this young lady vanished into thin air. so that was the intriguing part. that was the piece of the puzzle that we had to solve first. >> tonight on a two-hour "20/20" -- the hunch. a beautiful blond. she checked into a hotel, but nobody sees her check out. so, how does she end up here, beaten and left for dead? >> i was very cold and dark. i couldn't stand up. i was in shock. >> a cigar-smoking, hog-riding private eye fixated on finding her attacker. >> you take whatever clue you have, might take you to a dead end, might take you to a blind alley, but it might take tow the promised land. >> a single frame of surveillance tab that nobody else saw. >> this was the defining moment the whole case right here. >> this is a pretty bizarre

theory. >> there's one big problem. chef has no memory of what took place. >> she has no clue what the heck happened to her. >> i saw dreams and nightmares. >> so, how can he be sure his hunch is the right one? >> i got, you got to be kidding me. >> here's deborah roberts. >> tonight, a story of sex, lies and videotape. and an almost deadly twist on that expression, now you see her, now you don't. as you're checking into hotels on vacation this summer, consider this -- what do those surveillance cameras really capture? because tonight, it's going to take a modern day sherlock holmes, with a wild hunch, a harley and a black leather jacket, to crack the mystery of the vanishing blond. it's a quiet, lonely place, a speck of grassy land around an undeveloped cul-de-sac on the outskirts of miami. there's a "no dumping" sign in

plain view but on the morning of february 21st 2sh, 2005, a util worker passing by noticed that someone has ignored it in a big way. curled up in the grass, a woman -- naked, unconscious and beaten within an inch of her life. >> the woman was airlifted to jackson memorial hospital's rider trauma center in critical condition. >> pretty much somebody dumped her out there. >> reporter: to die? >> yes. >> reporter: so, it was pretty amazing that she was found alive. >> absolutely. >> reporter: miami dade detective alan foote caught the case of the mystery woman with no i.d. >> well, i've got a jane doe on my hands. she was beat up and cut up. she had cuts on her face. she had a swollen jaw, bruises on her body. >> reporter: and unconscious. >> and unconscious. >> reporter: at the crime scene, one potential clue -- a blue blanket. police have it tested for trace evidence. it turns up nothing. they also canvass houses nearby. >> tried to see if anybody noticed anything, and of course,

we got no response there. >> i didn't see anything or heard anything. >> reporter: as the news spreads -- >> there is no clothing, no license. or anything that would distinguish who he is. >> reporter: -- the mystery deepens. the victim remains unconscious until the following day. then, the darkness recedes. >> i woke up. i had a lot of pain. i remember somebody ask me what was my name. >> reporter: and what did you learn about her once she came to? >> she was able to write some information down on a piece of paper. >> reporter: the petite mystery woman still can't speak but she's scrawled out some basic information. her name is inna budnystka. she's from ukraine. and she works for one of the many cruise lines that operate in miami. >> i wanted to have an occupation in my life. i want to be someone. >> reporter: that all makes sense. but what about this? her attorney's name?

>> yes, her attorney's name. >> reporter: did that strike you as a little strange? >> yes, it did. i did not know whether she was involved in something civil or something criminal. but for someone to ask for an attorney as a victim, right off the bat, does throw a red flag. >> maybe they thought it was unusual that someone would ask for an attorney, but this woman had a horrific assault and probably was reaching for anything that she could. >> reporter: here's her story -- inna has been injured on the ship and has filed suit against the cruise line. that's why she had an attorney. >> yes, i didn't know nobody. i was alone up here. so, the only one person who i knew that was my attorney. that was my lawyer. >> reporter: while she was convalescing from her injury, inna is being housed by the cruise line at this hotel. the airport regency. about ten miles east of the vacant lot where she was found. the hotel would prove crucial to the mystery, especially its sophisticated security system.

>> we have 16 cameras covering the whole perimeter of the hotel, including parking lot, the entrance, the exit, the lob bi, the restaurant, the lob bibar, the front desk, the back exits. those cameras have motion sensor detector and then we have two security guards at night on duty. so, we can see, you know, anybody or anything that happens in the perimeter of the hotel. >> reporter: for privacy reasons, the hotel does not have cameras in the elevators or the upstairs hallways. that would make a big difference later, but for now, detective foote has this pile of dvds from the first floor cameras to comb through. he begins scanning those recordings for any evidence of the crime. >> where's the guard shack? up here? >> it's here. >> reporter: back at the hospital, inna is eventually able to fill in some blanks about her whereabouts on the evening of the attack. she says she'd gone out with a friend that night to a restaurant in coconut grove. >> i had fun. we stayed there awhile. had some drinks.

>> reporter: she remembers returning by taxi, alone shoshgtsly after midnight. but get this -- the security cameras catch her leaving again at 3:33 a.m. that's her in the red jacket. seven minutes later, she's back at 3:40. did that strike you as odd that she's going and coming in the middle of the night? >> i mean, she could explain that. >> reporter: inna recalls going to the gas station across the street to buy a phone card to call her mom back in ukraine, which is seven hours ahead. >> i'm very close with my mother. and i used to call her very often back in ukraine. >> reporter: but here's where the case really turns into a mystery which could stump sherlock holmes. after returning from her errand, inna walks to the lobby elevators at 3:41 a.m. and is never seen by the hotel cameras again. >> the last we see of her. so, that's how we believe she was attacked in the hotel.

>> reporter: the next thing inna remembers is regaining consciousness for a brief moment in that vacant lot where she was found at 8:30 that morning. >> it was very cold, if i remember. it was, like, very, very cold. and dark. and cold. i couldn't stand up. and i could not walk. >> reporter: but everything that happened in between the elevator and the cul-de-sac is a total blank. >> the memory was not clear because i was in pain, in too much pain. my head was not working absolutely. i was in shock. >> reporter: the biggest mystery, of course, is, how did she get out of the hotel? do you come up with any theories? >> i was looking for anything. >> reporter: police are confounded. they even inspect the landscaping below inna's fourth story room, on the offchance she might have been lowered or dropped from there. >> i am looking in her room over the balcony. i'm looking in the bushes to see if a body was thrown over and there was a -- a body imprint or

a -- maybe she was lowered by rope. >> reporter: that was kind of a long shot. >> long shot. >> reporter: a long shot that didn't pay off. no evidence of inna being lowered from the window. this case is a bona fide whodunit -- new questions and suspects popping up faster than any answers. is the victim really a victim or was she somehow involved? and could someone from her personal life or the hotel staff be the missing key to the case? did you accept that story? >> no, no. so, with that, he became my suspect. >> reporter: stay with us. ♪ ♪ fill their bowl with the meaty tastes they're looking for, with friskies grillers. tender meaty pieces and crunchy bites. in delicious chicken, beef, turkey,

