Well, it got to the point where working with a grant, we had X amount of funds to expend per case and we had reached our maximum. It was one that I really wanted to solve for the community, but it just didn't turn out that way. My name is Ted Green and I was the criminal investigator for the Saunders County Attorney's Office.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Her body was found where? Roughly.

[Ted Green]

That's roughly right here in the distance.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

When you're first assigned this case, did you think, well, I'm the guy, I'm going to Solve this. I'm going to get the answer no.

[Ted Green]

But I don't let go. I won't give up. And it was putting this puzzle back together.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

What happened? After more than 50 years in this.

[Ted Green]

Case, the puzzle came together. You finally got a full puzzle with all the pieces in place. Natalie Morales reports. The girl from Wahoo. Mary Kay Hesse's unsolved murder hung over this community for five decades.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

It needed to be resolved. I look at this as the case where the community lost its innocence, where people were told, we're not going into Wahoo, you're not going out alone. Jennifer Jochem, Saunders County Attorney, and Richard Register, Deputy County Attorney, worked on what is believed to be the longest unsolved cold case in Nebraska history. The 1969 murder of 17 year old Mary Kay Hesse, a high school junior.

[Ted Green]

It was very well known. A murder, especially of this nature is.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Not common for this area. This right here is what Wahoo is really known for, right?

[Ted Green]

I mean, cow country, foreign country, it hasn't changed much.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Ted Greene was the criminal investigator for the Saunders County Attorney's Office. He started working on the case in 2015.

[Ted Green]

So this was the high school here.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

So on that day, she had just.

[Ted Green]

Finished, walked home, and she started walking north here on Linden Street.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Memories of Mary Kay Hessey's murder loom large in this small town. This black and white footage was filmed by a local television station shortly after the murder. Much of Wahoo looks like it did on March 25, 1969, when Mary Kay Hesse never made it home after school.

[Ted Green]

So the last place that she was seen was here on the corner.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

That evening, Mary Kay's parents reported her missing and the community came out in force to search for her.

[Ted Green]

So they had Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts, church groups, school groups, and the Wahoo Police Department Sheriff's office all searching for her.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Nothing was found until close to midnight when a farmer spotted Mary Kay's schoolbooks and purse stacked neatly on a road near his field.

[Ted Green]

Inside the books was her name.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

And so he brought the books into Wahoo and ran into the police that were searching for her.

[Ted Green]

They all went back to where the.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Books were found, and they found her body lying in a ditch on the side of the road, not far from Mary Kay's bloodied body. Investigators discovered her shoes in the road, tire tracks from a car, and shoe prints, potentially from the killer. And how had she died?

[Ted Green]

Well, in a horrible way, she was chased down. The footprints, which were preserved by the ground freezing, showed that she got out of the vehicle and she Ran and you could tell by the strides that she was really trying to escape. And then near where her body's found, there's a pool of blood. She's laying there discarded like trash.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Investigators photographed the scene, measured and made a cast of that shoe print and sent Mary Kay's body for an autopsy. It was determined that Mary Kay had been beaten and was stabbed to death, leaving 14 wounds. No knife was found at the scene.

[Ted Green]

She has a pretty good mark on her jaw where she was punched. And the stab wounds come after that.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Stabbing somebody 14 times though, what did that tell you about the nature of the crime?

[Ted Green]

Rage. Rage.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Was she sexually assaulted?

[Ted Green]

No, no. But I believe she understood that's probably where it was going to head.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

The investigation was initially handled by various law enforcement departments. Mary Kay's clothing was sent to the FBI to J. Edgar Hoover's attention before the days of DNA testing to see if anything could be learned. Investigators questioned people around town about the day of the murder. A witness reported seeing Mary Kay that day at around 5pm, getting into a car that had two men at that street corner in those early days and weeks, did you think, oh, they're going to find whoever did this?

[Ted Green]

Oh, yeah.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Mark Miller and Kathy Toll are Mary Kay's cousins. These are some of Mary Kay's personal belongings. Right. This is her 4H. Is she proud of what she did at the 4H? How tiny she was? Yeah. Kathy was 9 and Mark 8 when they learned Mary Kay had been murdered.

