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ROSEMONT—

“We have somebody … I’m like, ‘what? Excuse me?’”

It was an after midnight call from a detective who worked more than a year to solve Jessica’s murder.

“It was shocking because it had been a lot time since I had gotten phone calls for questions at two in the morning,” Tara Haslam said.

She got updates by phone about once a month for the past a year-and-a-half. Only this time, it was different.

“He actually came by and showed me a picture, wanted to know if I happened to know the guy,” Tara said.

A picture of the guy who detectives believe killed Jessica. But Tara had never seen 23-year-old Ryan Roberts before.

It was Roberts’ DNA that matched what investigators gathered from the Rosemont park dugout, where Jessica was killed back in March of 2012.

“To me, DNA can’t lie,” Tara said.

We asked Tara that, if given the opportunity to talk to Roberts, what would she say?

“My mind has been spinning as far as what’s the first thing you’d say … No. There’s not only one thing,” Tara said.

It’s been a grueling 17 months for Tara. Many had given up hope that a suspect would ever be caught.

“Every time I heard that, whether it was just a stranger or someone in the media, it really made me mad. Because there was reason to give up.”