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"20/20" continues. here again, deborah roberts. >> reporter: it is a haunting mystery. who attacked a young woman and left her for dead in this vacant cul-de-sac? detective alan foote's search for clues has become an xer sunrise frustration. so, where did you turn next? >> i start following other leads. suspects in the case. >> reporter: there's no shortage of early suspects. for starters, that friend who

was out with inna the night she was attacked. he's 52-year old peter dimouleas, a greek national and -- like inna -- a cruise line employee. >> he asked me, what happened with inna? >> reporter: peter confirms inna's account, a dinner and some drinking in coconut grove, then a friendly parting of ways around midnight when inna takes a cab back to the hotel. he cooperates fully with the police. >> why i have to worry? i don't worry. i know i am not on the crime. >> reporter: but detective foote uncovers this troubling fact -- dimouleas has been arrested just months before, after he and inna had a dispute at a local nightclub. >> peter felt that there were some unsavory characters there, and wanted her to leave. so, she did not want to leave, and he kind of grabbed her by the arm, and they got into a little argument, and an officer working security arrested him for domestic violence. >> reporter: did that make him a suspect in your mind? >> partially. >> reporter: then there's this

guy. the hotel night manager, george perez. >> the very first time i met george perez was, he looked at me and he said, "oh, my god, i hate cops." >> reporter: pretty blunt, pretty honest. >> oh, yeah. i'm used to it. >> was i nervous? absolutely, i would have every right to be. >> reporter: along with that instant hostility, perez attracts police attention because he's seen with inna in the lob biaft after she returns from her night out with peter. you can see the sleeve of her red jacket on the front desk security camera here. >> at some point in time, i do see inna coming and going from the hotel. i see her talking to the desk clerk. >> reporter: then, at 2:16 a.m., an odd encounter. >> he left the front desk unattended and went into the elevator with the victim and was gone for approximately 15 minutes and then came back down alone. >> reporter: perez initially

said he helped inna to her room because she'd had too much to drink. >> so i escorted her, made sure she got into the room safely, came back down to my post. >> reporter: does she look intoxicated on the tape to you? >> no. no. so, with that, he became my second suspect. >> reporter: in fact, perez would latered a nate he'd be socializing with inna. >> i was friends with her in the workplace. i also had a friendship with her outside of the workplace. i thought very highly of her. >> reporter: given that perez had a master key to all the rooms, the lead is promising. by now, one solid piece of evidence has emerged. dna from the attacker was recovered from inna's body because she wasn't just beaten -- she was also raped. samples are obtained from both the suspects. >> which i voluntarily agreed to, without a problem. >> also i don't afraid about that. >> reporter: now, possibly an even bigger break. inna herself says she's begun to piece together memories of the

attack, filling in the big blink between the elevator and the cul-de-sac, but only in fragments. what was she able to tell you about what had happened? >> bits and pieces. >> i saw dreams, i saw nightmares. for me, it was very difficult to realize what was the reality, what was not the reality. >> reporter: now, she had a picture of the guys who had assaulted her. >> there were two white gentlemen, i don't think she could give me an age. they were either hispanic or european accents. >> i remember at least two other people. i don't remember the faces. i remember, like, a noise and i remember a person, like, putting like, a pillow or something. and then it's dark, you know, it's just like a feeling that you cannot breathe. >> reporter: inna even undergoes hypnosis to clarify her memories. she recalls being carried down a back staircase out into a car,

driving somewhere and being raped in the back seat. >> i remember, like, somebody hits you all the time. i remember a laugh, somebody was laughing, at this point. >> reporter: but for every promising lead, there are twice as many disorienting puzzles. for one thing, inna is certain she was attacked in her room. but that certainty just adds to detective foote's headaches. >> i found it as a typical room, undisturbed. >> reporter: no sign of a fight or assault? >> no. bed's unmade, there were, you know, i found beer bottles, i found clothes hanging in the bathroom. but nothing to indicate that there had been any kind of a struggle. >> reporter: as for inna's memory of being dragged down the back stairs, out an exit, and into a car? no dice. the exit door is covered by this security camera, which didn't capture anything like that. >> the camera's working properly, so, we reached a dead end on that point. it just didn't fit.

>> reporter: detective foote suspects there's more to inna's story than she's able or willing to tell. aside from her hazy recollection, there's a big lingering question about her movements that night. like many hotels, the airport regency has a key-card security system, which logs each time a guest swipes their key to enter a road. now, here's the riddle -- the security cameras clock inna entering the elevator for the final time at 3:41. but the log of key swipes at her door shows her entering at 3:58. so, where was she then and what exactly could she have been doing? those missing 17 minutes lead police to pursue another theory -- could inna be a prostitute? maybe in that time she'd gone to meet a john in his room, perhaps that encounter lead to the attack. >> they didn't told me exactly, are you prostitute? all right?

but the questions were, like, you know, if i ever had a sex for money and if -- this kind of question. it was emotionally difficult. very, very, very difficult. >> reporter: police pursue that theory, but as the investigation proceeds -- >> i'm picking up absolutely zilch, nothing to indicate that she was a prostitute. >> reporter: so, that left you kind of at a dead end at that point. >> right. >> reporter: for months, the case would remain a puzzle scattered in pieces. and to finally solve it, police would turn to an unlikely source, with an even more unlikeunlike unlikely theory. >> i could feel it. i knew this was the guy. >> reporter: stay with us. ♪

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we return to "20/20" and "the hunch."

♪ >> reporter: if you've ever met private investigator ken brennan, no doubt you remember him. >> i like to say ken brennan's just an honest, straightforward guy. kind of easy to read. what you see is what you get. >> reporter: when he's not riding motorcycles or pumping iron, he spends his time doing what he really enjoys -- solving crimes. what is it about this kind of work that attracts you? >> who doesn't like catching bad guys? you know, it's -- rewarding in itself and something i've always, you know, enjoyed doing, even when i was a youngster. >> reporter: after decades in law enforcement, first, as a police officer on long island, new york, then, as a dea agent in florida -- >> i've been working in law enforcement since 1975.

>> reporter: brennan now works as a private investigator. it is true that you've never taken a sick day? >> no, i really haven't. when you enjoy what you're doing, it never seems like a job then. >> reporter: it seems that brennan has a particular devotion to solving sex crimes. to this day, he still carries around the arrest file for the first sexual predator he ever interrogated. >> they're the worst crimes, i feel, of all of them. and there's too many of them out there that aren't solved. >> reporter: by november 2005, nearly nine months after inna budnytska had been attacked, the case of the airport regency rapist was on a slow boat to the cold case file. were you thinking at any point that this case is just unsolvable? >> i don't like to think that and i really didn't think that. i always kept hope that something would eventually solve the case. i don't like to give up. >> reporter: in the aftermath of her attack, inna has filed a multimillion dollar lawsuit against the hotel. >> we felt they could have had

better security. they weren't monitoring the security cameras correctly. they let an assailant onto the grounds of the hotel. >> where were the security. why and how somebody would get into your room without the key. how? >> reporter: the hotels denies any wrongdoing and needs an investigator to disprove the woman's claims. that's where ken brennan comes in. >> we have to clear the responsibility of the hotel. what happened in our hotel, it can happen in the best hotel in the world. >> the biggest claring thing was that nobody really knew how it occurred. everybody loves a good mystery, you know? everybody wants to be the -- the ability to solve something that somebody wasn't able to do before. of course that would be rewarding.

>> reporter: like many city detectives, alan foote isn't wild about private eyes. what did you think of ken brennan when you first laid eyes on him? >> this guy is going to drive me nuts. >> reporter: but brennan isn't your typical hired gun and foote has a hunch, he's somehow different. maybe it's his experience. maybe his straight-talk. >> most police officers don't like p.i.s. >> reporter: how did you get him to accept and to trust you? >> i said, "hey, listen, allen. i'm not going to mess up your case, you know. i'm not going to screw it up. if we're going to solve this thing, we're going to be a team. we're going to work it together." >> reporter: you don't like p.i.s, but yet, you trusted him. why? >> there was just something about him that was honest. i really felt that he was going to do what he said. >> reporter: one of the first things foote shares is the dna results that have come back on his first two suspects. inna's friend, peter dimloueas, and the night manager, george perez. both negative. >> i was cleared of any charges, because, apparently, i had nothing to do with it. >> reporter: so, those two are

eliminated. but paren unanimo but brennan shares the detective's suspicions about inna herself. so he goes back to the cul-de-sac and interviews the neighbors. >> where exactly were they across the street? >> reporter: he combs through inna's background. even puts her under surveillance. >> there was nothing indicative of her being a prostitute. >> reporter: so, you ruled that out? >> i ruled that out pretty readily, in the very beginning of the investigation. >> i knew who i was. i know who i am. >> reporter: still, there's that strange 17-minute gap between the security camera at the elevator and the key card swipe at inna's door. where had she been? >> i said, well, listen, did anybody take the time to find out if the timestamp on the security cameras, if that matched the timestamp on the card access system? which nobody ever did. and it turns out, when we did do that, there was a 17-minute lapse. >> reporter: so, that mystery is solved? >> so that mystery was solved.