[Ted Green]

She's the oldest of those cousins, so she always looked out for all of us.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

She was a 17 year old girl, full of life. Kathy recalls being picked up early from school the day Mary Kay's body was found. And they told us we had to come to Ohio. Kathy's family drove to her cousin's home. When they got there, Kathy saw and heard Mary Kay's mom Dorothy. When we went in, it was just. You could hear her wailing. It's the kind of pain you feel across the room. And at the time, did they tell you how she was found or was that too much to tell? The cousins, the kids, I think we.

[Ted Green]

Heard it when they told us. Then it was on the news.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

The family and the community could not understand why Mary Kay had been targeted. There were no answers, just fear. And I remember thinking, I'm scared.

[Ted Green]

Everything changed. What our parents allowed us to go do.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

You didn't have the freedoms that you had before.

[Ted Green]

We lost so many different things because of it. Our parents wanting to overprotect us, but.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Being overprotective did not ensure safety. Mary Kay's parents, especially her father, had always been very watchful and careful with their daughter.

[Ted Green]

She had a very strict father and she was shy. She very much wanted to fit in. And there was a group of girls that would put makeup on her at the beginning of the day and change her clothes out so she would fit in socially. And then at the end of the school, she changed back. She wanted to be a part of the crowd.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Mary Kay was trying to participate in school activities, practicing baton twirling, hoping to be a majorette. Part of fitting in for Mary Kay also involved trying to get a date for an upcoming school dance. Mary Kay had even written this letter to another cousin asking him to be her date. Will you go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with me? Just wanted a date. Mm. And so she would take her cousin. This was March 18, 1969. So just a week before she died, investigators thought that perhaps the pressure to find a date and fit in led the usually shy Mary Kay to get into that car with the men at that street corner. I think she was so naive. She had no clue that something bad could happen to her.

[Ted Green]

She just wanted to get a boy to go to the dance with her. And unfortunately, the dance she went to was her death. Confronting high credit card debt can feel scary. But the good news is if you owe $10,000 or more in credit card debt, financial relief options are now available. National Debt Relief is currently offering debt relief designed to reduce what you owe and put you on the fast track to becoming debt free. If you qualify for debt relief, you.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

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[Ted Green]

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[Ted Green]

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[Interviewer/Narrator]

Ted Green, formerly the investigator for the Saunders County Attorney's office, believes the two men who picked up 17 year old Mary Kay Hessey on March 25, 1969 were driving here to an area known.

[Ted Green]

Locally as the Grove, Natural parking and party spot.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

So kids coming down this way, there were two things in mind, either partying or hooking up.

[Ted Green]

Or hooking up. Those are the two things on everybody's mind.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Greene's theory of the crime is that when Mary Kay realized the men's intentions, she fled the car and one of the men ran after her, eventually stabbing her to death. But people who knew Mary Kay wondered why she got in the car with the two men.

[Ted Green]

She wouldn't get into a car with somebody that she didn't know.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

She knew these guys working that theory. Investigators in 1969 questioned males in town, especially ones who could have crossed paths with Mary Kay. They used what was then a brand new crime solving tool, polygraphs.

[Ted Green]

They polygraphed virtually the entire male population.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Of both the schools.

[Ted Green]

I mean, can you imagine the uproar would happen today? And they were looking for that as their silver bullet.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

One of the people polygraphed and questioned a few days after the murder was this man, Joseph Ambrose, 22 years old at the time. Ambrose had been seen weeks before the murder talking to Mary Kay around town. They both frequented this restaurant, the Wigwam cafe, which still stands today. Ambrose stood out as he was new to town. Investigators learned he was on parole after having been convicted of forgery and escaping from custody.

[Ted Green]

He wrote a $10 bad check with his buddy up in Wayne, Nebraska. They get stopped for that and they escape this little county jail up there, and they catch up in California and bring him all the way back.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Ambrose served about three years and then moved to wahoo.

[Ted Green]

And he's out on parole. He's got a job. He's working at a packing plant.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

So a slaughterhouse?

[Ted Green]

Yeah, slaughterhouse. And she knew him.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Authorities say they learned that Ambrose was known to mingle with high school girls and had a reputation for having a temper. He also drove the type of car similar to this one that someone said they saw near the crime scene.

