Irving, TX -- May 27, 1999 -- A 3-year-old Irving girl found dead in the Trinity River may have suffocated, possibly by drowning, the Dallas County medical examiner ruled in an autopsy. Cristy Ryno was reported missing April 17, from her family's apartment. Her nude body was found in the river's Elm Fork four days later, several miles upstream from the apartment complex. The medical examiner reported finding no broken bones and no signs of other trauma, and toxicology tests revealed nothing unusual in her system. The autopsy report listed smothering, drowning and strangulation as possible causes of death. "It's probably one of these, but we can't prove it," said Richard George, a field agent for the medical examiner's office. "There's no obvious blunt force injuries. There's nothing to indicate exactly what it [the cause of death] was." The family had not heard details of the autopsy until informed by a reporter, said Larry Bartlett, the boyfriend of Cristy's mother. Irving police Sgt. Michael Kiere said that was because the autopsy offered no firm explanations that would help the family understand what happened. "If they have any questions, they can call us. We haven't had another meeting with them," Sgt. Kiere said. "There's certain things that we don't want to get into with them or anybody else." Investigators have focused on Cristy's mother, Leticia Ryno, and the three other adults who lived in the apartment with Cristy and her twin sister, Tiffany. Ms. Ryno told police that all of the adults were asleep in the apartment the morning Cristy disappeared. Deterioration of the girl's body may have destroyed evidence that would have helped narrow the cause of death, Mr. George said. Such variables as exposure to sun and the temperature of the air and water make it impossible to know how long her body was in the river and whether she was killed before being placed there, he said. Mr. George said Cristy probably was dead for more than a day before fishermen found her body, based on its decomposition. "Obviously, she was there for a period of time," he said. "They can't come up with an exact time of death, or even an estimate." Doctors concluded that Cristy was a homicide victim based partly on the unlikelihood that a 3-year-old could have walked two miles over several freeways or that she floated or swam upstream. They also were able to determine that she did not die of a disease, according to the report. No injuries to the genital area were found, but Mr. George said the medical examiner cannot rule out the possibility that Cristy had been sexually assaulted. Irving police have conducted their own investigation regarding sexual assault but declined to release the results. Irving police declined to release details of the homicide investigation. Detective Randall Johnson said they are trying not to compromise their work. "We've got our own theories and things that we're looking into," he said. "We're not going into that part of it." Irving Police Chief Lowell Cannaday said the department continues to devote significant resources to solving the case. He said the secrecy is necessary so as not to cast doubt on results of possible lie detector tests in the future. "We do have a working investigation," he said. "If we err, it's on the side of caution." Mr. Bartlett said the adults have been questioned several times and have been given a series of lie detector tests. Irving police and the FBI have declined to release the results of the polygraphs and have not identified a suspect in the case. Mr. Bartlett and Ms. Ryno have said repeatedly that none of the adults living at the apartment had anything to do with Cristy's death. "It's pretty rough," Mr. Bartlett said. "They [the police] are doing everything they . . . can." Child Protective Services has investigated the household but has not issued a final report, agency spokeswoman Marleigh Meisner said. Tiffany is living with an aunt by an agreement between the family and CPS. According to records, Irving police responded to domestic disturbances at the apartment at least four times since February. In another incident, the unlocked apartment was burglarized while its occupants slept. Tiffany Ryno is too young to understand. She knows her twin sister is in heaven, but to her 3-year-old mind, heaven may as well be San Antonio, said her great-aunt. "She doesn't understand that heaven isn't just another place," Debora Karnes said. "That makes it kind of hard." No arrests have been made. "It's frustrating because every day that goes by, you feel like you're getting that much further," Ms. Karnes said. Irving police Detective Randall Johnson and the rest of the department's five-man crimes against persons unit share the family's frustration. They've been working long hours since Cristy was reported missing and want nothing more than to solve the case. "I think about it all during the day, at night, in