>> reporter: now, brennan has another hunch. that the entire incident could have been an elaborate scheme to shake down the hotel. >> i thought that in this particular case, that it might have been a possibility that she could have been involved in some kind of a scam. that the whole purpose was to try to obtain money from either the insurance company or from the hotel itself. it happens all over the world. >> reporter: because she was filing a lawsuit against the hotel, a big lawsuit. >> exactly, and it -- she didn't make a very good witness. she flip-flopped on a lot of statements that she'd given to police. >> it just make me to laugh. i mean, i don't know from where did they take this and who came up with this idea? >> reporter: the only thing brennan has resembling a witness statement is inna's muddled memory about being attacked in her room by a number of men. so, he takes a novel approach to that evidence -- he throws it out. >> the last thing that i put faith in is a victim's statement. because when something traumatic

happens to them, their memory becomes distorted. the thing you have to base your decisions on and where you're headed in an investigation is based on the evidence. what -- what evidence do you have at that particular time? >> reporter: that means one thing -- >> i believe that no matter what happened, it was going to be in video tape. >> reporter: how much footage were you going to have to comb through? because there were a lot of cameras in the hotel, right? >> hours upon hours upon hours upon hours. it was extensive. that's something that you have to go through almost frame by frame. >> reporter: frame by frame? >> it's a countless amount of hours. >> reporter: now, every guest is a potential suspect. hundreds of them. as well as every desk assistant, bellman and janitor. >> you have to watch each and every frame on every video because we originally were look ing for possibly an employee that might've moved one of the

cameras out, out of the location it was originally at, and maybe, possibly, snuck the victim past that way. >> reporter: slowly, but surely, brennan eliminates every suspect. everybody but one. >> she goes out. on the video, she goes out of the hotel early in the morning. when she returns, there's a big, large, black man standing with her and she just has a quick conversation with him, they get onto the elevator together. trying to look to see, do they look like they know each other? because, again, i'm thinking this could still possibly be a scam or something. and after you keep reviewing it, it doesn't look like they have any kind of familiarity. he's just offering her to walk in front. she's not acknowledging him like she knows him. >> reporter: brennan has now rejected his own conspiracy theory. >> it didn't appear to be staged at all. >> reporter: but his focus on this man seems like just as much of a stretch. >> later on during the video, he's seen exiting the elevator, so, we follow him to another camera and he goes off the property. while i'm watching the video of

this person, this large person, black person coming off the elevator, i went through this frame at a time. >> reporter: and now, in extreme slow motion, ken brennan is about to crack the case. >> this was the defining moment in the whole case. right here. >> reporter: don't go anywhere. so what do you think ken brennan has spotted on that surveillance footage? any guesses? we're live tweeting tonight, so, let us know, husing #abc2020. we'll be right back. you're taking the pain reliever that works faster on tough pain than extra strength tylenol. and not only faster. stronger too. relief doesn't get any better than this. advil every time you take advil you're taking the medicine doctors recommend most for joint pain. more than the medicine in aleve or tylenol. the medicine in advil is the number one doctor recommendation for joint pain. relief doesn't get any better than this. advil

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"20/20" continues. here again, deborah roberts. >> this young lady vanished into thin air. you know that was the intriguing part. that was the piece of the puzzle that you had to solve first. >> reporter: private investigator ken brennan believes a big piece of that

puzzle lies with this big guy. he's seen entering the elevator with inna at 3:41 a.m., then exiting the hotel with a suitcase at 5:28. >> about an hour later, he comes back and he re-enters the hotel, but he doesn't have the suitcase with him. that suitcase that he brought out earlier comes back a little over an hour later without the suitcase. >> reporter: huh. does that register something right away in your mind? >> as soon as he comes back without the suitcase, now he becomes a person of interest to me. he was the only one that had the time and the opportunity to commit the crime and come back to the scene. >> reporter: now upon closer and repeated examination, brennan returns to this crucial moment. when the man exits the elevator and gives the suitcase a tell-tale tug. >> the suspect has to reach back and grab the handles with both hands to pull that suitcase out of the crack. i do a lot of traveling, you do

a lot of traveling, i'm sure you have a lot of your clothing items in there. was it ever so heavy you needed two hands to pull it out of the crack? no, probably not. soon as he tugged that with both hands, like, a light bulb went off in my head, i said, "this is my guy. this is my guy." she's in that suitcase. >> reporter: but that light bulb was only over brennan's head. >> you know, where's this guy coming out of left field with this black, male suspect? >> reporter: nobody believed a grown woman could fit into that little suitcase. but this is a small suitcase. what would lead you to even think a woman could fit into a small suitcase? >> well, the reason why i thought a woman might be able to fit into the suitcase is because this is a large guy. so our frame of reference on how large the suitcase is might be a little off. so, i decided to use a measurement of the suitcase in relationship with markings on the elevator itself. >> reporter: with that reference point, incredibly, brennan's able to determine the bag is actually 29 inches high.

and examining this image, where we see the suitcase against this floor runner, he concludes the bag is 19 inches wide, just like this one. >> then i knew exactly how wide the suitcase was. >> reporter: oh. and then you were able to really theorize that someone could fit in there. >> that's correct. what i did was, had one of the fellas that works for me had a . so we got ahold of a suitcase that was the same dimensions and see if she could fit in it. >> reporter: she did? >> yeah, she can, she fits fine. >> reporter: if you think that sounds a bit bizarre, we thought so too. so, we went to a local gymnastics school and asked these two instructors to help us. this woman stands 5'3", just like inna. and sure enough, she fits comfort bly inside the suitcase and gets zipped in by her friend. she'll be okay. then, she gets wheeled around the gym, emerging no worse for wear. >> so i knew that she would fit. alls i was doing was basically validating what my hunch was. >> reporter: brennan has now

deduced the one theory of the case which matches all the evidence. this man attacked inna, sometime after they entered the elevator together. he dragged her body out of the hotel in this suitcase, drove off with her, dumped her body at that vacant lot, then returned. >> all the puzzles started fitting together at that particular point. i knew i had my guy. and i just had to find out who the heck he was. >> reporter: but it's still too early for high fives. isolating the perpetrator on video is one thing. catching him, another. and for ken brennan, that job is quickly becoming an obsession. >> i said hell or high water, i know i'm right. i can feel it. i knew this was the guy. and i was going to catch this guy. >> reporter: see what's next. [ male announcer ] when it comes to performance, no one offers more than sears. it's the only place where you get the top 10 advantage, that guarantees the best price on all top 10 appliance brands.

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it's a delicious way we showed people a survey that stacked fios up against comcast. what's it like paying for internet rated 6 out of 7 in customer satisfaction? not good, it's not the best. no, it's not fun. look at it this way, you're kind of on top. if i was like this, all day. switch from the bottom to the top and see why millions of satisfied customers have made fios #1. sign up for a verizon fios triple play online with a 2-year agreement and get an amazing $400 back plus a free lg g tablet or up to $200 off any tablet from verizon wireless. but hurry, don't wait - this great offer ends august 10th. we return to "20/20" and "the hunch." >> reporter: when ken brennan first floated his theory of the crime, that the woman had been attacked by this large man, and dragged out of the airport regency in his suitcase, detective alan foote thought it was a bad joke.