[Ted Green]

A local resident had seen two cars leave that night. One car was a white over red 56 Chevy. The second car was a white over blue 56 Chevy with two dark haired males in it, driving at a high rate of speed. Ambrose drove that white over blue. He's a person of interest.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Ambrose denied any involvement in the murder, and his polygraph seemed to support that. Ambrose said he had an alibi that the night of the murder, he was hanging out at various locations with his friend Wayne Greaser, who was also questioned and polygraphed.

[Ted Green]

Wayne Greaser was just that wannabe kid who was just following around Ambrose.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

And so he says he's with him. But while being questioned, Ambrose did Speak about things as Ted Greene that got him in trouble with the law and he was immediately sent to jail.

[Ted Green]

He blows his parole, right? In the pre polygraph interview, he violates it, says, I'm buying booze for minors. I'm having sex with minors. So he's booked parole violation, but not.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

For Mary Kay's murder. Why did this case not move along further at the time? That's a very good question. Follow up in the initial investigation, prosecutors say seemed to be lacking within experience a factor. Cars were not checked for blood and suspects shoe sizes were not compared to the shoe prints found at the scene. This was the beginning of the State.

[Ted Green]

Patrol because before then they just gave tickets for speeding. And so these people were thrown into this new investigative unit. There were other agencies involved.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

It didn't seem like there was really a lead investigator and they were just.

[Ted Green]

Relying on those polygraphs.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

For decades, the case sat cold.

[Ted Green]

After seeing the pictures and going through the case, you can visualize it. I mean, everything's the same. After 30 years, it's all the same. Nothing has changed.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Then 30 years later, in 1999, with the creation of the Nebraska State Patrol cold case unit, Mary Kay's murder was getting attention again. And 48 hours cameras followed Sergeant Bob Frank as he worked the case.

[Ted Green]

And her body was found right in here. And that's where we're at right here.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

And we spoke with Frank again in 2025, now retired from the State Patrol.

[Ted Green]

One thing about doing cold cases, you find, is that stories grow, stories change. And so, you know, trying to separate truth from fiction is sometimes difficult to.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Try to get to the truth. Frank in 1999 scoured the old case reports. He noticed that Joseph Ambrose and Wayne Greaser, the men who were each other's alibis, kept coming up in witness statements.

[Ted Green]

And I started talking to other people who had been told by these two individuals that they had done this homicide.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Greaser had died by suicide in 1977. Ambrose was long out of jail, having served a year and a half for that parole violation. After Mary Kay's murder, he had moved around and worked as a truck driver. Bob Frank knew at some point he would want to talk to Ambrose, but first wanted to take a new look at the old evidence in 99. Now are you hoping you're going to get some sort of DNA, something? So here's the evidence bag. By 1999, when Sergeant Bob Frank led the Nebraska State Patrol's cold case unit, advances had been made in forensic science that were not available in 1969 when Mary Kay Hessey was murdered. 48 hours cameras filmed Frank going through Mary Kay's belongings as he looked for DNA and fingerprints. Among the items tested were Mary Kay's school books, found stacked at the scene.

[Ted Green]

We're hoping for prints to come off. It's been 30 years.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

The theory was that Mary Kay left the books and her purse in the car. The killer noticed the items and, not wanting to be linked to her belongings, dumped them.

[Ted Green]

So we know it was probably the suspect that put those books on the road. What we were looking for there was any type of fingerprint evidence.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

A fingerprint examiner worked to find and lift prints off the school books, including one titled Building a Successful Marriage. Were there any fingerprints that came forward?

[Ted Green]

No. That's what we really had him concentrate on were these gloves.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

She was wearing these at the time, wasn't she?

[Ted Green]

Yes. We were looking for somebody else's blood on those gloves.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

They also tested Mary Kay's clothing.

