The Campfire Mint Murderer

Summary

Cold Case Files — "The Campfire Mint Murderer"

Podcast: Cold Case Files
Host: Paula Barros (A&E / PodcastOne)
Release Date: September 9, 2025
Episode Theme:
Unraveling the decades-long cold case of nine-year-old Candy Rogers' 1959 abduction and murder in Spokane, Washington—a story marked by community tragedy, relentless investigation, profound loss, and 21st-century forensic breakthroughs that finally named her killer after 62 years.

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Episode Overview

This episode of Cold Case Files meticulously recounts the haunting disappearance and murder of Candy Rogers, the enduring impact on her family and the Spokane community, and the relentless efforts of investigators whose innovative use of modern DNA and genetic genealogy finally solved a case that was cold for over six decades. Through first-person recollections, interviews, and forensic details, listeners experience both the emotional toll and the scientific journey behind one of America’s rare solved cold cases.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Candy Rogers: Innocence Lost (00:29–03:33)

• Family Life and Community Roots

  • Candy Rogers, a shy, smiling 9-year-old, lived with her single mother and grandparents. She was active in the Campfire Girls and loved dolls.
  • "Candy was the cutest little bug…She had a smile always. She was very shy and an only child." — Joanne Poss (Candy’s Cousin), [02:20]

• The Day of the Disappearance

  • March 6, 1959: Candy excitedly sets out to sell Campfire mints around her neighborhood, aiming to surpass the goal of 20 boxes.
  • She never returned home as darkness fell, sparking immediate concern and the start of an intensive search.

2. The Search and Tragedy Strikes (03:33–07:43)

• Search Efforts and Setbacks

  • Community members, local authorities, and Air Force personnel mobilized for a sweeping search. Volunteer-driven, the search even saw a tragic helicopter crash that killed three airmen.
  • "When daylight came, people turned out in droves…Every walk of life came and volunteered their time." — Narrator, [04:40]

• Discovery of Remains

  • After two weeks of searching, Candy’s remains were found discreetly covered by brush in the woods, symbolizing the community’s worst fears realized.
  • "All we saw was a little kneecap of a child's sticking out of the brush pile." — Detective/Investigator, [06:49]
  • The emotional devastation for Candy’s family and community was palpable.
  • "You don't lose a cousin this way." — Joanne Poss, [07:57]

3. Initial Investigation and Frustration (07:43–18:12)

• Key Early Evidence

  • A latent fingerprint was found on a box of Candy’s mints but never identified.
  • Grape gum found on her jacket hinted at a potential clue but led nowhere.

• Suspect Trails

  • The investigation considered multiple suspects, including a neighbor who committed suicide, a known serial rapist, and the notorious serial killer Hugh Morris, but each avenue ended with either lack of evidence or cleared polygraph results.
  • "For someone to take their own life, that's a big red flag that somebody is experiencing a great deal of guilt, perhaps over Candy." — Detective/Investigator, [10:12]

• Family Impact

  • The series of tragedies—including Candy’s death, the helicopter crash, and eventually her father’s suicide—deeply scarred her family.
  • "First Candy and then these airmen, and then my uncle kills himself." — Joanne Poss, [17:45]

4. The Cold Case Years and DNA Hopes (18:19–24:44)

• Case Goes Cold

  • Despite dogged efforts, leads dried up by the mid-1960s. Candy’s family remained haunted and changed by her unsolved murder.
  • "Every year at the candy sale. I would think, why? Why did this have to happen?" — Joanne Poss, [18:25]
  • Her murder sparked procedural changes such as "the buddy system" for Campfire Girls.

• Forensic Breakthroughs Fail—Until They Don’t

  • In 2001, excitement over a possible fingerprint match faltered when it proved inconclusive.
  • A new investigator re-examined Candy’s evidence, discovering that her preserved underwear contained viable DNA.
  • Advances in forensic science led to a DNA profile, but it matched none of the suspects in CODIS; another dead end.
  • "The DNA profile was then uploaded to the CODIS database…and there were never any hits obtained." — Brittany Wright, Forensic Scientist, [20:53]

5. Genetic Genealogy and the Road to Resolution (24:44–31:26)

• Genetic Genealogy

  • Twenty years later, forensic scientist Brittany Wright used genetic genealogy to pursue new leads.
  • "Genetic genealogy is the use of ancestry databases to build a family tree around the DNA obtained from the crime scene." — Brittany Wright, [21:49]
  • Efforts were hampered by degraded DNA and accident during shipping, straining hope but never extinguishing it.