are you thinking that maybe he's a little out there? >> sometimes we are all out there, but it's a lead. it's not on my priority, because i'm not looking for a black male. i am putting this lead off to the side, while i pursue the leads that i have. >> reporter: even brennan's employers were skeptical. this is a pretty bizarre theory. how does this go over with the hotel? >> well, it didn't really go over with the hotel too much either. in fact, one of the owners said, what the hell kind of an investigator are you? he goes, you're telling me it's this big black guy, everybody else says, and she says it's two white hispanic, you know, where's this coming from? you know? what kind of investigator are you? and they all started laughing inside the room. and that's what really pissed me off. and i said, hell or high water, i'm going to find out. i'm going to prove to these people that i'm right. i know i'm right. i can feel it. i knew this was the guy. and i was going to catch this guy. >> reporter: there's some debate among brennan's clients, the airport regency hotel and its

insurer, about whether to continue the investigation and find the attacker, or just settle the lawsuit with inna and walk away. but the hotel's vice president, jose vazquez, keeps brennan in the game. >> there was no way that we quit that moment. we wanted to go up to the end. >> so it was because of his little bit of arm-twisting, that we're able to carry on with the investigation. >> reporter: now you're focused on this big tall black guy with a bag that you've seen on camera. the case is pretty cold at this point, he's long gone. how do you even begin to try to find this guy? >> you know, i didn't know if he was somebody that was staying at the hotel, that was a visitor that was just visiting, you know, one of the other people from the hotel. or if it's a guy that just walked off the street. we didn't know, so, that was the next part of the investigation. >> reporter: the hotel photo copies the i.d.s of registered

guests, but as you can see, the facial images are unrecognizable and thus useless. so, you go back to the tape. >> i go back to the tape. >> reporter: and what do you find? >> i was looking to see if he had any interaction with any of the other people in the hotel. and he does. he ends up interacting with another black fellow. >> reporter: and take a look at this -- the second man is often seen wearing a lanyard around his neck, with what looks like a name tag. >> i'm trying to find out why he's wearing this name tag. >> reporter: the problem? it's impossible to make out the name with the naked eye. so brennan calls up the people who own the most powerful telescopes in the world -- nasa. >> i say, listen, you know, i know you guys look at, you know, digital photography from, you know, light years away, you know, maybe you could help me out this case that i'm working. >> reporter: but for this mission, not even nasa had the right stuff. so, they couldn't do it? >> no. so, they informed me, listen, you know, we tried, but we're not able to get that for you.

so, i said, okay, fine. let's go back to the tape. >> reporter: fortunately, the next clue is spelled out in bold letters. >> later on in the video, when he's out by the hallway, you can clearly see that this says mercury. but it's -- >> reporter: what's mercury? >> that was the problem, i didn't know. >> reporter: mercury. is it the car? the planet? the element? there's no way to tell. until, in another critical frame of video, brennan notices another word written on the back of that same shirt. >> you can clearly make out a "v" and an "o," but it was difficult to make out what was in the middle. and for whatever reason, i don't know, i think that says verado. what the hell's a verado? i don't know, let's find out. so then i went online and did a search. and i got a hit. and it showed that mercury marine made a brand new outboard engine, by the name of verado. right, because after i saw that and i realized that was a boat

engine, i said, these guys are working at the boat show. >> hi! >> reporter: in fact, the miami boat show was held the same week of the crime. and, as usual, mercury was the major exhibitor. for a second, brennan feels like he's on the verge of closing the case, assuming the suspect works with the guy in the t-shirt, and they both work for mercury. it's just a matter of getting someone there to identify him. >> mercury marina is actually, the parent company is a company by the name of brunswick. i end up contacting brunswick, speaking to the head of security, and i said, listen, did you have any employees that stayed at the airport regency hotel? he said, no, we doesn't. >> reporter: so, it's a dead end? >> so, it's a little bit of a set back. >> reporter: so now he must find yet another needle in what's becoming a long row of haystacks. >> i said, well, trust me, one of the guys there is walking around with one of those mercury verado shirts, somebody was giving them out. so, he goes, okay, let me get back to you.

i said, okay, fine. couple days later he calls me back, he says, far as we can tell, the only people that received any of the shirts, the verado shirts, were employees that worked at the food court. >> reporter: so, another connection. >> so there's another connection. i said, well, let's find out who's the caterer for the miami boat show. so, it ends up becoming a company called center plate. >> reporter: another lead, another headache. center plate tells brennan it runs concessions at events across the country, and brings in people from all over. it reimburses workers for housing, but doesn't keep track of where they stay. the company is cooperative, but just can't say if any of its people slept at the airport regency. for brennan, another possible dead end. >> i've come a long way, and i said, i'm not going to give up on this guy yet. i said, listen, he's really distinctive. the guy's about 6'4", he's a black fellow and he wears glasses, you know, big thick glasses. so, i said, does anybody remember working with a guy that matches that description?

sure enough, about a week or so later, call him again, said, you know, gotten anywhere? he says, listen, he says, nobody knows the guy's name, but one of the people that remembered seeing this fellow working there remembers something about him being hired out of louisiana. he believes that's where he's from. >> reporter: so, now you've gone from miami to louisiana. >> now i'm over in louisiana. >> reporter: brennan's man hunt takes a big turn into the big easy. >> there was no doubt in my mind that if he was on your trail -- he was going to catch you. >> reporter: see what's next. all aboard cupcake! (girl) where are all the seats... excuse me, excuse me... can i sit here? ahhh... sure. (sigh)

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"20/20" continues with "the hunch."

♪ >> reporter: mardi gras in new orleans. it's the year's biggest party. >> the thing you miss the most, when i retire, it's mardi gras. >> reporter: it was here in 2000 that police captain ernest demma found himself arresting a rowdy college kid in the heart of the french quarter. things didn't go smoothly. >> during the course of the arrest, young college kid was able to get out of my grasp and start running down royal street. >> reporter: then, just as his suspect was about to escape into a sea of hard core revelers -- >> out of nowhere, from the crowd, comes this dark, imposing figure. >> reporter: that "dark, imposing figure?" guess who? >> i had taken my kids to mardi gras and there was an

incident where this police captain had arrested somebody and the guy broke away from him, started running through the crowd. and i witnessed it and i -- i ran the guy down. >> he chases the kid down halfway down the block, he tackles him in the middle of the street. by the time we get there, he's fully under control. >> reporter: that night, the two law officers form a fast bond. >> i gave him the nickname "batman" just because how the incident unfolded. >> yeah, he called me batman because the black turtleneck -- >> reporter: you swooped in. >> black jeans on, so, when i went and grabbed the guy, he said i looked like batman coming through the crowd. >> i swore to him that any time he needed me i was there for him. >> reporter: that time is now. brennan calls demma and tells him about his case. the suspect with the suitcase, the guy with the mercury verado t-shirt, the boat show and the tip that the company running the food court center plate had employed a man from louisiana who fit the suspect's description.

sherlock holmes would be impressed. >> i don't know about sherlock holmes, but i thought i was on a roll, so i figured we might as well keep, you know, keep going. i was certain that i was right. that's one thing about me, once i'm certain about something, hell or high water, i'm going to prove my case. >> reporter: it's time for another brennanesque shot in the dark. figuring his suspect works in food services year round, he starts investigating the bigger concession venues around new orleans. places like zephyr field, the local minor league baseball stadium. and, of course, the superdome. but finding folks in new orleans is no simple task. between the time of the 2005 miami boat show and brennan's investigation, new orleans had endured tragic and tough times. >> tonight, the overwhelming, catastrophic damage from hurricane katrina. >> reporte >> officialsest nate 80% of new orleans is now under water.