the morning when I wake up," Detective Johnson said. "The unsolved ones, they will nag at you the rest of your career and maybe afterward." Police officials declined to discuss the Ryno case in any detail. Detective Johnson said investigators are still checking out all possibilities and tracking down all tips, but he would not say if they had learned anything. A cloud of suspicion has hovered over the family from the start. Police have never called a family member or anyone else a suspect, but Ms. Ryno and the three other adults who lived in the apartment with the twins were questioned several times by investigators immediately after Cristy disappeared. Relatives have said they realize that those close to Cristy must be investigated fully, if only because they were the last known people to have seen her alive. But, Ms. Karnes said, the family is glad the suspicion seems to have ebbed. "When the concentration was on the family, that was really frustrating," she said. "We understand that that had to happen, but they could have used that time to concentrate on other possibilities." Ms. Ryno has since broken up with her boyfriend, Larry Bartlett, and her family no longer knows where he lives. She's also lost touch with the two other adults who lived in the apartment, Steven Silversmith and Samantha Frederick, Ms. Karnes said. Knowing that whoever did this remains free upsets the family, she said. As time passes, detectives' difficulties in cracking the case only frustrates and upsets them more. Support from the community has been phenomenal, she said. But Ms. Karnes said she knows that public interest in Cristy's case has waned. "I know that people aren't thinking about it anymore," she said. "We feel like a 3-year-old was murdered and nobody cares." Detective Johnson said he and the other investigators most certainly care. A detective is almost always working on it, putting in a few more phone calls and checking and rechecking every detail, he said. "A lot of people want this case solved," the detective said. "It's sad that someone can do an offense like the crime of murder and not be held accountable for it." The family is doing its best to heal. Leticia has moved to Tarrant County, where she can be closer to Ms. Karnes and her other relatives. The family is sure that Tiffany will some day understand what happened to her sister. They are not as sure that any of them will ever understand why. "We just got through our first holiday without Cristy. It was difficult," Ms. Karnes said. "We had a set of twins. Everything that the one accomplishes, we'll be thinking of the other - birthdays, first day of school... More closure would be nice." Oct. 16, 1999 -- Three-year-old Tiffany Ryno doesn't miss a beat when she sees a helicopter. She's sure they are still searching for her twin sister. But Tiffany knows exactly where Cristy is. "She's in heaven," the youngster's great-aunt, Debora Karnes, recalls Tiffany saying. "To her, it's just another place. There's no understanding of death yet." Six months ago today, Cristy Ryno disappeared from an apartment complex on Grauwyler Road. Four days later, two fishermen found her body floating in the Elm Fork of the Trinity River about two miles from the apartment. The Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office ruled that Cristy died after being smothered, strangled or drowned. There were no obvious signs of sexual assault, according to the autopsy. No arrests have been made, and investigators do not have any suspects, police said. Calls continue to trickle in to a hot line, but none have panned out, police said. A reward still is being offered for information leading to the arrest and the indictment of the killer. Karnes, who at the request of the girls' mother, Leticia Ryno, has cared for Tiffany since Cristy disappeared, now has permanent custody of the energetic youngster. Ryno, 23, felt the twin shouldn't be around the apartment while police investigated, Karnes said. Ryno wanted Karnes to have custody so the girl wouldn't be placed in foster care, Karnes said. Ryno had told a caseworker with Child Protective Services that illegal drugs were in the apartment and, according to court records, police made three trips there in response to reports of domestic violence. But Ryno's weekends are all about Tiffany. "It's been working out real well for [Ryno]. She's got a lot to deal with to move forward the best she can," Karnes said. "She knew she was in a bad situation and had to get out." Ryno now lives near Karnes in east Fort Worth. About a month after Cristy's body was found, Ryno moved from the two-bedroom Irving apartment where she lived with the girls, her boyfriend, and another woman and her boyfriend. The former roommates have been in touch with Ryno occasionally, Karnes said. "It's not wanted by her," Karnes said. Ryno is working days at a fast-food restaurant and attending