When I wrote about the murder of seventeen-year-old Candace Hiltz in True Crime Case Histories — Volume 4, the case had been cold for more than a decade. The lead detective, Robert Dodd, had been convicted of mishandling evidence found in his abandoned storage locker. The Hiltz family was convinced the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office had either bungled — or actively covered up — the investigation. And no one had ever been charged with Candace’s murder.

That last part is still true. But the case has shifted in a direction almost no one expected.

In November 2021, Oxygen’s Cold Justice dedicated a 90-minute season finale — titled “Small Town Conspiracy” — to the case. Veteran prosecutor Kelly Siegler and investigator Abbey Abbondandolo spent weeks in Fremont County working alongside Detective Peter Rasmussen and Undersheriff Derek Irvine, and what they found significantly complicates the story I told in the book.

A few of the key findings:

The deputy who came to the Hiltz home days before the murder — the one Candace accused of taking bribes from local meth cooks — was identified on camera as Sgt. Trace Hall. Hall acknowledged he was there to ask Dolores about Jimmy’s involvement in a burglary, but he flatly denied taking any bribes. The Cold Justice team ultimately concluded there was no substantiated evidence that any deputy had a motive to kill Candace or her dog.

Forensic firearms expert Chris Robinson demonstrated that a single shooter could plausibly have fired all the rounds — using a .410 shotgun, a .45 Long Colt revolver, and a .22 — eliminating the long-held theory that the autopsy required two or three assailants. Robinson also concluded that the same .22 used to kill Candace was likely the gun used to kill the family dog, Jackson.

Most striking of all, a small bone fragment that had been recovered fifteen years earlier from the wooded area where Jimmy Hiltz had been camping — and that had simply been sitting in evidence ever since — was finally sent for DNA testing. It matched Candace.

After reviewing everything, Det. Rasmussen and Undersheriff Irvine took the case against Jimmy to the District Attorney. According to Siegler, the DA “likes the case” but wasn’t ready to move forward. As of this writing, no charges have been filed.

Dolores Hiltz rejected the conclusions. She remains convinced her son did not kill her daughter and that the truth lies somewhere inside the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office. Given how badly that office mishandled the original investigation — and given Robert Dodd’s behavior with the evidence — it’s hard to blame her for not trusting them now.

Whether or not Jimmy is ever charged, the storage-locker fiasco still casts a long shadow. The bloody axe, rope, and other items recovered from Dodd’s unit were never properly tested for DNA in time, and a 2020 ruling noted that “potential relevant evidence in criminal prosecutions was lost.” Whatever those items might once have proven about Candace’s killer, they likely never will.

For Candace’s family, that may be the most painful part of all. Nearly twenty years on, they’re no closer to a courtroom than they were the day she died.