SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - It's a crime that's haunted the family for 37 years.
A teenage girl was strangled at Torrey Pines Beach and now homicide detectives may have finally cracked this murder mystery.
Family and friends of Barbara Nantais met with San Diego Police Chief Shelly Zimmerman and top homicide detectives in a closed-door meeting for an update on her 1978 murder.
The 15-year-old girl was beaten and strangled as she slept at Torrey Pines Beach with her boyfriend.
Detectives told the victim's sister they're looking at a possible person of interest in the murder.
"Somebody they've interviewed before I definitely can say that, but I can't say who it is it's someone who has been a suspect in the past and someone with a criminal record that's the good news. I'm just not at liberty to disclose what it is," victim's sister, Lorraine Thall said.
Police originally thought Nantais's death was related to another murder on the same beach in 1984.
Detectives have now ruled out any link between the two cases.
The family says they've been promised better communication and feel confident about the new leads and could finally have some closure.