One case stood out: the 1980 disappearance and murder of two teens, Kelly Drew and Tim Hack, in Watertown, Wisconsin. The couple, both 19, had vanished after a wedding reception, and their bodies were found months later, stabbed and strangled.
Balascio vividly remembered her father working at that venue and fleeing Watertown with the family just two days after the teens went missing.
Determined to follow her instincts, Balascio contacted detectives working on the reopened case.
DNA Confirms Edwards is the Killer
Three weeks after her call, authorities delivered shocking news: Edward Wayne Edwards’ DNA matched evidence from the “Sweetheart Murders.”
“I started hyperventilating,” Balascio said. “Because that was the moment it really hit me that my dad was the horrible, horrible person that I’d always suspected him of. I just never had the proof.”
But the discovery brought no relief. Instead, Balascio was overcome with shame, guilt, and grief. “I didn’t want anyone to know,” she admitted. “I had guilt by association. I thought people would think, ‘Like father, like daughter.’”