>> i didn't know if he was going to be alive or not anymore. >> reporter: "batman" brennan explains his situation to captain demma. and he asks demma's help finding any information on his suspect. >> it wouldn't be in a computer because we really didn't have any information on him per se that i know of. >> reporter: demma's people put out feelers and soon, all the gambles and all the guesses start paying off. the new orleans police confirm that brennan's mystery man was working at the superdome right when katrina hit. >> we were able to put the name with the body and come up with a hard description on the person he was looking for. >> reporter: one of demma's men breaks the news. >> calls me up and says, "listen, i got good news and i got bad news." and i said, "all right, well, give me the good news." he says, "the good news is, i think i know who he is." >> reporter: after months trying to put a name to the video image, it's so close brennan can taste it. and incredibly, when he finally

hears it, he can't believe his ears. >> i go, you got to be kidding me. >> reporter: stay with us. our second hour of "20/20," "the hunch," starts right now. a victim who can't remember and an obsessed private eye who can't forget. >> i'm so far into this investigation now there's no way i'm going to let this guy go. >> putting the pieces together. >> you stuffed her in there thinking she was a corpse. >> sherlock holmes would be impressed. >> but that's just the beginning. >> i knew i had the guy. i'm telling you, it's the guy. >> a gut instinct that nan wasn't his first victim. >> on that night, her whom life changed. >> i could just see the monster come over him. i just want you to catch this guy. >> can they get him before he strikes again? >> i had a question, why me? what did i do? why me? >> "the hunch." >> i told you i'd be back.

>> once again, deborah roberts. >> reporter: imagine walking into a hotel elevator in miami. then somewhere, somehow, you can't remember exactly -- a stranger attacks you. >> you're begging for your life, and for someone, it's funny. they just laugh. >> reporter: you black out. your lifeless body is found naked, savagely beaten and raped and discarded in a vacant cul-de-sac ten miles away. >> and you don't understand it, why it's going on or what is going on. >> reporter: days and nights pass. no one's arrested. your body begins to heal. your psychological scars remain raw. >> many things you are blaming, you are asking yourself a lot of questions.

why? did i look different? did i act different? >> reporter: that was where 23-year-old inna budnytska found herself in the spring of 2006. angry, depressed and desperate for answers. but what she didn't know was that there was a man she'd never met who was now fixated on finding her attacker. >> any case can be solved. but you need a lot of hard work, a lot of perseverance. but you need a lot of luck, too. >> reporter: private investigator ken brennan was hired by the hotel's insurance company, which was trying to fend off a lawsuit inna had filed. from the get-go, this p.i. let it be known he was interested in more than just a paycheck. >> i inform my clients that right from the very beginning that, listen, i'm here to find out what happened. if you want to find somebody, find out what happened, what the truth is in a situation, i'm the guy for you. but otherwise, i'm not interested.

>> reporter: brennan was indeed interested in the challenge of this mysterious case. >> something that i was interested in. i like to do puzzles in the newspaper. i enjoy that type of thing. >> reporter: on top of that, for as long has he can remember, brennan has had a certain fastidiousness. >> got to pay attention to all the details. >> reporter: which extends into every facet of his life. it was that obsessive-compulsive personality which drove brennan to sift through every frame of the hotel security camera footage from the night of inna's attack. >> hours upon hours upon hours to do so. >> reporter: hard labor, which would lead to the one frame of video that would blow the case wide open. brennan's convinced that this big guy, who just happens to be getting into the elevator with inna the last time she's seen on camera, is the suspect. he believes the mystery man attacked inna somewhere in the

hotel, stuffed her in his suitcase, then drove her out to that vacant lot and dumped her body. >> he believes he kills her. okay? he didn't stuff that girl in the suitcase thinking that she was alive. he stuffed her in there thinking she was a corpse. >> reporter: it's a decent theory, but so far no one else seems to find it compelling. in a foggy and fragmented account, inna has told police she believes she was raped by two white males with latin accents, not a lone black man. but brennan is undaunted. >> i'm so far into this investigation now there's no way i'm going to let this guy go. i'm going to track this guy down. >> reporter: but how to identify a man only seen on videotape? an unbelievable guessing game is the only hope. based on a t-shirt worn by another man seen with the suspect, brennan guesses they're with a boat engine company and more likely working at the boat show.

maybe he got his t-shirt at the food court where sometimes they're handed out. random? yes. but also right. center plate, the catering company running the food court, says it can't identify the man, but someone fitting his description was hired out of new orleans. which has since been devastated and depopulated by hurricane katrina. >> in new orleans, the city that thought it dodged a bullet is now a disaster zone. >> doesn't work here anymore. he ree he's gone. hurricane katrina happened. >> reporter: fortunately, thanks to a police contact in new orleans, brennan,against all odds, has tracked down his suspect's name. but get this. >> they come back and they tell me the guy's name is mike jones. i'm like, you got to be kidding me. mike jones? what is there, like 10 million of them? >> reporter: mike jones. >> mike jones, that's the guy's name. i said, geez, you know --

>> reporter: that's as generic as you can get. >> yeah, i mean, the guy's name was like, mikhail gorbachev or something, you know, it would be a hell of a lot easier to track down. >> reporter: at least there is a middle name, lee. so now, after some basic detective work, brennan's theory takes a big leap from speculation to certainty. >> well, what i did was i took that information, i went back to the hotel registry, and lo and behold, what do i find out, that there was a michael lee jones jr. that did stay at the airport regency hotel. and -- >> reporter: that's a pretty big moment. >> yeah, well -- that's an ah-ha moment where you say, hey, i was on the right track. i got the right guy. they notated on his card that he did work for center plate. the mike jones that i was looking for was the same mike jones that was in miami at the miami boat. okay? that i know. now, i just got to find out, where the hell is he? >> reporter: brennan's gut

instincts have been on a true winning streak, so he figures, why not roll the dice once more? michael jones doesn't work for center plate anymore, but brennan is willing to gamble he hasn't switched careers. >> i said, the likelihood is that even though he doesn't work for center plate anymore, he's probably going to work for one of their competitors, doing the same line of work. so, i asked the guy from center plate, i said, give me a list of your, like, top ten competitors in this business. >> reporter: starting from there, brennan digs deeper. he builds a master list of the major catering and concession companies in the country. he calls them one by one looking for a michael jones. near the bottom of that list is a company called ovations, based in tampa. >> it just so happens that i was on my way over to tampa at that particular time. i made an appointment to see him in person. i talked to the ceo of the company. i said, listen, do you have a michael lee jones working for you? he said, listen, i can't help

you with that. he says, i can't give you any information about my employees. you require a, you know, i'd require a subpoena to be able to rereese release that to you. >> reporter: they want a subpoena, what does that tell you? >> so what it tells me, that the guy works there. you know, why else ask for a subpoena? you know, i talked to, you know, 35 other companies and nobody had an objection to telling me that, no, no michael lee jones worked there. >> reporter: at this point, it's time for brennan to cash in his chips with alan foote, the miami-dade detective who'd originally handled the case and who has been willing to let brennan run with it. >> now is the time to call my buddy, detective foote, and tell him, listen, i need a subpoena. >> reporter: how urgent was it for you to get that subpoena? >> i obtained a subpoena for michael lee jones' records. as soon as i received the information, i faxed the information to ken. >> it was very important, and fortunately he was able to obtain the subpoena for me and, get it faxed over to the company at ovations, to the ceo over

there while i was still present. >> reporter: ovations finally releases the information. and just as brennan suspected, michael jones is on the payroll. he's currently working at a minor league baseball park in frederick, maryland. >> so, i said, listen, you know, we got to get some dna from this guy. either from voluntarily or without his knowledge because i have a dna profile from the victim and we have to match it to somebody. >> reporter: at long last, ken brennan and the mystery man with the suitcase are about to come face to face. >> now's the time. now's the big day. >> reporter: see what's next. say goodbye to the same breakthrough in break time.a introducing the new bacon clubhouse. loosen the tie, punch the clock, and grab 100% beef or premium chicken on an artisan roll with apple wood smoked bacon

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"20/20" continues. here again, deborah roberts. >> you take whatever clue you have, wherever you can go and

you just keep working at it and see where that takes you. might take you to a dead end, might take you to a blind alley, but it might take tow the promised land. >> reporter: for ken brennan, the promised land is right here -- a modest apartment in frederick, maryland, occupied by michael jones in the spring of 2006. 1,000 miles away from the hotel where inna budnystska was attacked. brennan thinks miami detective alan foote should go collect a dna sample from jones, but foote is still somewhat skeptical. >> he is telling me, "i have got the guy. this is the guy. this is going to be your guy." and i'm thinking, it's a theory. but i still have no indication that it's a blake male. >> reporter: so, you're not there yet. >> i'm not there yet. i'm not there. >> and i can understand his reluctance. however, i knew i had the guy. i got to get his ass up there to get him.