• Technological Leap: Whole Genome Sequencing

  • Cutting-edge technology at Othram Labs handled the tiny, degraded DNA fragments, producing a critical result.
  • "I decided at that point to double down. And I felt like this could still absolutely get solved." — Brittany Wright, [24:14]
  • Finally, in 2021, a familial link in Spokane narrowed suspects down to three deceased brothers.

6. "It Was Him": The Final Identification (31:06–32:58)

• Direct DNA Comparison
  • With only one of the brothers, John Ray Hoff, having surviving children, his daughter Kathy Baird provided DNA that linked her to the crime scene evidence—but her paternity needed confirmation.
  • "I can't imagine not giving DNA to cover up for somebody, no matter how much I love them." — Kathy Baird, [27:15]
  • Investigators exhumed Hoff’s body; after initial failure, they obtained DNA from a tooth, linking Candy’s murder to John Ray Hoff conclusively.
  • "The match between John Hoff's TOOTH and the DNA evidence was a complete match. It was 25 quintillion times more likely that the profile originated from John Hoff than anybody else." — Brittany Wright, [32:33]
  • After 62 years, the case that haunted Spokane received its answer.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• "She wouldn't have gone willingly. She would have fought. I think in Candy's mind, she was giving the police a trail to follow." — Joanne Poss, [04:14]
• "When Candy Rogers' body was discovered, everything changes. The chief is quoted as saying, 'we're dealing with a maniac.'" — Narrator, [07:34]
• “You have to kind of put it in the back of your mind or you wouldn't retain your sanity, I don't think.” — Detective/Investigator, on discovering Candy’s body, [07:19]
• "There's no making him pay for it. There's no punishment. But I'm going to expose him. It's not like I feel guilty like I did it, but I feel responsible, like I wish I could fix it." — Kathy Baird, [33:25]
• "Good overcomes evil." — Joanne Poss, reflecting on her unlikely friendship with the killer's daughter, [35:22]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:29–03:33 — Introduction to Candy Rogers, her family, and her fateful day.
• 03:33–07:43 — Search efforts, helicopter tragedy, and discovery of Candy’s remains.
• 07:43–18:12 — Early investigation, suspects considered and dismissed, devastating impact on the family.
• 18:19–24:44 — DNA evidence emerges, but leads prove frustratingly inconclusive.
• 24:44–31:26 — Application of genetic genealogy and whole genome sequencing brings a break in the case.
• 31:06–32:58 — Exhumation and DNA match finally solve the case.
• 32:58–35:22 — Family reactions, the forging of new bonds, and final reflections.

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Emotional Tone and Reflections

• The episode alternates between investigative tension and deep personal sorrow. It highlights not only the science and persistence required to solve cold cases, but also the long shadows they cast over families and communities.
• Closure remains bittersweet. As Joanne Poss says, "I don't feel there's ever justice in a case like this...She might have been a doctor. She could have been a great scientist. We'll never know..." ([34:00])

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Conclusion

The Campfire Mint Murderer illustrates the evolution of crime-solving, from community searches and analog forensics to the revolutionary impact of DNA technology and genetic genealogy. Beyond the forensic details, the episode tells a human story—of enduring grief, the ripple effects of tragedy, and the possibility of connection amidst loss. As the case finally closes after 62 years, the program reminds listeners of both the enduring mysteries and the new hope offered by modern science.

Transcript

[Marissa Pinson]

Hi Cold case listeners. I'm Marissa Pinson, and if you're enjoying this show, I just want to remind you that episodes of Cold Case Files, as well as the A and E classic podcasts, I Survived, American justice and City Confidential are all available ad free on the new A and E Crime and Investigation channel on Apple Podcasts and Apple plus for just 4.99amonth or 39.99 a year. And now onto the show. The following episode contains disturbing accounts of physical and sexual violence.

[Joanne Poss]

Listener discretion is Candy Rogers was my cousin. 60 years is an awful long time. He had done some terrible things to her. She wouldn't have gone willingly. She would have fought.

[Narrator]

People turned out in droves to come look for Candy. But the helicopter plunged into the water. We're dealing with a monster here.

[Brittany Wright]

I took a hammer and started smashing the tooth.