[Ted Green]

These clothes were cut off at the autopsy. When I see this, it just motivates me more. I mean, it's something you want to solve, it's something you want to get closer. To tell you the truth, when I put this out and laid it out, the first thing I thought of was Mrs. Hessey.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Frank spoke several times with Mary Kay's mother, Dorothy, over the course of his investigation. That's when she started the high school. 48 Hours spoke with her as well in 1999. I don't think it'll be solved. I really don't. It's gone all these many years and I just. I've just given up hope. Hope would be diminished again when the forensic testing led nowhere. Still, Joseph Ambrose and Wayne Greaser remained at the top of Frank's suspect list. In May 1999, Frank decided to question people who knew Ambrose and Greaser around the time of the murder and had been named in prior police reports.

[Ted Green]

That's why I want two guys in there, so one guy can really watch how these guys are reacting to the questions being asked them.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

The thought was the passage of time might make someone more forthcoming. And the investigators took several steps to try to help that along.

[Ted Green]

We created an atmosphere to where it appeared we were a full fledged task force looking at this case. If he's giving you a hard time.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

In fact, there was no designated HESI task force, nor was it getting hot. It was just one of the measures taken by Frank and his team as they tried to see if anyone would give new information.

[Ted Green]

I wrote their names down on the board and some numbers behind those names.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Which don't really have any relevancy either, Investigator Jay Peterson.

[Ted Green]

But it's just going to get them to thinking that we know a heck of a lot more about them than perhaps we actually do.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

They also tried to make the setting a bit uncomfortable for. For those being interviewed.

[Ted Green]

Did you grease the table down too? Yeah, I do. What we did was we took a bottle of furniture polish, we waxed the table, we waxed these chairs. So when they sit down, they're not.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Going to be able to get into a comfort zone.

[Ted Green]

So keep them on edge a little bit and hopefully that'll get them talking a little bit too. We put electronic devices in to record in the room. We let these people know when we brought them in that they were going to be monitored constantly.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

But despite all those efforts, nothing usable was learned.

[Ted Green]

We had people telling us that Wayne Greaser told us this, Joe Ambrose told us this, but it was all hearsay evidence. You know, we didn't have that witness that was there or, you know, knew the facts directly.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

So Frank decided it was time to interview Joseph Ambrose himself.

[Ted Green]

We will just go see what we can get by knocking on the door. Let's do it.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

In September 1999, Frank traveled to Orange Park, Florida, where Ambrose was living working with local law enforcement. Frank went to Ambrose's home where he answered the door.

[Ted Green]

You, Mr. Ambrose? Yes, sir.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

And willingly went to be questioned at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

[Ted Green]

Recall for me what you did that night, I mean, if you've been questioned about it before. No. So tell me what you Ambrose said.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

On the day of the murder. He got off work around 5:30, went home and then went to a club until closing time. Unlike his previous interview where his now deceased friend Wayne Greaser was his alibi, he did not mention being with Greaser.

[Ted Green]

But you had said in interview reports, and I have those interview reports that you were with Wayne. Okay. It's like I said, it's been a long time. It's possible I was with him.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Frank also asked many questions about Ambrose's job at a slaughterhouse.

[Ted Green]

I worked on the kill floor. Kill floor? Yeah.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Since Mary Kay was stabbed to death, Ambrose was asked about his access to knives.

[Ted Green]

Was there a special type of instrument he had to use for that or was it just a regular knife? No, I had, I think like three different knives.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

But I. Ambrose was adamant he had nothing to do with Mary Kay's murder. Even when Frank implied they found someone's DNA at the scene.

[Ted Green]

We have a wonderful thing called DNA. Right. And we're gonna be able to show who she struggled with. Right. Again, you know, we have all this little bits of information here or there that fit together that you were there. Not necessarily that you did it, but that you were there when it happened. Okay, that's yet to be proven. I mean, I wasn't there. Like I said, I had nothing to do with it. And you're free to take blood, anything you want.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Despite Ambrose's cooperation, Frank found several things suspicious, like Ambrose's explanation for giving different versions of where he was at the time of the murder.

[Ted Green]

Well, I don't remember everything. The reports here indicate a size 9 and a half shoe at the scene.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

And there was that shoe print found at the scene, which was the same size that Ambrose wears.

[Ted Green]

He got a nine and a half shoe. Okay. Another coincidence. Yeah. Okay.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Frank also asked Ambrose about a report from 1972, before Wayne Greaser died, in which a friend of Greaser informed authorities Greaser had confessed to him that he and Ambrose drove Mary Kay to the field and that it was Ambrose who killed her. When Frank brought it up, Ambrose got agitated.