>> reporter: a few weeks later, detective alan foote flies up from florida and is now the first investigator to confront michael jones. he finds jones here, managing the concessions at this minor league baseball stadium. what was he like when you first met him? >> a teddy bear. >> reporter: a teddy bear. a big -- >> a big -- >> reporter: mild-mannered guy? >> mild-mannered guy. he was soft-spoken. he appeared to be educated. he was, i thought, very forthcoming. >> reporter: jones is not only cooperative, he's acting like a man without a care in the world. >> oh, he is staying cool as a cucumber. he's just very relaxed, leaned back in the chair. no hiding or stuttering, looking for something. >> reporter: jones confirms he was in miami working at the boat show and staying at the airport regency when inna was attacked. >> so i'm thinking, hmm, okay.

so, i said, do you have any sex with european women? and he says, yes, but it was with a german woman at the boat show. so, i have to throw out some more at him, was it a russian girl? was it at the hotel? and he's completely denying it. and he sounds creditable. he is being totally cooperative. >> reporter: then -- a real surprise. >> and so i came out and eventually said, i'm working a rape case where the girl was beaten and left for dead. did you do? and he said, well, no, of course not. >> reporter: and does he seem believable at that point? >> yes. he does. and i ask him, would you will being to give a dna specimen? because i have specimens from the rape. and he said, absolutely. >> reporter: what did that tell you? that he was so willing and -- >> i figured the guy didn't do it. i called ken, i said, this is not your guy.

>> he says, i don't know, ken, i don't think so. i don't think so. i talked to him. i said, yeah, i know you talked to him. i'm telling you, it's the guy. >> reporter: it will take months for the dna test to come back. in the meantime, brennan has called this man -- frederick police sergeant tom chase. >> i informed the lieutenant chase that i believed that he was a serial rapist, if not a serial murderer possibly, and that, you know, he might be a person of interest for him to keep an eye on, just, you know, in case something happened in one of those neighborhoods that he could possibly be responsible for. >> i utilized my contacts to keep an eye on the fact that he was still in town, because i want to make sure he's available for them when they're ready to come and get him. this is the ballpark where he was working at the time. and this is where he was living. >> reporter: lieutenant chase takes precautions knowing a possible serial rapist is living under his nose. >> i was more diligent in keeping track of the reports that were coming in for any type of suspicious person or any type

of -- any type of sexual assaults. >> he had his officers going by to keep an eye on him. he was going by on his own time on his way home from work. >> reporter: but brennan's not content to just watch matters unfold from afar. he makes his own trip to maryland and gets michael jones to meet him at the ballpark. >> and i interviewed him for three successive days. >> reporter: the guy is calm and collected. what does he tell you? >> he says, listen, i don't know what you're talking about. yeah, i, you know, i hooked up with a couple girls while i was there, but i don't know anything about this russian girl. >> reporter: are you believing him? >> no, not for a second. because if he had nothing to do with it, why would he talk to me for three days? the reason why he talked to me for three days is because he knows that i know more about this case than anybody did. so, he's trying to find out from me, you know, how much he has to worry, what does he have to

worry about, how much of this case does this guy know? you know, how close is he to me? >> reporter: still, could someone who's guilty remain so calm and so friendly? and why would anybody but an innocent man volunteer his dna? so it doesn't throw you that he's cool, calm and collected. it doesn't trouble you at all that he seems to be cooperative? >> not at all. i knew for sure that this was the guy. >> reporter: after interviewing jones, brennan offers his own cool and final message -- >> let me tell you something. i know you did this. i said, this ain't like a bad dream where you're just going to wake up and it's going to be over. take a good look at my face. you're going to see this face again, because i'm coming for you. >> reporter: the next time brennan speaks to jones will be inside this interrogation room. will his far-out hunches prove brennan correct? or will his theories all go up in smoke? >> you better remember how that happened. something went bad. >> i didn't hurt that girl. >> something went bad. you might not have thought you hurt her --

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we return to "20/20" and "the hunch." >> reporter: before the dna test come back on michael jones, detective alan foote gets an unexpected visit from inna budnytska. >> she came to my office and said, she didn't know if she was dreaming or if it was a reality, but she remembers being in the hotel room and sitting on the bed and across from her was a black male. >> reporter: wow.

>> wow is right. >> reporter: detective foot shows inna a photo lineup, including a photo of jones. >> and he asks me if i recognize anybody. and i chose a person from the lineup. this is the person who basically -- who raped me. >> reporter: it's all starting to come together. and then the dna results finally arrive. so you got the dna results. what did you think at that moment? >> i called ken up and i said, you're not going to believe this. >> detective foote calls me up, he says, hey, ken, you're not going to believe this. he goes, it's him. i go, no, yeah, no kidding. >> reporter: what was that moment like? >> oh, it was total elation, you know. i was happy. >> reporter: it's enough for an arrest warrant and a trip back to maryland to see michael jones. >> now, it's time to make an arrest. >> right. >> reporter: how does that happen? >> i fly to frederick, maryland. i meet up with ken brennan and

members of the frederick police department. i fill them in, that i have got the warrant. so, we all head out. we're caravanning like john wayne and the wagon train where the cavalry is coming because we're going to go get our guy and we go to his apartment -- and there he is. >> we knock on the door and he comes to the door and he answers. and we look at each other face to face, and i said, "i told you i'd be back." >> you are being charged with rape, all right? >> she says i raped her? >> we already have the hit on the dna. okay? now, it's just a question of interrogating him and seeing if i can get this guy to roll on it. >> reporter: in this interrogation room, foote and brennan begin a good cop/bad cop routine. >> look at these. >> [ bleep ]. i didn't do that. >> you were there. >> i did not do that. >> you were there. >> reporter: and jones tries to explain away the dna match. >> once we started to throw the fact that, obviously, he was

under arrest for this kidnapping and rape, his story changed. >> give us your version of what went down. and you only get one chance at it. >> all right, i'm going to be straight up. >> i know the only thing he's going to come up with is, "she was a prostitute. i paid for her. she was fine when i left her. i have no idea what happened to her after." because they already have their cover story, okay? >> reporter: sure enough, jones claims he went out with his friend in the mercury t-shirt to a strip club that night. as he returned to the hotel, he says he saw inna hanging out front with some other women. >> obviously, they were hookers or whatever. and you know, we were talking to her like, you know, "what to have some fun?" >> okay? and then what happens next? did you go to her room? did she go to your room? >> we went to her room. >> you went to her room? >> uh-huh. and then, you know, she -- she whispers in my ear, "a hundred bucks." so we did it and i gave her a

hundred bucks and i left. >> easy victim. easy victim for everybody. easy to blame you. easy to blame. >> and then what happened after that? after you had sex with her? >> i went back to my room. >> so, you don't know what happened to her? that's what you are telling me, right? >> yes sir. >> reporter: unfortunately for jones, the hotel cameras tell a different story. it's true that he and his friend were talking to some women at 3:33 when inna left to get that phone card. but look. she walks right by without ever talking to anybody. >> there wasn't any kind of an exchange between the two of them that would have been indicative at all of somebody slis soliciting a prostitute or a prostitute soliciting a john. >> reporter: and then there's this. the hotel records show that jones didn't check out of his room until february 22nd, one full day after the attack. so, why would he be seen leaving with his suitcase at 5:28 the

