Finding Gina

Unfortunately, there are still those who continue to repeat the murderer’s composed story as fact- a story that describes what many believe defined Gina’s last moments in this world- that story composed by Gina’s murderer and his friend - the untruthful story where Epperly says Gina told her sister that “she was WITH Steve and she would be home shortly”. A one sided story from a murderer’s voice - his lies - his story becoming her story. That in itself should cause everyone to shake their head and question why would anyone have ever taken the killer’s statement as fact? Or, the best friend...Often facts can be true, but are still not The TRUTH.

Many continue to rewrite Gina’s sister Dlana’s court testimony which never changed from the moment Dlana awoke on Sunday morning to the trial in December. This is a copy of the actual transcribed court testimony —the exact words exchanged between Gina and her sister. When actual court recordings are listened to, it is very clear the words exact meaning. The startled confusion in the inflection of Dlana’s voice when Dlana asked Gina where she was and who she was with - surprised to hear her answer that she had gone somewhere else - then expecting her to answer that maybe she was with a group of friends at a party or something, which from the line of questioning and Dlana’s and others’ testimony, clearly was portrayed as out of character for Gina... the Truth is we should all give Gina credit for doing everything she could to give us clues in her specific, calculated short answers as to where she had been taken. And, most importantly, she bravely gave us the one name of her captor she had overheard. Her last one word - “Steve”....not “with Steve”.

Dlana says, “I have forgiven Gina’s murderer because he is a sick, evil man. I see it in his eyes. I am still working on forgiving others and their ignorance in continuing to degrade Gina’s honor - her life and who she was - continuing to ignore facts from the trial like my own testimony which is very clear on what was said or the testimony of the man who helped me search for Gina and found the car who stated clearly in court he would ‘never forget the broken drivers-inside door strap handle’. But it all just continues to be ignored. How can we disregard police reports made by two women and friends that present a clear, conflicting timeline about what happened to Gina while at the Marriott? How can we continue to repeat that Gina left ‘to be with him.’? We cannot and we should not. Gina was abducted...The Hall family and friends have always known Gina would never have left to “be with a man” as the story went, and most definitely not associated to this stranger, 10 years older than her.

Thank heavens for the discovery of the very relevant “ identified site” that provides answers to our forty years of questioning “How was Gina at the lake house?” Dlana said, “I now have all of the proof I need ...to know exactly how my sister ended up at that lake house. I now know the exact spot where her car pulled over and was blocked in... where she held the car door shut ....where she fought....where she bled -
the cadaver dog validating the exact spot where Gina’s DNA will always be. This is the discovery that gave me the most peace - to know the exact place where Gina was abducted from— 6 miles away from the Marriott Inn validating what we the family always knew to be true—No way in a million years did Gina leave with him....A place of such relevance that I could have never known about, but do now - McCoy Road—the actual abduction site which leads to many more unanswered questions of all involved.

Consider this - Gina was abducted by a rapist known by many locals to ‘impersonate a cop’...Gina was driving home to Radford on the familiar Prices Fork Rd when for some reason she turned right onto McCoy Road pulling the car off into a grassy, wet ditch lined with cattails, the seed pods adhering to the front car grill. Gina held her driver-side door shut with all of her might when she recognized the man approaching her car was not the expected trusted policeman, but instead was the same man who had bothered her earlier inside the Marriott...That certainly could explain the broken door strap and some of the evidence on and in the car that perplexed the police in 1980. Fast food containers, many Marlboro cigarette butts, an orange Tennessee plastic cup, etc...none put there by Gina because she was in the trunk bleeding in various different places on the trunk’s carpet, not just one stationary place.

How many women fell prey to his games? Enough is enough....It is time to release all of the factual information I know in “The True Story of Gina Hall” Videos.
As my sister wrote to me quoting Corinthians 13 just three months before she was murdered: Love... is never glad about Injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out.”

So, yes I am at peace with our discoveries, as all of us are who truly care about Finding Gina and Her Truth - Her voice...finally.”

Gina Renee Hall’s sister reads the completed version of Under the Trestle for the first time. This is Dlana’s opinion regarding how her sister Gina was portrayed:
An Appalachian author named Tom Fugate said it best - WHAT happens when you put 15 tanks of pure oxygen into a basement full of natural gas... absolutely nothing until there is a spark. Dlana’s spark has always been that composed story. And it ignites every time the lies are repeated and often embellished about her sister.

Page 33 was more than a spark - it was a stick of dynamite ...

Yes, Gina was a beautiful dancer, but to say... that HER dancing stoked the fire of Her killer’s raw instincts... HER DANCING CAUSED IT.... ??? The small town girl did not fully realize How HER dancing would effect a predator... This is Victim Blaming...and it is indicative of a perspective. Gina who dressed conservatively, not that that should even matter, who danced eloquently, a caring person of good character validated by many character witnesses in the court testimony - and many who emphatically stated Gina Hall would have never left with a man...yet the man’s story became the story.

