Dateline: 5 harrowing details about Hannah Hill's disappearance, revisited

Dateline: The Night Hannah Hill Disappeared brings forth the gruesome case of Hannah Hill, which aired on February 1, 2013. Hannah Hill's brutal case is still something that resonates in a heartbreaking manner. This case did not start as a murder case. Rather, it was a case of disappearance.

Hannah Hill, an eighteen-year-old girl, disappeared on May 19, 1999. She left her Ohio home, but did not return. Soon, the investigators began to find ways to find Hannah; however, they were not able to find her. Dateline revisits the details of Hannah Hill’s case.

Revisiting 5 harrowing details about Hannah Hill's disappearance from Dateline: The Night Hannah Hill Disappeared

1) Dateline dives into Hannah Hill’s disappearance

May 19, 1999, became a harrowing day for Hannah Hill’s parents, as the kindhearted eighteen-year-old left home at 10:30 PM, telling her parents that she would be returning soon. However, it became the last time that her parents saw her alive. After leaving her house, Hannah did not return home, as she had promised.

This created immense worry amongst her loved ones, causing them to inform the police about this situation. The search for Hannah began, which also included local volunteers. Even after rigorously searching for her, she was not found. Then the police received information about a parked car. The police arrived at the location to find Hannah’s dead body inside the trunk of the car.

2) Discovery of Hannah’s deadbody

The Dateline episode revealed that Hannah’s body was found inside the truck and had marks on her body. The initial autopsy, which was done, revealed that she died on the same day she disappeared.

The cause of Hannah's death was the lack of oxygen. The brutality of Hannah’s murder raised an alarm. It marked the beginning of a long and grueling case leading to the final revelation of the truth.

3) Dateline unveils the initial investigation

The investigators faced quite a setback during the initial stages of the investigation of Hannah’s murder case. There was hardly any evidence or clue that could lead to the truth. However, on the day of the murder, Hannah came across her boyfriend, Brad.

The police began to investigate Brad, and he revealed the physical abuse he inflicted upon Hannah Hill. Marks were also found on Brad’s body, indicating his relation to the case. However, he admitted that he did not kill Hannah. He also revealed his physical abuse towards her, but refused to have any involvement with Hannah’s murder.

4) The revelation of the true criminal

After further investigation, as depicted in the Dateline episode, a new connection to the case was found. Hannah was in contact with Denny Ross before her murder.

He was the last person Hannah saw before her disappearance. As the investigation progressed, Hannah’s clothes were found at Denny’s apartment. It connected him to the case. However, things took a turn at the first trial. Due to a problem with the jurors, the case ended with a mistrial.

5) Dateline revisits the verdict of Hannah’s case

The final verdict of Denny Ross for Hannah Hill's case came in 2012. During that time, he was convicted of murder, evidence tampering, and abuse of a corpse. Denny got 15 years to life in prison.

At this time, he was already serving for other charges. This was related to Jennifer Tittle’s case in 2004. While Denny was out on bail, he raped Jenniffer. After which Jenniffer testified against him. DNA evidence that linked Denny to the case was also found during this time.