[Ted Green]

I had nothing to do with it. I don't know what Griesia was saying, and that's all I got to say.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

After the interview, Ambrose gave his blood for DNA testing and submitted to another polygraph. Nothing incriminating was found at his house, and his DNA did not match any found on Mary Kay's items.

[Ted Green]

We presented what we had to the county attorney at the time, and he just felt there was not enough to even take it forward.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

In 2000, Frank stopped working the case, but held out hope that one day something would be found.

[Ted Green]

We needed something to drive this case forward.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Hi, I'm Katie Ring, and welcome to crime house 24 7. Throughout the day, we bring you up to the minute crime coverage as stories break with daytime episodes hosted by Vanessa Richardson. Keeping you informed on the cases unfolding right now. And at night, I take you deeper with Night Watch episodes. Examining the facts, the evidence, the people at the center of today's biggest cases. New episodes of Crime House 24. 7 drop every weekday. Listen to and follow Crime House 24 7. Available now wherever you get your podcasts. What exactly happened in this field in 1969 was still a mystery when Ted Green in 2015, then the investigator for the Saunders County Attorney's office, started looking into Mary Kay Hessey's murder.

[Ted Green]

Was putting this puzzle back together.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

He had collected reports from other all the different agencies that worked the case over the years. He found memos and statements that had never been filed.

[Ted Green]

Then I started going through the list of names and all those volumes and re interviewing and so I was able to start tracking down individuals.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Greene says one of those people told him that Ambrose had seen Mary Kay not just at that cafe they frequented, but also around town. And that Ambrose told him he wanted to have sex with Mary Kay.

[Ted Green]

And he says, well, Mary Kay was up in her driveway twirling her baton and he had made the comment that, yeah, the suspect told me he wanted to do her.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Green, like Frank, focused his investigation on Joseph Ambrose. Green says another person told him he had seen Ambrose and Wayne Greaser arguing that night.

[Ted Green]

They got into a fight that very night about some girl and this guy's coming forward and saying this fight occurred and nobody paid attention to him.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Green also re interviewed a co worker of Ambrose who said Ambrose told him after the murder that, quote, I can do six months, but I can't do life. For Greene, this was Ambrose's motive. Green theorized that Ambrose could deal with serving six months for a parole violation, but not more for attempting to sexually assault Mary Kay.

[Ted Green]

He knows he's going back. It's not a place he wants to go.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

So you believe he killed her because he was trying to make sure he was gonna.

[Ted Green]

Yeah.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

She didn't report him.

[Ted Green]

Yeah.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Greene was frustrated with the initial investigation's lack of follow up. Especially disturbing to him was that Joseph Ambrose's car that looks similar to this was long gone and had never been examined.

[Ted Green]

Why wasn't this in those reports? These are basic questions I was asked.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

While Greene worked the case. This man, Josh Eberhardt, a friend of Kathy Toll, Mary Kay's cousin, wanted to bring attention to the decades old murder that continued to haunt the family.

[Ted Green]

The way that I could feel their pain when I spoke with them, I couldn't let it go. I knew I wanted to help them somehow.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

That help came in 2019, when Josh, with the assistance of Kathy, set up a Facebook page, tipline.

[Ted Green]

And I started writing the posts for this page. And I was trying to pull at the heartstrings of the community. Dear Mary Kay, 50 years have come and gone since someone took you from us all. I sit here at my computer every day working to find justice for you.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Josh hoped the posts might jog people's memories. Tips came in that went nowhere. But then.

[Ted Green]

Somebody came forward with a really big tip.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

The tip involved a reservoir not far from the murder scene. The person had heard stories about men taking apart a car that looked like the one Joseph Ambrose drove and Pushing the car into the water. Shortly after Mary Kay's murder, we heard.

[Ted Green]

The words white over blue 50s Chevy. So we knew it was important enough to pass to Ted, and he took it from there.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Ted Greene also thought it was important. He always wondered what happened to the car. Witnesses reported seeing Mary Kay get into a car he believed belonged to Joseph Ambrose. You think it's the Chevy that's in that lake?

