'Dateline' spotlights cold case with Tiffin ties

The daughter and sister of a woman who was murdered in Northwood in 1982 are searching for closure they say they may never find after the woman's killer was convicted 34 years after her death. Dennis Murphy will host a two-hour "Dateline" program at 9 p.m. Friday on NBC, telling the story of Dana Rosendale of Toledo, a woman who died Sept. 11, 1982, six days after sustaining injuries to her head. Deborah Risner, Rosendale's older sister who has been a Tiffin resident for 40 years, said Rosendale was found Sept. 6, 1982, on the side of Tracy Road in Northwood, in Wood County. "There was a lot of suspicion regarding the events around her death," she said. Risner said a lot of investigative work was completed in the years after Rosendale's death, but no charges were assessed. "You knew she was murdered," she said. "You just didn't know how or why." Risner said Rosendale's daughter, Brittany Stork, was eight months old when her mother was killed. She said Stork dedicated a lot of time to convincing investigators to reopen the case. Stork said she spoke with prosecutors, detectives and other investigators for several years about her mother's death. "I had been fighting since I was in eighth grade, I was 13 or 14 years old," she said. "In 2012, they seriously started looking into it." Stork said she thought her persistence was one reason the case was reopened. "Keeping my mom's name on their mind," she said. "After hearing it so much, maybe they thought they should look into it because this girl won't leave us alone." Risner said in 2013, the case was reopened after Rosendale's body was exhumed and her death was ruled a homicide. In 2015, Russell Adkins, a bouncer at the club Rosendale attended the night of her murder, was charged. Risner said Adkins gave Rosendale and another girl a ride home from the club the night of her death. "At first (Adkins) said he didn't know her," Risner said. "But, his story kept changing. When they placed him at the scene, he said she fell out of the car." Risner said Adkins' explanation didn't add up. "A first responder testified that it wasn't right," she said. "She didn't fall out of the car, there were no grass stains or road burns. There was no way." Risner said investigators told her that her sister had sustained three distinct blows to the head. "A neurologist said she was hit so hard it was like a home run swing with a baseball bat," she said. "It destroyed her brain stem. She was on life support six days before she died." Risner said the case went to trial in January and ended with a hung jury before Adkins was found guilty in a July retrial and given a maximum sentence of life in prison with parole possible after 15 years. She said the conviction did not give her closure. "For me, it's worse for my niece. She was more angry because she grew up without a mother or siblings," Risner said. "It's not closure for me. I still don't have a sister. When Dana died, it killed my mother too. I don't feel like there is closure." Stork said after the conviction she was excited — not for closure, but because justice had been served. "He got to live for the last 34 years, he got to see his kids grow up," she said. "But, her life was cut short at 19 years old." Risner said she still wonders why this happened to her sister and she doesn't feel different after the conviction. "It changes your life in a lot of ways when you lose someone tragically like this," she said. "(Rosendale) was 19 years old. Being 23 at your sister's funeral, it's just senseless. No one should have to deal with it ever." Risner said Adkins stole memories from her and her family. "This person gets to live the past 34 years," she said. "But, my sister didn't get to live or watch her kid get married or get to go to my kids' birthday parties." Risner said she wishes she could face the man who took her sister's life. "I'd just ask him why," she said. "Why did you feel the need to do this? I'll probably never have closure because I will never know why." Stork said the conviction brought her some relief. "It's good to know someone is being held accountable," she said. "There's consequences for people's actions." Risner said she plans to watch the "Dateline" episode with some of her children. "I still get emotional," she said. "It's been 34 years and it's still hard for me to talk about it. I don't know if I'll be able to watch. For me, it's reliving it. It's tough." Stork said she would not be watching because of travel plans, but she said she would watch the episode online at a later date. She said she knew the rest of her family would watch, but she looks at it in a different way because she was only 8 months old when her mom died. "My job was to make sure she got justice," Stork said. "I am very very thankful to the Wood County Prosecutor's Office. I owe everything to them." Dustyn Risner, Deborah's son, said he felt bad for his mom and cousin. "For 34 years, they've had to endure this," he said. Dustyn said several family members plan to get together Saturday to show support. "This was a long time coming," he said.