morning before, only to return without it an hour later? >> so he put his suitcase in the trunk of the car. but he never came back to get the suitcase. whooid you leave the hotel when you weren't supposed to, you still had another day to stay? >> reporter: here's jones' explanation. >> i took my [ bleep ] downstairs and put it in the trunk. i think i went to 7-eleven or something for a soda. >> in the middle of the night? not in the morning when you're checking out -- >> because i wasn't sure when we were leaving, that day or the next day. >> reporter: still, a sympathetic jury might overlook those questionmarks and accept jones' account, reducing this to a case of "he says" -- >> i did not hurt her in any [ bleep ] kind of way. >> reporter: and "she can't really remember." >> the memory was not clear because -- it's -- probably

because of -- i don't know. >> but this is the one opportunity that you have to be able to show to the jury, what a liar this person is. even though he's calm and he's cool and he looks like he hasn't done a thing in the world, it was my job to be able to show that he's a liar. >> reporter: so brennan begins circling around that moment he believes is the key to the case -- the suitcase and the tell-tale tug. >> so, the only way is to draw him in little by little. little by little. and that's what i did. i set him up, ask him some question, let him give some innocuous answer, and then i come back to it later. >> well, let's -- let's back up a little bit. i said, well, you're here on the video, you're leaving. where were you going? he says, oh, i was going out to my car. what stuff did you bring out to your car? >> all i had was my suitcase. >> let me ask you this. what did you have in your bag when you went out to your car?

>> my clothes. >> how much clothes did you have? >> just a bunch of [ bleep ]. i was there two weeks. >> how much stuff? >> reporter: a pause. for the first time, jones is jammed up. >> you could just see the wheels turning and he's saying, oh, i got to come up with a scenario. why is this heavier than it appears to be? how much clothes, did you have bowling balls in it? was it fairly light? >> it was heavy. i had my xbox in there. >> xbox in there, anything else? clothes? how many pairs of shoes? >> clothes, books. >> you had books? how many books did you have? oh, i had five of them. oh, you had five books. how big were they? oh, big novels. you're an avid reader? >> i read a lot. >> what kind of reading do you do? >> science fiction. >> science fiction? >> reporter: but then, this avid reader suddenly has a case of amnesia. >> what was the name of the books you were reading?

>> i have no idea. i couldn't tell what you the name of the book was i just took out of my pocket. >> well, what's the book you've been reading right now? >> i couldn't tell you. >> reporter: by now, brennan's had enough. >> everything you're saying doesn't add up. it doesn't make sense. >> what doesn't make sense? >> your timeline stinks. your story stinks. the whole story stinks. >> reporter: he's sure jones is lying and more importantly, he believes any jury viewing this video will think so, too. >> because any of the things he was talking about made absolutely no sense whatsoever. who goes and leaves, takes their clothes out to the car two days before they check out? nobody. who is 6'4", wakes 380 pounds, has some underwear and an xbox in a suitcase and needs two hands to pull it out of a crack? nobody. doesn't make sense. doesn't make sense because it's all [ bleep ]. what is true is that he already beat this girl, he's dragging

her out. he's gone for an hour because he's looking for a place to dump her because he thinks she's dead. >> reporter: maybe so, but throughout the interrogation -- >> would you be willing to take a polygraph exam? >> sure. >> reporter: and a polygraph test right after. >> so, you don't know what happened to her or how it happened to her? >> no. >> reporter: jones maintains total innocence. >> he played his role right to the very, bitter end. >> reporter: jones is charged with sexual battery and kidnapping. but before any trial begins, the case against him will nearly fall apart. the defense is about to get a big assist from, of all people, the victim. >> i was afraid this guy was just going to get let off. he was going to walk. >> reporter: stay with us. honey, look i got one to land. uh-huh. (vo) there's good more... honey, look at all these smart rewards points verizon just gave me. ooh, you got a buddy. i'm like a statue.

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"20/20" continues. once again, deborah roberts. >> reporter: after months of exhaustive investigation, a positive dna match and a rigorous interrogation -- >> so when are you lying? are you lying then, or are you lying now? >> reporter: ken brennan finally

thinks he knows what happened in miami in the wee hours of february 21st, 2005, after this fateful meeting between inna budnytska and michael jones. he seems to be very casual right here. >> very casual, just getting onto the elevator. they engage in some type of conversation. >> reporter: there's no video of any conversation because remember, for privacy reasons, there are no cameras in the elevators or the upstairs hallways. but brennan knows the two spoke because back in the interrogation, jones knew inna had been injured working on a cruise ship. >> talked to her. start telling me something about she was disabled, she got hurt on tom cruise ship or something. >> reporter: inna then goes to her room. we know that because, remember, the key card security log records her swiping the key at her door for the last time just moments later. and on top of that, the red

jacket inna is wearing was recovered on the floor of her room on the fourth floor. but inna doesn't stay there. >> i know the victim said that she believed it happened in her room. but the evidence doesn't present it to be that way. what the evidence presents is that she was in her room, but somehow or other, i don't know if she was drugged or, he convinced her to have a drink with him or something. but somehow or other they ended up in his room, which is on the next floor up. and they end up in his room, and i believe that's where the sexual assault and kidnapping took place. >> this was in actuality the crime scene. >> reporter: brennan believes that after beating and raping inna in his room, jones stuffs her in his suitcase, casually strolls out of the hotel at 5:28 a.m. without attracting the attention of the night manager, george perez, and drives off. now, he's in a hurry, because he's got to be back in time to be at work at the boat show that morning. >> what i think is, he exits the hotel, he makes a right turn.

he goes to the first major intersection, because he's not familiar with the area. he's not from the south florida area. makes a right on 122nd avenue. this is an empty cul-de-sac. this is the first opportunity he's seen from the hotel that gives him the opportunity to dispose of the body. >> reporter: jones dumps inna's body, turns around and makes it back at 6:21 a.m., with time to spare. he saunters into the hotel restaurant at 7:59 and joins his friend at breakfast. then, they head out to the parking lot and off to work. >> just like another day at work. >> reporter: but after almost a year of sleuthing, brennan's investigation is about to unravel. inna refuses to accept his theory, instead sticking to her original story that the attack happened in her room. >> i didn't go nowhere. i didn't go to nobody's room. i remember myself going into my room. that's what i remember. >> reporter: and remember, inna had told police she'd been attacked by two white men with

spanish accents before picking jones out of that lineup. and even after she'd i.d.'d jones, she claimed he was just one of two assailants who raped her in a car. >> she did give contradictory statements. >> reporter: inna's foggy memory could have resulted from the massive head trauma she sustained. or perhaps jones slipped her some kind of drug. in any case, she made a flimsy witness. >> the prosecutor's office was uncomfortable with the fact that inna's memory was in bits and pieces. with jurors, it's hard, really, to predict they would feel, the way it comes out. it may throw some doubt. >> reporter: to be clear, except for the circumstantial evidence on the video, the case is becoming thin. there's that dna match, but it only proves sexual contact. not necessarily rape. under interrogation, jones never

confesses to brennan or foote. he bombs a polygraph test, but those aren't admissible in court. the famous suitcase is never recovered. and unfortunately, just like michael jones' rental car, his hotel room has been cleaned countless times in the year before he was ever identified, probably destroying any evidence. jones' defense attorney smells the prosecution's weakness a mile away. >> we believe that they couldn't prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. the miami dade police department, i think, the detectives there believed that since they had dna, and a suspect to match that he must have been the one who did the rape and the beating. but there's no evidence that he did that at all. >> reporter: that's a bit of a stretch. but bottom line, it's enough to make the d.a.'s office give up on a lengthy prison sentence. >> they didn't feel they could win a case if it went to trial. you don't know how a jury would feel. so, the prosecutor's office

decided to offer him a plea, which he took. >> reporter: two years. >> two years. >> reporter: two years. >> i was upset. oh, you can't let this guy out. i just told them, you can't. >> i was angry. i was angry. but i couldn't do anything. i'm not familiar with the justice system. but i was upset inside, yes, i was upset. >> reporter: in fact, everyone involved in the case is upset everyone, that is, except ken brennan. >> that didn't bother me either. i said, hey, listen, don't worry about it. >> reporter: the dogged investigator has yet another hunch. >> this wasn't his first time at the rodeo here. he's done this before. >> reporter: and the hotel security cameras are about to give up one final secret about michael jones. give up one final secret about michael jones. stay with us.