Many versions ignore the multiple other witnesses’ accounts who saw Gina with people and dancing with other people. In my opinion, this specific account sensationalizes the unknown Marriott facts by writing embellished fictional “storylines” purported to be non-fictional.

"After awhile Gina left her table and walked by Epperly catching his eye with her petite beauty...and Gina “eager” to get on the dance floor....".    REALLY?
A continued picture of this perspective is painted by also adding this: “He had the belief that if a woman went on a date with him, or left a bar with him, she was going to ‘put out’ for him. It was a foregone conclusion. One way or the other, either willingly or unwillingly,” says an acquaintance.

This same section of the storyline, page 33, is from a biased account shared in a fashion I personally view as a sensationalized portrayal of what we the Hall family have always known was not the truth...the very reason we would not ever give our seal of approval on any account that portrays only that one sided composed story told by the killer and his buddy. In regards to the original website marketing excerpt, interviews, and presentations “Does Gina Hall’s family support this book project?”, one part is true... I did ask the author to honor Gina and my dad...to portray them accurately, tastefully, and fairly without sensationalistic conjecture. And I hoped by visiting with me personally, the author would come to know my sister...really know her and my dad— and understand that Gina deserves her voice to be heard.

Dlana’s decision to release the facts of the case, known and unknown, was sparked by the need to correct the many inaccurate stories that continue to dishonor Gina Renee Hall. A woman who should be hailed as a hero...One sided foundational stories built from a male-only mindset is not only a tolerated reality for women, but for everyone. All good people should stand up for Gina’s honor.

“The True Story of Gina Hall” page has links to the videos.

Dlana shared, “Something very sad, but relevant was discovered today ...I hope it will lead to helping another family.”

One night, after a long day in the woods, Dlana planned a late dinner for everyone involved. On the way to Sal’s, She had a thought - “wonder if we should divert over to the street that borders the former Epperly homeplace for a quick two minute scan for Angela”... Just as had been done for Gina in November, Dlana specifically wanted to rule out the shed where the Cadaver dogs alerted in 2018. To Dlana’s shock, there was a positive hit for our second victim Angela, not in the shed, but on the right side of the house where Epperly once lived. In this very incriminating location, both Angela’s organic matter and the presence of human bone registers - both Caucasian and African American were positively detected. “I knew then that the next steps were going to be a challenge.”

Dlana and Angela’s brother Walter Rader met with the Radford police chief, but understandably there had to be  “ cause” for them to investigate. Dlana sent another detailed email to the Va State police headquarter’s contact. ‘I am hopeful this new information will give the authorities something to build upon - if they will act.” Again, Dlana suggested that a forensic exercise would be quite telling for the Epperly homeplace. “I have always known Epperly was a serial killer and more...We could not ignore Angela’s family or forget her. It is time to bring closure to his victims’ families. And there are others who are part of this web of lies even if they do not realize it themselves.” “The more I learn, the longer I delay the release of my second book Web of Lies: A Day Made In Hell. The story is not finished. The Truth is still being unveiled...”

“One Burial site excavation complete. Human Bone fragments found. We walked away from the place I call the Psalms 23 Valley leaving behind the small cross we had made in January that marked one of Gina’s burial sites”. The work will continue as we sift through all of these containers of the dirt that identified positive for Gina and sift for human bone. The surrounding dirt will be kept from that excavation that registered positive for Gina’s unique organic matter- her DNA always left behind.”

On this same day, as they prepared to leave this place for the last time, Dlana picked up her phone to take one last picture of the beautiful valley and have a moment of prayer. She had received several texts from Gina’s advocates asking if she had seen the announcement of the Under the Trestle movie deal stating “ The Gina Renee Hall Story”. Unfortunately, this was not good news to learn while saying good bye to Gina’s first excavated Burial site. Dlana knew if a documentary was to be made about Gina’s murder, it should be made with accurate facts, not a storyline based only on the composed story - or a version embellished beyond even that which originated in 1980 from the killer and his best friend. Of concern was the sensationalized Marriott scene that portrays Gina in a non-fictional plot embellished fashion and of an even greater concern is what the Hall family has always dreaded - the lake house and how Gina and that storyline would be portrayed. This was a most disturbing day because Dlana knew it is all out of their control. People can do whatever they want to do - say what they want to say - right or wrong. And this seemed all so very wrong. It is not The Gina Hall Story. “Then, I remembered what I wanted to do before I left - Take a picture to share with my family...to have a moment of good and peace in knowing that part of Gina was found beside the beautiful Psalms 23 Valley - Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me....”