[Ted Green]

Yeah. They got rid of the car.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

There was blood on it. It was a murder scene.

[Ted Green]

It was a murder scene. I think the murder weapons there also.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

So Greene tried to determine what was at the bottom of that reservoir. It was a process seen here that went on for about five years, including having a portion dredged.

[Ted Green]

And we started coming up with bits and pieces of weird steel.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

But he needed to come up with more civilian divers cracking cold cases. Then Greene saw a YouTube video from an underwater search and recovery dive team called Adventures with Purpose. The organization is primarily focused on searching underwater for missing persons.

[Ted Green]

Called them up and said, this is an active, ongoing investigation. We don't have a body in here. I'm looking for evidence. And they agreed to do it. Two tone, piece of fiber, two different colors, piece of metal. Same metal we've been pulling up. We pulled up more and more metal. We also pulled up fiber consistent with the color of the interior of the car we're looking for.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Still, though, they could not prove the metal and fiber were from a car. To determine anything more, the reservoir would need to be drained, which was not feasible. If the reservoir couldn't provide more clues, Greene and the county attorney thought perhaps Mary Kay herself could. In 2024, the decision was made to have her body exhumed and perform another autopsy. The first autopsy was not a quality autopsy, or at least by today's standards. Obviously, it's science. Things evolve. But first, the family had to consent. Greene and Kathy Toll had been in close contact through the course of his investigation. Kathy was always pushing to learn more, so she gave her permission to have Mary Kay's body exhumed. It was hard. Anything that maybe would get the answers we were looking for, but it was a hard choice. But what kind of answers could be found from a body that had been buried for more than 50 years?

[Ted Green]

We didn't know what we were going to find.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Mary Kay had been buried for 55 years when her casket was lifted out of the ground to perform another autopsy. Remarkably, say prosecutors, her body was well preserved, allowing a pathologist to learn more about her knife wounds. The second autopsy was extremely valuable. It Added clarity to the manner of killing. According to investigators, the manner in which Mary Kay was stabbed was consistent with how slaughterhouse workers are taught to kill animals.

[Ted Green]

The angle, exactly how her body was showed in the autopsy is exactly how they were told to do it.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

For Ted Greene, it was another piece of the puzzle tying Joseph Ambrose, who had worked on the kill floor of a slaughterhouse, to Mary Kay's murder. There was also that shoe print at the murder scene, a size nine and a half.

[Ted Green]

And he wore a nine and a half shoe. And that's the size shoe that was there.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

But it was more than just the size, Greene says, It was also the pattern of the print. It matched a prison issue shoe that Ambrose, on parole at the time of Mary Kay's murder, could have been wearing.

[Ted Green]

So these little consistencies are starting to add up.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

At what point, though, do you feel you have enough that you can then go to the county attorney's office and say, I think I've got a pretty good case here?

[Ted Green]

It was his interview.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

In 2021, Green interviewed Ambrose traveling to Ohio, where he was living. According to Green, people told him they had seen blood on Ambrose's car around the time of the murder. Green says when he asked Ambrose about this, he admitted there was blood on his car because he ran over a deer or rabbit.

[Ted Green]

He said that blood is on the left rear fender, the back, the back fender. You don't hit a deer or rabbit on the left rear fender and put blood on that. And he admitted the blood was there. The night of the homicide, Greene believed.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Ambrose pinned Mary Kay on the car trunk and the blood was hers from those 14 stab wounds. In 2023, Greene presented his investigation's findings to the county attorney. The witness statements, the shoe print evidence, Ambrose's interview. Prosecutors knew it would be a challenging case. The murder weapon was never found, nor was there DNA evidence connecting Ambrose to the killing. But they also knew time was running out.

[Ted Green]

We were getting to a point that.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

55, 56 years ago this occurred. So we're starting to lose witnesses. So the decision was made to take it before the grand jury. The grand jury quickly indicted Joseph Ambrose for the first degree murder of Mary Kay Hesse. The then 77 year old was arrested on November 18, 2024 in Oklahoma, where he was living. Ambrose was then extradited to Nebraska.