[Kathy Baird]

I can't imagine having to cover up for somebody, no matter how much I love them.

[Joanne Poss]

Who could have done it? Where is he? Who else has he hurt? Candy has never been out of my mind.

[Marissa Pinson]

There are over 100,000 cold cases in America. Only about 1% are ever solved. This is one of those rare stories. It's March 6, 1956 in Spokane, Washington. It's an exciting day in the Evergreen State for nine year old candy Rogers and all the kids who take part in Campfire Girls. Joanne Poss is Candy's cousin.

[Joanne Poss]

We had a campfire mint sale every year. It was a big thing. That's what kept Campfire going.

[Marissa Pinson]

Zach Stormont is a sergeant with the Spokane Police Department.

[Narrator]

March 6, 1959 for Candy Rogers started with school as usual. But she also had the excitement of selling campfire mints. That afternoon. At the end of the day, she picked up seven boxes of mints. Quite an armload with her school books and the mints. She was a little thing. Candy weighed only 60 pounds, was 4 foot 4. She lived with her mother, Elaine.

[Joanne Poss]

Candy was the cutest little bug. Candy had a face that always smiled. It just. She had a smile always. She was very shy and an only child. I was 13 years old in the 8th grade. Candy was in the 4th grade. Candy loved dolls. My sister and I also, we were doll kids and we would play dolls. A lot of make believe. Dress up. Lots of dress up. It was very girly.

[Marissa Pinson]

Brian Hammond is a former detective from the Spokane Police Department.

[Detective/Investigator]

Her mother was a schoolteacher. Candy's dad lived in Oregon. She lived right next door to her grandparents.

[Narrator]

At 4pm Candy set out in her own neighborhood to sell mints. She visited anywhere from 10 to 15 different homes. Candy stayed within one or two blocks of her own home.

[Joanne Poss]

She was very energetic. She was a go getter. The goal was for every campfire girl to sell 20 boxes and candy wanted to exceed that number.

[Narrator]

Darkness set in at about 5:45 in Spokane on March 6.

[Detective/Investigator]

When she did not return and it got dark, her grandparents started looking for her family members.

[Narrator]

Neighbors and police quickly got involved.

[Joanne Poss]

A family member called my Uncle Carl, who was Candy's father. Uncle Carl got in the car and immediately came up and he never left that night.

[Marissa Pinson]

Volunteers find boxes of campfire mints scattered along the road by the Spokane river, which police believe belonged to Candy.

[Detective/Investigator]

They were not altogether would tell me that they're getting thrown out of the vehicle while it's moving.

[Joanne Poss]

She wouldn't have gone willingly. She would have fought. I think in Candy's mind, she was giving the police a trail to follow.

[Detective/Investigator]

One of the boxes of mints they found on the night of the initial search did produce a latent fingerprint. It was sent to the FBI and it was never identified.

[Marissa Pinson]

The following morning, the community comes together to search for Candy.

[Narrator]

When daylight came, people turned out in droves. Postal workers, Marine Corps Airmen, utility workers, police sheriff, airmen from Fairchild Air Force Base. Every walk of life came and volunteered their time to come look for Candy.

[Detective/Investigator]

Fairchild is to the west of Spokane. It's a pretty sizable Air Force base and has been there for a long time. We also had a National Guard unit just outside of town.

[Marissa Pinson]

That morning, a helicopter with five airmen from the Air Force base takes off to help in the search for Candy along the Spokane River. Michael Holloway was a crew member on the helicopter.

[Detective/Investigator]

We were flying down river at a slow speed and I noticed a shake in the aircraft. And I looked up and we were had just flown into the high tension wire spanning the river. I hit my head. I must have been stunned because I don't remember the impact of the water or the river. I guess the cold water woke me up. I slipped from the shoulder harness and swam up and then to shore.

[Narrator]

Unfortunately, three crew members did not survive, but two were pulled out and did survive the crash. The search for Candy went on. There was a great deal of hope that she would be found alive.

[Joanne Poss]

We were all praying and hoping that they would find Candy. In my mind, she was going to be fine, absolutely fine.

[Marissa Pinson]

The search for Candy continues around the clock. Finally, two weeks after she vanished, two airmen who had gone hunting find a pair of girl's shoes in the woods.

