It's common to see the families of murder victims seek answers, and in some cases, do some investigating themselves. What's less common is seeing them dig up details that actually lead to an arrest.
An Arizona mom, Josephine Wentzel, has won accolades from police detectives after her hard work led to the arrest of the man accused of killing her daughter.
Mitchell was on vacation in San Diego with her boyfriend, former Marine Raymond McLeod, when she was murdered.
McLeod was immediately named as the prime suspect in the murder, but authorities weren't able to immediately track him down.
She says she took classes to understand how to comb through social media in an effort to track down her daughter's killer.
"It was years of hard work, and to be honest with you, I wasn't sure," she said. "The most important thing is to get their faces out in public."
After a six-year manhunt in which he evaded capture at every turn, McLeod was finally tracked down in El Salvador, where he'd fled after the murder. He was reportedly teaching English to schoolkids under an assumed name.
While she lives in Arizona nowadays, Wentzel worked in the past as a police detective in Guam. It's this sleuthing experience that made her so effective at tracking down and investigating leads, something noted by the arresting officers.
In a statement, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office said Wentzel "has been instrumental in helping authorities search for McLeod. Wentzel has generated leads for law enforcement and helped spread word about the international manhunt on social media."
In a court appearance last week, he pleaded not guilty to first degree murder. A trial date has not been set, but it's safe to say that prosecutors will be prepared as they've had six years to prepare their case.
Wentzel's background in law enforcement certainly helps, but there's also the fact that she was willing to work so tirelessly to educate herself on how to track down the man suspected of killing her daughter.
"It's not about being a former detective, it's about being a mom," she said.