court-ordered drug, alcohol and parenting counseling, Karnes said. She also is working toward her General Educational Development degree, Karnes said. In the weeks after Cristy's death, investigators appeared to focus their attention on the adults in the apartment. Ryno, boyfriend Larry Bartlett, and Samantha Fredrick and her boyfriend, Steven Silversmith, all said they were given polygraphs. Police declined to comment on whether the tests were given. Karnes said an investigator has told her that all four adults have been cleared. "Those people didn't hurt this baby," she said. "Somebody else did." But Irving police said last week that they have not cleared anyone. "We're still not ruling out anyone, per se. There are some who are close to being ruled out," spokesman David Tull said. The twins' father, Chad Ryno of Aztec, N.M., could not be reached to comment. Leticia and Chad Ryno are still married. Chad Ryno's father, Jack Ryno, also of Aztec, said his family has "had a pretty tough time" dealing with Cristy's death. His son is "struggling with a lot of guilt" at not having been with his daughters, Jack Ryno said. To help deal with their grief, Jack Ryno and his wife, Cheri, started a support group in the Aztec area for parents and grandparents with loved ones who died violently. The sharing has provided a healthy outlet, Jack Ryno said. "It can't heal the wound in our heart, though," he said. "It won't ever do that." Karnes and her mother, JoAnne Barton, along with Leticia Ryno, also attend a support group. Twice a month, families of murdered or missing children meet at a church in North Richland Hills. The families of Opal Jennings, a Saginaw girl missing since March, and Amber Hagerman, an Arlington girl who was killed, also attend, Karnes said. In the Ryno case, police have interviewed hundreds of people -- some twice -- and an investigator continues to work the case daily, Tull said. Whenever they need additional resources, investigators call on the FBI, he said. "We're still following through on some leads, but we're not getting very many fresh leads," Tull said. "There's so many variables that could bring this case together, it's hard to say what would do it," Tull said. Finding the killer is the only thing that will ease the overwhelming sense of loss, family members said. The pain comes unexpectedly and intensely, Karnes said. "It's like living in your worst nightmare, only you don't wake up," she said. "We pray daily that they catch whoever did this, that some justice will be done." Tiffany, who attends day care in Lake Worth, still plays with toys she and Cristy used to share: a baby doll, some blocks and a Tickle Me Elmo doll. She has emerged from her bedroom in the morning with a Cheshire cat grin on her face, Karnes said. "She said, `I got to play with Cristy all night long.' It gave her a real sense of peace and calm," Karnes said. "She never had to play by herself." At first, Tiffany talked about how much she missed her sister, Karnes said. Lately, though, the youngster is recalling the good times they shared. "We're trying to keep the memory there," Karnes said. "We certainly don't want her to forget she's a twin." The difficult times come when Tiffany asks if she can go visit Cristy. Karnes or her mother respond the only way they believe is true. "Someday, but not now," Barton said. Nov. 6, 1999 -- Using DNA evidence found on the body of 3-year-old Cristy Ryno, police have eliminated as possible suspects the four adults who lived in the Grauwyler Road apartment where the youngster was last seen alive. Police yesterday declined to discuss the type of evidence that was removed from the child's body. "We have confidence in our DNA sample," police spokesman David Tull said. Cristy disappeared April 17, from the two-bedroom apartment where she lived with her twin sister. UPDATE July 11, 2002 -- An Irving man was arrested Thursday on suspicion of killing 3-year-old Cristy Ryno, who was reported missing in April 1999. Her body was found days later in the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. Police arrested Brett Bednarek, 26, without incident Thursday morning at his home in north Irving. Bednarek was arraigned on a count of capital murder and was in Irving Jail without bail Thursday. Cristy disappeared April 17, 1999, from an Irving two-bedroom apartment where she lived with her twin sister, their mother, the mother's boyfriend and two other adults. Cristy's body was found April 21 in the Elm Fork, about two miles from the apartment. Cristy died after she was strangled, drowned or suffocated, the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office said. Her body was found by two people fishing. DNA evidence was found on Cristy's body, but investigators have declined to discuss the type of evidence. The DNA sample was compared with others in area, state and federal databases for a match, police said.