[Narrator]

The police met up with those airmen and they traveled to that site that night and the shoes were found. Darkness had set in, but preparations were made to begin a search of that area for Candy that morning.

[Marissa Pinson]

Police search the woods looking for anything that will lead them to Candy Rogers. Richard Olberding is a former captain with the Spokane Police Department.

[Detective/Investigator]

About 50, 60 yards in from the road, my partner and I came to a pile of clippings from trees and dead boughs. As we moved around it, my partner all of a sudden said, there she is. All we saw was a little kneecap of a child's sticking out of the brush pile.

[Marissa Pinson]

The police officers stand guard over what could be Candy's remains until detectives arrive.

[Detective/Investigator]

It affects you when you have something like that. I had a daughter one year old and a son five years old. You have to kind of put it in the back of your mind or you wouldn't retain your sanity, I don't think.

[Narrator]

When Candy Rogers body was discovered, everything changes. The chief is quoted as saying, we're dealing with a maniac. We know we're looking for a maniac.

[Detective/Investigator]

The condition she was found in, it would have affected the investigators. They shifted into high gear trying to find her killer. The killer was out there when they found Candy.

[Joanne Poss]

I just remember being devastated. You don't lose a cousin this way. And my uncle Carl, Candy's father, had to identify her. After he identified her, he came to my mom's house. I really didn't think I'd be this emotional. I'm sorry. I could hear him crying and my mother crying. The killer had done some terrible things to Candy and my uncle. He couldn't forget it.

[Marissa Pinson]

As Candy's family grieves, the coroner conducts an autopsy.

[Narrator]

Cause of death was determined to be strangulation. There were obvious signs of sexual assault. Her feet were bound with a strip of her own clothing.

[Detective/Investigator]

During the autopsy, one of the detectives noticed a material on her little jacket, and he felt it was gum, grape gum. Investigators actually went to stores to identify anyone that tended to like grape gum, but no luck.

[Joanne Poss]

I think any family member was a suspect. My uncle Carl, Candy's father, was a suspect. He said it was bad, he said, having to go in, but he said, they know I didn't do it.

[Marissa Pinson]

Once the family is ruled out, detectives must widen the pool of possible suspects.

[Detective/Investigator]

A person was tipped, I want to say, by friend, about a man by the name of Albert Graves who wanted to kill himself. After Candy went missing. And on the day that Candy was found, he actually did kill himself. It was reported that he had a History of what was called inappropriate touching with females at his home. Apparently there were newspaper clippings of Candy's search. And in the trunk of his car, they found bobby pins and a length of rope.

[Narrator]

It piqued their interest.

[Detective/Investigator]

And for someone to take their own life, that's a big red flag that somebody is experiencing a great deal of guilt, perhaps over Candy.

[Narrator]

So they looked into him with some considerable hope, but he's dead.

[Detective/Investigator]

They didn't have any other kind of evidence or any witness to the crime, so they could only take that suspect so far. So they move on. They have to keep following up the other leads.

[Joanne Poss]

My parents, I don't think they wanted us to know really what all was going on. Elaine and Candy were very close. It was a beautiful relationship. She never remarried. She never had any more children. It had to have been very hard on her.

[Marissa Pinson]

Another tip comes in. Providing detectives with a strong lead. A career predator whose hunting ground is the snake streets where Candy lived.

[Detective/Investigator]

He was a serial rapist, and they all involved young females, and they all involved taking them in his vehicle during.

[Narrator]

The time she was missing. This career criminal was a part of the search for her.

[Detective/Investigator]

It's not unusual for a suspect to insert themselves into an investigation. This man, on the very night that she went missing around midnight, contacted one of the motorcycle officers. Then the next day, he started searching on his own for Candy.

[Narrator]

He also asked a friend for an alibi very specifically to cover for him, Knowing the police would eventually contact him because of his other crimes.

[Detective/Investigator]

This crude criminal said that he spent the evening with his friend on the east side of Spokane and left approximately 11 o' clock at night. Detectives contacted that friend and he confirmed his alibi. So short of finding direct evidence with the person or at his home, they only had just so much that they could go on. And that's one of the frustrations that they obviously faced. Then the tips just started trailing off. There just wasn't a whole lot coming in.

[Marissa Pinson]

It's now October 13, 1961. Two and a half years after Candy's murder. Detectives are coming up empty. When in 1961, a suspect surfaces in the Midwest who once lived in Spokane.