[Ted Green]

Thrilled to death. I was thrilled, thrilled to death that finally, finally, Mary Kay will have justice.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

For Mary Kay's family, the arrest was gratifying, especially for Kathy. She had promised Mary Kay's mother, Dorothy, who died in 2007 that she would fight for justice and not Forget Mary Kay. Mrs. Aunt Dorothy, asking for us to continue to search for whatever happened to Mary Kay. I didn't want to let her down. I told her that I would not stop, that I would continue. Kathy and Mark were preparing themselves to finally have some answers to 56 years of questions about what happened to Mary Kay. There were pretrial hearings where Ambrose appeared frail and on oxygen. Months passed. And then In July of 2025, Kathy and Mark got news they were not expecting. A plea deal had been reached, not for first degree murder as charged, but for conspiracy to commit first degree murder. As part of the deal, Ambrose pleaded no contest, which meant he did not have to give any details about the murder.

[Ted Green]

The family never got the chance to say no.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Kathy and Mark say they weren't consulted about the deal, which also named the deceased, Wayne Greaser, as the other person conspiring to kill Mary Kay. It was a blow to Kathy and Mark and to Ted Green.

[Ted Green]

There's no justice for Mary Kay. There's no justice for the family.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

And no answer.

[Ted Green]

And no answer.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

In an email to 48 Hours, Joseph Ambrose's attorney, stated that Mr. Ambrose maintains his innocence. Due to Mr. Ambrose's age. He states he took the plea bargain due to his health issues since he may not have lived until trial to try to clear his name.

[Ted Green]

He gets off. I didn't do it. Really. I'm sorry if you're going to fold like that. I laid my keys on the table and walked out two minutes after he pledged. I retired right then and there.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

I understand. With some folks, the plea deal wasn't particularly appealing. County attorney Jennifer Jochem knew there would be backlash for accepting the plea deal. But she also felt as they proceeded to trial, the case was only getting weaker.

[Ted Green]

You know, you have to look at.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

The odds of even getting to trial. There were chain of custody issues from the evidence going through so many hands over the years. And with some witnesses dead, testimony could be deemed inadmissible. It was leaving them uncertain. The case could be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. We had to analyze the case and the evidence. It was important to get the conviction. But since Mary Kay's murder occurred in 1969, sentencing guidelines from then would have to be used. A conviction of conspiracy to murder in 1969 carried only two years of prison time. We're bound to use those statutes as they existed at that time. Oh, I'm angry. I'm plain angry. On August 27, 2025, just before formal sentencing was to occur. We spoke with Kathy and Mark. They already knew the maximum sentence that could be imposed was two years. We all know this isn't justice. His thing was he didn't want to die in jail, he didn't want to die in prison. Mary Kay didn't want to die that day either. At sentencing, Kathy and Mark addressed the court.

[Ted Green]

I remember Mary Kay Hessey as a.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

Person who would never hurt anyone. Joseph Ambrose chose to say nothing. Thank you, Mr. Ambrose. Is there anything you wish to say.

[Ted Green]

Before a sentence is imposed? No. The maximum penalty under the law as.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

It existed in 1969 and which is applicable today in the matter is two years of imprisonment. Due to Nebraska's good time Sentencing Reduction Law, Joseph Ambrose's sentence was cut in half with time served. He was released on November 15, 2025.

[Ted Green]

He got all these years to live. And Mary Kay never had the chance to live.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

For Mary Kay Hesse's family, the quest for justice after more than 50 years remains elusive. She didn't deserve this at all. She was a 17 year old girl full of life. Pluto TV has thousands of free movies and TV shows. I swear, if I'm lying, I'm dying.

[Ted Green]

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[Interviewer/Narrator]

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[Ted Green]

This is the mantra. Free.

[Interviewer/Narrator]

This is the mindset. Mindset. With movies like Interstellar, Dreamgirls and Gladiator.

[Ted Green]

Why are you not entertained?

[Interviewer/Narrator]

And TV shows like Survivor, SpongeBob SquarePants, the fairly odd parents and ghosts put Pluto TV is always free. Huzzah Pluto TV stream now pay never. Pluto TV has thousands of free movies and TV shows. If I'm lying, I'm dying. Like Dream Girls, SpongeBob SquarePants and Ghosts free. Huzzah. Pluto TV. Stream now pay never.