Transcript
Narrator (possibly Kyle Bonagura) (0:01)
In October 2020, Kenny Hart, an investigation sergeant with the Benicia police department, sat alone in his office thinking about what to say. Benicia is a town of about 30,000 on the northern outskirts of the San Francisco Bay area, about a 40 mile drive from the Golden Gate Bridge. In 26 years as a cop, Kenny had seen it all. Homicides, violent crimes. He had patrol duty, a stint with a coroner's office, and with a sheriff's department. He was even pulled in on tips related to the infamous zodiac killings. And during his career, he had made more than his fair share of death notifications. But he wasn't sure any of that prepared him for the call he was about to make.
Kenny Hart (0:47)
I've never delivered this kind of notification, so I'm about to change a family's life forever. I had to prepare what questions I was going to get asked, and I had a whole bunch of questions. My head was spinning at that point in time, and I remember calling Paul. He didn't answer, so I left a voicemail. Hi, Paul, it's Kenny Hart with Vinny Shahpedi.
Narrator (possibly Kyle Bonagura) (1:12)
Can you give me a call back at 3500, Kenny was trying to reach Paul Wolf, a longtime college football coach who once led programs at Washington State, Eastern Washington. But Kenny had only known Paul for a few months when they connected about a case that had captivated Kenny like few others in his career.
Kenny Hart (1:34)
There was a little relief that he didn't answer because I don't know if I was fully ready to give that news yet. And I'm sitting in my office just like, wow. Had my door closed because I didn't want to talk to any of my detectives. I didn't want to be distracted because I knew the phone was going to ring probably at any point in time.
Narrator (possibly Kyle Bonagura) (1:51)
Kenny tried to steady his thoughts and select his words for when Paul called back. 41 years earlier, in July of 1979, Paul's mother, Dolores Marie Wolf, vanished from her home in Woodland, California, a quiet suburb of Sacramento, about an hour's drive from Benicia. She was never seen or heard from again. That's why when Paul called Kenny back, it was a conversation that neither man will ever forget.
Kenny Hart (2:21)
I think it was about five minutes later he called me back and he goes, hey, Kenny. The first words out of my mouth were, paul, we found your mom.
Narrator (possibly Kyle Bonagura) (2:41)
My name is Kyle Bonagara, and I'm Adam Rittenberg.
Kyle Bonagura (2:45)