[Narrator]

A subject by the name of Hugh Morris emerged and with good reason. He is deemed a serial killer and murdered women across the United States. This included molestation of children. We're dealing with a monster here.

[Marissa Pinson]

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[Detective/Investigator]

Hugh Bayonne Morse was a sexual psychopath and serial killer who lived in Spokane. During the same time that Candy was abducted, he had committed rape homicides and molestations across the nation. The FBI put out a nationwide warrant for him and swooped in and arrested him.

[Marissa Pinson]

Police discover something chilling about Hugh Morse's M.O.

[Detective/Investigator]

In 1961, it was reported that Morse had a penchant for grape gum, like that substance on Candy's jacket noticed during her autopsy.

[Narrator]

Whether we want to call it a calling card or not, he left grape gum on some victims. This became a source of hope for the detectives.

[Detective/Investigator]

Morse confessed to the murders, rapes, murders of the two women here in Spokane, but he adamantly denied any involvement with Candy Rogers.

[Narrator]

He would not confess to Candy, and he did volunteer for a polygraph.

[Detective/Investigator]

They gave him two polygraph tests, and he passed both.

[Narrator]

The detectives still felt strongly that they had their guy, but they just couldn't quite make the leap to probable cause. He was imprisoned in Minnesota for life for other crimes. But for Candy Rogers murder, Morris just didn't pan out.

[Marissa Pinson]

In 1963, four years after Candy's murder, tragedy strikes her family again.

[Joanne Poss]

Candy's father, my uncle Carl, he was a great guy, but he started to drink and then he wouldn't talk. He'd wake up in the middle of the night crying, and he bought a gun and he killed himself. So that was the third tragedy that happened. First Candy and then these airmen, and then my uncle kills himself.

[Detective/Investigator]

In the mid-60s, investigators did have to stop because they were at a dead end.

[Marissa Pinson]

With no new leads, the case goes cold. Candy's murder haunts her cousin Joanne.

[Joanne Poss]

For me, remembering Candy was every year at the candy sale. I would think, why? Why did this have to happen? When I became a campfire leader, we instigated the buddy system, and we said, no, Campfire girl is to go outside selling campfire mints by herself, she has to have somebody with her.

[Marissa Pinson]

In 2001, four decades after the case goes cold, A clue suddenly materializes when police in Oregon match a fingerprint from a stolen car to a print found on a box of Candy's campfire mints.

[Narrator]

Police searched the car, and what they found were girls underwear. So they fingerprinted that car. They found a fingerprint on the rearview mirror. We got a phone call. Hey. We have a possible print hit on Candy Rogers investigation. This caused a great deal of excitement. After so many years, this might be the answer.

[Detective/Investigator]

2001, there was a potential fingerprint hit, what we call an APHIS hit, the automated fingerprint identification system from a vehicle found in Oregon that apparently matched the fingerprint that was taken off the mint box back in 1959. That fingerprint has to be compared one to one by a fingerprint technician to determine if it's a true match. The technician ultimately determined that it was a miss. It wasn't a good hit to the case.

[Marissa Pinson]

The organ lead fizzles. But Candy's case gets new life and a new investigator who takes a fresh look at all the old evidence.

[Narrator]

She is the first to apply modern DNA to the investigation, determining does DNA even exist on any of our evidence?

[Detective/Investigator]

The detective found that we had Candy's underwear in a mason jar, which kept it airtight, which is amazing.

[Marissa Pinson]

Brittany Wright is a forensic scientist.

[Brittany Wright]

Being in a glass mason jar, this really preserved that DNA evidence.

[Detective/Investigator]

The Washington state patrol crime lab found semen on her underwear and were able to get a strong DNA profile. And that was huge as well.

[Brittany Wright]

The DNA profile was then uploaded to the CODIS database, the combined DNA index system. And there were never any hits obtained.

[Marissa Pinson]

The DNA profile allows detectives to finally compare the DNA of earlier suspects in Candy's murder. But there's no match.

[Narrator]

She's our number one victim. She's this little girl who was so viciously assaulted and murdered and thrown away like trash. But the case is cold in every regard. It is. It's genuinely cold.

[Joanne Poss]

You try to bury things, but there were times that I know I would sit and think about Candy and especially how she was killed. And I didn't think it would ever be solved.