Dlana is asked to release additional information about the progress in finding Gina’s remains and subsequent searches. Also, new case details are being learned about 1980.

Dlana shares that she may have finished transporting the dirt out of the first valley location to their home, but that the even harder, more tedious work lies ahead— “Probably one of the hardest things I have done in my lifetime.”

Once the site is carefully excavated, layer by layer, recording depth and exact location from a Center point, labeling what dirt comes from what section, the containers of dirt are then scanned and sifted using a special light and yellow glasses to find the bone. Once the exact section for bone is pinpointed, more dirt is retrieved from that section to get to the exact place of relevance. Remember, the dogs and the instrument get you close, but you still might be looking at an area where only a hand was buried - 1x1, so you excavate ten times that size around the positive area. With the Instrument, the tons of dirt can be scanned quicker and a yes or a no confirmed to the presence of human bone in that specific container, or a shovel full, or even a handful of dirt in a matter of minutes. So that instrument saves a lot of time helping to determine which dirt to sift to find the tiny fragments of human bone. Dlana actually got to use the instrument herself to scan and separate some of the already excavated dirt she had not yet sifted which will now be done on site at future digs bringing home only the dirt that identifies positive with bone - whether fragments, dust, etc. she will separate and divide until all bone fragments are retrieved. Dlana said that all of the dirt that was brought home identifies positive for Gina (decomposition- DNA always there...) and even if no bone is detected in a part of the dirt, she still saved significant samples so that in time when DNA identification develops to the point it can be identified in dirt without bone, she will have the samples from the various locations preserved. Dlana could not store all of the dirt, so with the lesser registering remaining dirt ~still “Gina’s dirt”, she built a new “Gina’s flower garden” which quickly “danced” with perfect blooms. The grave became a garden. the dry bones came alive even if just bone dust.

WE DID FIND BONES collected from a place in the woods found using the quantum oscillator, confirmed by the HRD dogs alerting to presence of decomposition. A place verified by a family member as Epperly’s favorite childhood hunting grounds—A place I call the Psalms 23 Valley. A place where there should be no human remains that are a familial match to Gina.”

We have been very surprised regarding the seemingly impossible places discovered. Places that align with Epperly and what we now know about him. Some of these places could not have been derived from any informational source. Eight Places have been identified, and then validated by certified human remains detection canines taken to the same areas in January that the instrument identified in November as having Gina’ s organic matter left behind. The specialized trained dogs from Peace River Search & Rescue are phenomenal. Two dogs confirmed human remains in those already “instrument-identified” areas. Some dogs are better at detecting “older cadaver” odor. I have seen other dogs work on multiple occasions since 2016. What I witnessed with these dogs in January 2020, working and confirming the various areas that aligned with what was already pinpointed with the instrument was amazing. Two of the 8 places register for Gina only - her DNA left behind - no bone and the dogs still capable of alerting...McCoy Road - A place Gina must have bled significantly from her fight, something small still remaining after forty years, and these dogs knew. Gina is not ‘Buried’ in all eight places. Only 6 of the 8 register - not only for Gina, but also for Caucasian bone as being present and one other place with a very small mass of bone present. These places with tiny bone mass could be there because of animal or bird transfer, but Gina is still there...three of the 6 places involve water and will be difficult to excavate, but not impossible. And one of the relevant 6, we have already excavated and human bone was found in the exact place identified. There will be a next excavation, and it would be beneficial to have the authorities more involved especially with one of the specific sites so that maybe someone can then charge Epperly with dismemberment and just maybe keep him imprisoned while we continue to discover his other victims so their families can have the peace that only comes from knowing truth, even if that truth is heartbreaking.

Remember the January request by Dlana to have state authorities join the team to witness the Human Remains Detection dogs work the 8 area’s of interest. One of the excuses given to Dlana as to why they would not participate was a recent, prior use of the state’s limited resources to follow up on a lead. The Lieutenant stated that a “wild goose chase” lead was reported and the state had to bring in divers to follow up on that lead - a lead that came in because of the increase in the recent “public forums” surrounding Gina’s case. So a random person calls in and says he “thought he saw someone that looked like Steve Epperly down along the New River near the trestle...” and the state responded with divers. Dlana politely informed the state police that that specific area would have been documented throughly since it was one of the first areas searched in 1980. Dlana agreed - total waste of money and could have easily been avoided, but it should not be held against the Hall family when they finally, after 40 years, came to the authorities and asked for help. A quote from a podcast interview of author Ron Peterson- “State police resources were brought in to look, as well as a few other sites.”

