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Editor's note: This is part 1 in a 2-part series on Robert Leroy Nelson, a former Minnesota state trooper who confessed to the murder of 18-year-old Michelle Busha in 1980.

BLUE EARTH, Minn. 鈥� After Deborah Anderson came across the gravestone for an unidentified woman at a local cemetery in 2003, she started asking the Faribault County Sheriff鈥檚 Office questions about her death in 1980.

The woman, 18, had been brutally sexually assaulted, tortured and strangled while hitchhiking in Blue Earth by then-State Trooper Robert Leroy Nelson, who confessed to the crime in 1988. Even with the admission of guilt, they still didn鈥檛 know her identity.

That didn鈥檛 sit well with Anderson.

鈥淚 grew up in a regular middle-class family. We may get on each other鈥檚 nerves, but we know where everybody is,鈥� Anderson told Forum News Service.

Anderson, a database manager, wanted to know if the woman鈥檚 case had been filed with state and national databases and websites for cases involving unidentified victims and remains.

She continued to press for more answers 鈥� and was eventually told by sheriff鈥檚 office officials that no steps had been taken to include the case in state and national databases, according to letters exchanged between Anderson and the Faribault County Sheriff鈥檚 Office.

Anderson knew including the woman鈥檚 case in the database, along with the description of her age and appearance, was important.

She spent the next year pushing the sheriff鈥檚 office to submit the case with the Minnesota Missing and Unidentified Persons Clearinghouse, operated by the state鈥檚 Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

Eventually, with persistent persuasion, it happened.

The submission sparked a more than decade-long quest for the truth, which was dotted with milestones in the case, including the exhumation of the body.

The exhumation provided a pathway to DNA testing 鈥� and, ultimately, resulted in the identification of the victim in 2015.

Her name was Michelle Busha, an 18-year-old Bay City, Texas, woman who had gone missing in 1980.

Her family never stopped looking for her.

Anderson fell to her knees when she learned the woman鈥檚 identity.

She was returning a call left on her voicemail. Assuming it was work-related, she approached the call in a professional manner.

She did the same when she received a call back. It was Blue Earth Jane Doe鈥檚 sister.

鈥淚 literally dropped to the floor,鈥� Anderson said. 鈥淚 just sat down on the floor in my office. I was like, oh my God. Are you sure?鈥�

After 14 years of fighting for the dignity and identity of Blue Earth Jane Doe, the voice on the other end of the line revealed the truth 鈥� and thanked her.

At the time she received the call, she had been embroiled in a long, uphill battle.

She successfully advocated in 2003 for the inclusion of Blue Earth Jane Doe鈥檚 case in the BCA Missing and Unidentified Persons Clearinghouse.

She lobbied for an exhumation of the body in 2003 鈥� an effort that was realized more than a decade later in 2014.

In the meantime, Anderson vigorously tracked down potential leads: cases of young women who went missing in and around 1980.

She spent her drives to and from work making calls. When a lead didn鈥檛 work out, she crossed the name off the list 鈥� and narrowed in on the next possibility.

She also gave birth to a baby girl of her own.

鈥淲hen I started out, I didn鈥檛 have kids and I wasn鈥檛 pregnant. But during those 14 years, I got pregnant and gave birth to a little girl," Anderson said. 鈥淲hich made me even more like, I鈥檓 not stopping until this is done.鈥�

By 2014, Anderson again pushed the BCA for an exhumation of the body. Advancements in DNA technology and forensic genealogy were emerging as promising tools for cold cases involving unidentified remains.

Yet Anderson was told the funding simply wasn鈥檛 there.

Faced with cost-related barriers, she recruited a qualified volunteer to exhume the woman鈥檚 body.

In August of 2014, Blue Earth Jane Doe鈥檚 body was exhumed. DNA was extracted 鈥� and less than one year later, she learned her efforts had paid off.

Blue Earth Jane Doe鈥檚 DNA was uploaded to a national database, which includes DNA submitted by individuals through testing kits like 23andme. A sample provided by the victim鈥檚 father led to the identification of a match.

Finally, the family had answers.

Since the discovery, Anderson has gotten to know more about Busha and her family鈥檚 story.

After Busha turned 18 in November 1979, she began traveling the country with a group of friends. She called home frequently.

When the calls stopped, they knew something was wrong. By May 9, 1980, roughly three weeks before she was killed, she was officially registered as a missing person.

During the years they searched and longed for answers, a stranger on the other side of the country was doing the same.

All the while, the assailant was sitting behind bars in the same state as Busha鈥檚 family, roughly three hours away, serving a life sentence for the sexual assault of a minor and the murder of Busha.

There was just one question that remained: Did Nelson have more homicide victims?

In part 2 of this series, we鈥檒l examine the history and career of Robert Leroy Nelson and explore the possibility that he鈥檚 killed more than once.