[Marissa Pinson]

Almost 20 more years pass before another ray of hope appears for detectives when a new technology called genetic genealogy emerges.

[Brittany Wright]

Genetic genealogy is the the use of ancestry databases to build a family tree around the DNA obtained from the crime scene from the perpetrator who left behind their DNA.

[Narrator]

When genetic genealogy does its thing, they come up with this amazing result that puts you right back into a current homicide investigation.

[Brittany Wright]

When I was assigned the case, I was pregnant with my first child. And so there was a lot of emotions going on about working a child homicide case, handling an item that was on that individual's body. When they were experiencing the most horrible act of violence, you are immediately put in their shoes. That's really what drove me.

[Marissa Pinson]

Since the crime lab does not do genetic changes, genealogy, Brittany Wright needs to provide a whole new DNA sample to a private genealogy lab to do advanced testing.

[Brittany Wright]

I was able to find a preserved DNA extract from seminal fluid from Candy Rogers underwear. Just enough DNA to be able to do testing with DNA evidence is a very finite material. There is only so much of it. I contacted the Spokane Police Department that we had a sample that was we could send off.

[Narrator]

We chose a lab called Parabon because we'd had a success with them the year before.

[Brittany Wright]

The lab had asked for about what's called 4 nanograms of DNA. If you were to cut a paperclip into a billion pieces, I would only need one of those billion pieces to get a nanogram. I put the DNA into a separate, separate sterile tube. I packaged that into a cooler with ice packs and put that inside a box. I then shipped that through the mail to the lab. I was tracking that sample and I noticed that the package wasn't moving. Something happened and it was crushed beyond belief. The DNA evidence had leaked out. I was completely and utterly devastated.

[Narrator]

We sent a sample to a genealogy lab and unfortunately, the sample was destroyed in shipping.

[Brittany Wright]

There was only 6 nanograms left. But I decided at that point to double down. And I felt like this could still absolutely get solved. The second DNA sample arrived safely to the lab, but the sample was too far degraded for them to be able to get any usable information. At that moment, I felt like the technology hadn't advanced enough to be able to work a DNA sample as challenging as this.

[Marissa Pinson]

Despite the endless string of setbacks, Brittany Wright refuses to give up. In 2021, 62 years after Candy's murder, she learns about one last word way to find Candy's killer.

[Brittany Wright]

A lab called OTHRAM was offering a type of technology that could handle degraded DNA samples called whole genome sequencing. It could better handle those tiny fragments of DNA that had broken down over time. I asked Sergeant Stormant if he was willing to send this little bit of DNA that we had left in the case of to try one more time with Othram labs.

[Narrator]

I said, we can do this. Let's get it done.

[Brittany Wright]

The sample was sent off to Othram in March of 2021. If this didn't work, this case was going to be done.

[Marissa Pinson]

Candi's cousin Joanna doesn't know that investigators are still trying to find the killer after all these years.

[Joanne Poss]

I didn't realize that I could have picked up the phone and said, hey, I want to talk to somebody, Major Crimes, and say, what's going on with the Candy Rogers case? We just never did it. I didn't know people could do that. 60 years is an awful long time.

[Brittany Wright]

September 2021. Neither Sergeant Stormont or I had heard anything from Othram.

[Narrator]

It's Labor Day weekend and my phone starts coming to life. I know this is Othram calling about Candy Rogers. They have somebody in mind or at least a family. We at least have a name. I don't think I'm a very excitable person, but that was incredible. I've never had a phone call like that in my life.

[Brittany Wright]

It came out of nowhere. Both Sergeant Storm and I were in complete disbelief.

[Narrator]

They gave me three names over the phone. They were John Hoff, Terry Hoff and James Hoff, all brothers who lived in Spokane and were now deceased. Genealogy can't differentiate between brothers. They all appear the same in a family tree. I left for work that night and started digging into them. I very strongly suspected one of them of having raped and killed Candy Rogers. My next steps are to narrow it down to the one and I want to do that through DNA. They're all three dead. John Ray Hoff appears to be the only one with any children. I called the youngest daughter first. I said I was a cold case investigator and looking for her help.

[Marissa Pinson]

Kathy Baird is John Ray Hoff's daughter.