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we showed people a survey that stacked fios up against comcast. what's it like paying for internet rated 6 out of 7 in customer satisfaction? not good, it's not the best. no, it's not fun. look at it this way, you're kind of on top. if i was like this, all day. switch from the bottom to the top and see why millions of satisfied customers have made fios #1. sign up for a verizon fios triple play online with a 2-year agreement and get an amazing $400 back plus a free lg g tablet or up to $200 off any tablet from verizon wireless. but hurry, don't wait - this great offer ends august 10th. we return to "20/20" and "the hunch."

>> reporter: take a look. a closer look at the security cam footage and watch michael jones exiting the hotel with his suitcase. do you see what ken brennan sees? >> take a look at this guy. just take a look at the video. i said, look how nonchalant this guy is. i said, he believes he murdered this girl, stuffed her in a suitcase and he's looking to dump her. and look at the way he walks off the elevator, and walks through it like he's -- like he's whistling. like he wasn't a care in the world. >> reporter: that's what leads brennan to a chilling conclusion. >> there's a problem with this guy. he's done this before. >> reporter: brennan knew jones' work took him to cities all over the country, giving him plenty of opportunity to meet new women and then disappear. >> what better occupation for a serial rapist or a serial murderer? >> reporter: so when detective foote tells brennan that jones copped a plea with a two-year essential sentence for

the attack on inna, brennan plays his final ace. >> i said, don't worry about it. trust me, you take his dna, put it into codeis, you're going to get a hit. >> reporter: and that's the national register >> the national registry that the fbi -- the dna data bank that the fbi has. >> reporter: it takes more than a year, but brennan is nothing if not patient. >> i said and when his profile goes out, there's going to be other hits from people he's done this to already. there was no doubt in my mind. i was certain of it. >> reporter: then, in a word, bingo. >> i was notified by them that they had dna that had matched my case. >> reporter: detective terry thrumston had a cold case up in colorado springs. the crime occurred in december of 2005, about nine months after the attack on inna budnytska in miami. and, guess what? about three months after michael jones had left new orleans in the wake of hurricane katrina, he was working concessions at the colorado springs world arena

before taking the job at the ballpark in frederick, maryland. >> he traveled all over the united states for his job and he was good at being a rapist. >> reporter: the colorado victim, 41-year-old jennifer roessler, seen here just minutes before the attack, leaving a local convenience store. >> on that night her whole life changed. she was a woman, alone, walking at 2:30, 3:00 in the morning. the man asked her if she wanted a ride. she said yes and got in his vehicle, got to her apartment. he asked for a drink of water. >> when i asked him, you know, you need to leave, you know, i was going to go to bed, and he just -- he was like jekyll and hyde. he just -- it just -- i could just see the monster come over him. >> and then he sexually assaults her at that point. >> he wasn't nervous. he was calm.

it was like we was on a date. and i knew, terry, i knew this happened before. i've just -- i had a feeling this has happened before, because he was too calm. >> she wanted to confront him. she wanted justice for what happened. >> i just want you to catch this guy. >> and i'm -- you know what? i'm working really hard. >> i know you are. >> reporter: now, with the dna hit, it looks like justice may finally be within reach. but it's still far from a done deal. roessler's decision to let jones into her apartment raises the possibility that the sex was consensual. and worst of all, just before the start of the trial in january 2009, tragic news. >> i kept trying to get ahold of her and couldn't get ahold of her and i didn't find out until the beginning of december that she had passed away. it was a shock. >> reporter: jennifer roessler had suffered medical problems

unrelated to her rape. now, without the star witness, the best chance to put michael jones away for a long time is fading fast. but thrumston isn't going to let it go, and takes the case to trial anyway. >> when she died, the case didn't die for me. i wanted to see it through for her and for the other victims. >> reporter: the trial is something of a reunion. miami detective alan foote heads to colorado to testify. inna testifies too, driven by a seething desire to confront her attacker. >> i wanted so much, just to look into his eyes, and just, i had a question, why me? what did i do? i mean, why me? >> reporter: and now, to dispel any reasonable doubts, thrumston has found a silver bullet. yet another rape victim with a dna hit. >> there was never any hesitation to go and testify against this man. i was more than happy to be

there. >> reporter: this woman, we're calling her rachel, may have been jones' fist virst victim. it was back in new orleans in 2003. her story should have a familiar ring. a stranger in a car, a ride and a rape. >> i screamed with everything i had. and the reality was, just, there was nobody there. it was -- there was nobody there. >> reporter: but now, rachel's voice will be heard. on the stand, she makes a perfect witness. >> she was able to describe exactly what had happened to her six years later. in full detail of what had happened without a doubt. >> reporter: and her reputation is unassailable. >> i'm a working professional and i'm a mom. >> reporter: and above all else, this -- a composite sketch rachel made with new orleans police of the man who raped her. >> it looked almost identical to what michael lee jones looked in the courtroom.

>> seeing that sketch next to his face, it was extremely satisfying. i just felt, like, yes! >> reporter: in the colorado trial, the defense tries to argue the sex with jennifer roessler was consensual, but with dna hits from multiple women all claiming rape, and rachel's sketch? as ken brennan might say, no dice. >> within a couple hours, the jury came back and said he's guilty. >> reporter: jones is slammed hard. a sentence of 24 years to life. by the time he's eligible for parole, he'll be just shy of his 60th birthday. >> and i feel happy that the criminal is where he's supposed to be and he never going to hurt nobody in the future. >> reporter: you gave almost two years of your life to this case. how did it feel to finally see this guy brought to justice? >> i gave two years of my life investigatorial-wise.

but you know, the victims give a hell of a lot more. they're the ones that should be commended for this. i can only do the investigation, and you know, make an arrest, but they're the ones that put them in prison, you know? the victims are the heroes here. they're the ones that have to get on the stand and say, "this is what this guy did to me, this is when he did it to me, this is how he did it." >> you need to go through this, as painful and as traumatic and embarrassing as all of that might be, you have to do that, because you just -- you never know how many other women may have been impacted by this person. >> reporter: inna doesn't feel like a hero, just a survivor. >> i wish it never happened to any woman. i wish it never happened to nobody. >> reporter: inna settled her suit with the hotel. she still struggles with depression and anxiety, but she

says she has managed to move on with her life. detective alan foote retired from the miami-dade police with a smile on his face and a new opinion of private investigators, at least this one. you weren't that crazy about private eyes to begin with. did this case change your mind at all? >> in respect to ken brennan, it did, yes. >> reporter: but private eyes in general, not so much? >> i still have the same opinion about private investigators, but i respect ken brennan as a person and as an investigator. i could count on him, glad to know him. >> reporter: and as for the man himself? with the case closed, brennan can treat himself to a celebratory cigar. and a profound sense of satisfaction. >> i've been doing this since 1975, and in the multitude of cases i've done, this is by far the most rewarding.

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>> next on "action news" charges filed in the murder of a >> next on "action news" charges filed in the murder of a 3-year-old girl in ty people are so impatient, right? you know what it is, it's waiting.

10 minutes or 10 hours people don't like waiting. (sheep sounds) you know at comcast, we don't want you to wait at all. with our new xfinity my account app, you can troubleshoot technical issues, request a call back or chat with an expert via twitter. can you wait just a second? hey, can you move please? i hate sheep. introducing the xfinity my account app. ♪ >> one man is under arrest charged with the murder of this little girl killed last night in grays ferrych the fatal shooting is getting national attention. saturday night a