Personal Opinion regarding this disrespectful post:

Finally, after four decades, a fair and unbiased tv news report was released regarding Gina’s True Story and our success. The report included information about finding fragments of Gina’s bone using new technology that we have full confidence in. Immediately, a person not related or connected to the Hall family, a person who has a financial interest in “the old composed story”, made a derogatory public statement regarding the work being done.

“Up until this point, my personal concerns of inaccurate misrepresentations regarding me personally were being handled privately. Now, I will no longer remain silent. I will defend and prove what I know to be true.”

Here is Dlana’s response to the many people who forwarded copies of their “concerns and comments made regarding this specific, biased derogatory remark made by Under the Trestle fb page.

“Thank you to everyone for your uplifting and kind comments sent to us yesterday - and for those many advocates of Gina’s who sent copies of your comments made to another site’s unfortunately biased post. And even though many of your heartfelt comments were blocked, the Hall family saw them and we are appreciative.”

And, Dlana’s response to UTT and the disrespectful actions:

“Why would Ron Peterson who claims to care about Gina Renee Hall or her family take it upon himself to Do as he did ...as if he is a spokesperson for the Hall family, which he is not.”

I will say this once again - YES...I have Fragments of Gina’s bone and my Virginia State Police contact is aware. I am Gina’s sister who has spent four decades and four intense years getting to this point. Anyone familiar with all of our discoveries knows TRUST is an obvious issue. So I will take every precaution to preserve the bones I have recovered. We are working diligently on researching a lab capable of working with small bone fragments, and not only detecting “human DNA” in the dirt, which can now be done, but also in identifying the human DNA as specifically “Gina’s decomposition”. There is a lab in Germany that is making advancements in this area and being used in other cases. Advancements in forensic DNA are amazing—It is just matter of time. I have complete confidence in the Dr. and his instrument in regards to its capabilities and the truth it has given us. Whatever is done with Gina’s remains that I have recovered will ultimately be my decision. I will make the best decision when I am finished...And really, I owe no one any answers ....I answer to God. And sometimes, God has His own plan and it seems part of that plan is to share the truth...so, I do so for the many people who really care about Gina and want to know the truth.
Certainly a fair question to ask - What is the motivating factor behind yesterday's actions? Why would any non-family member take it upon himself to call Va State Police Regarding our work and then post that our work could not be verified and continue to disrespect me personally when stating that I was not working with VSP in an official capacity...

Maybe this will shed LIGHT....

This comment below was made with concern to address this person and this post....one comment of many sent to Dlana in a caring fashion by those who are Gina's advocates...a comment calling those who claim to be For Gina accountable for their statements to Dlana and the Hall family ....

First, this is how Dlana crossed paths with this advocate of Gina....

“I met this nice lady once at the RU bookstore when I gave her a box of my books to give away to anyone, anywhere, especially our youth encouraging them to read and Pass on - Sharing Gina’s story...maybe even saving a life...No coincidences about “The Plan” and these amazing crossing of paths of people in the journey...her comment below, spoken from her heart for Gina, speaks volumes of right and wrong. She boldly questions the derogatory post - wanting an answer, just like many of Gina’s true advocates ... "

This is the message I received yesterday, one of many from random people just wanting me to Personally know of their reaction, their posted yet blocked Comments, and obviously, their frustration....

Below is a copy of her comment:

Dlana, My response to Under the Trestle post made tonight trying to make the bone discovery seem like a hoax.

“Why do you continually try to put down everything Dlana does to try to find Gina’s body? She has put more time, effort, and money into trying to find her sister than anyone else. Why do you feel the need to make others believe you know more than Gina’s own sister? She and her family have lived through the hell of losing Gina and no one telling what they did with her body. Shame on you for trying minimize the discovery of bone fragments. Dlana would love to have help in proving the DNA of the bone fragments by authorities. Why aren’t they helping instead of saying they have no proof. I enjoyed your book but the way that you try to make others doubt Gina’s sister is uncalled for. Dlana has read the transcripts thoroughly and has found many discrepancies in what was said in statements in the file vs. what was told under oath. She also found discrepancies in what Mr. King said in court versus the call he made to her when he found out about her publishing a book about the murder. Why do you not mention any of these things when you are trying to put down Dlana and the work she continues to do to find her sister?

Thank you to those who keep me informed....Keep me going... A Lot of truth is coming to LIGHT.

“The article “After 40 Years, Pieces Continue to Fall Into Place in the Gina Hall Case” covers every answer to every question I have been asked about our recent progress
and because they were so thorough, the article got it right!!! It details our search activities from November to current.”
(Actual article can be found on the News & Event page. https://themiraculousjourney.com/news-events/

“On to the next excavation areas. We completed Meadow Creek. The mud will need to be dried, scanned, sifted. We also this day confirmed an area of most significance from a better vantage point. And, Gina is not alone. This location will be the most difficult. We will need authoritative help.”