[Kathy Baird]

So we went down to the detective building and met him. He just said it was a murder and it occurred in 1959 and it is either one of your uncles or it's your dad, but it is one of them. I'm like, so what? You're going to want my DNA? He goes, well, if you would be willing to give it. I can't imagine not giving DNA to cover up for somebody, no matter how much I love them. You know what I mean? Whoever ever thinks their dad is going to be someone that would do that.

[Brittany Wright]

I compared Kathy's DNA profile to the perpetrator's DNA profile. Whoever left behind their DNA sample on Candy Rogers underwear was also the father of Kathy.

[Narrator]

John Rahoff had a petty juvenile record. He enlisted early in the US army at the age of 17. He was stationed in Spokane at the time of Candy Rogers homicide. John Ray Hoff was discharged from the army dishonorably and bounced from odd job to odd job. He committed suicide in 1970.

[Marissa Pinson]

All signs point to John Ray Hoff, but there's a huge question hanging over the case, and the question is, who is Kathy's biological father?

[Narrator]

Kathy's mother had an affair while her husband was in Korea.

[Brittany Wright]

The affair added uncertainty to the question of whether or not John Hoff was.

[Marissa Pinson]

Truly her biological father.

[Narrator]

So the only way to resolve this is to exhume John Rahoff.

[Marissa Pinson]

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[Brittany Wright]

The reason to exhume John Hoff was to be able to do a direct comparison of John Hoff's DNA to the crime scene evidence and not have any room for doubt.

[Narrator]

But what's our prospects of actually getting DNA from human remains that have been in the ground for 51 years?

[Brittany Wright]

We really worried that his grave was going to be submerged in water, which is going to guarantee that the DNA is going to be all but gone.

[Marissa Pinson]

On September 23, 2021, investigators begin exhuming John Ray Hoff's grave.

[Brittany Wright]

They got to work digging the grave and opening the cement vault.

[Narrator]

There were skeletal remains, but there was.

[Brittany Wright]

Absolutely no usable DNA. I decided to give one more shot and try and get DNA from his teeth. I took a hammer and then I just started smashing until the tooth was fragmented enough to where I could access the roots of the teeth. I actually had DNA in one of those teeth. I was very, very excited. I ran that sample overnight. When I got to work, I ran to my computer and I opened up the software that analyzes the DNA profiles.

[Narrator]

It's October 1st of 2021. Brittany calls and says, that's it. It's him.

[Brittany Wright]

The match between John Hoff's TOOTH and the DNA evidence was a complete match. It was 25 quintillion times more likely that the profile originated from John Hoff than anybody else.

[Narrator]

And finally, the clock stops. 62 years, 8 months, and I forget, 13 days, that clock finally stopped.

[Marissa Pinson]

When the news breaks in Spokane, no one is more surprised than Candy's cousin.

[Joanne Poss]

It was shock, total shock. And then why weren't we notified? So my daughter made a couple phone calls. Within a half an hour, Sergeant Zach Stormit was sitting in our living room. And he said, we didn't know you existed. And he told us everything that night. Everything.

[Kathy Baird]

I wanted people to know what my dad did. There's no making him pay for it. There's no punishment. But I'm going to expose him. It's not like I feel guilty like I did it, but I feel responsible, like I wish I could fix it.

[Narrator]

I imagine Candy as a bright, bubbly, carefree kid who was living in a world without fear and only hope, where simple things made you happy and there really was nothing to worry about.

[Joanne Poss]

I don't feel there's ever justice in a case like this. I don't. I don't. Enclosure will never happen. Because what would she have been? What could she have done? She might have been a doctor. She could have been a great scientist. We'll never know that. She's with God. She's in a safe place. Nobody's gonna hurt her. This is so fresh for you. Please know it will get easier. Oh, and it will. It'll get easier and it won't hurt as bad.

[Marissa Pinson]

Since the discovery of Candi's killer after 62 years, Joanne Poss and Kathy Baird have met and made a real connection.

[Kathy Baird]

I haven't had anybody act like they know me. I will never be able to get away from it. But me and Joanne are able to build a relationship out of this.

[Joanne Poss]

And there's going to be moments that seem like just want to sit and cry. It's like it's been a whole circle. I mean, her father took my cousin's life, but now I'm friends with the daughter and think very highly of her. We need to take care of each other. Good overcomes evil.

[Narrator]

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[Detective/Investigator]

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[Narrator]

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[Kathy Baird]

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[Narrator]

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[Marissa Pinson]

What the hell?

[Narrator]

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