KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In our continuing coverage of the news that the FBI is taking another look at a cold case involving the murder of Diana Ault, it was important for us to tell our viewers about who she was in life.
The KSHB 41 I-Team spoke with one of Ault's former colleagues at a law firm who says she was bright, attentive and good at her job.
Almost 30 years have gone by, but many people still remember Ault, like Steve Coronado, who worked with her in the early 90s at the start of both their careers.
"She was a paralegal at the firm. I was a three or four year associate at the time," Coronado said. "I just remember her as always being pleasant. She was a hard worker."
Coronado said Ault didn't approach her work as a paralegal like any old job. She took it seriously and was a real professional.
To think that her murder has remained a cold case since January 31, 1994, still stuns Coronado to this day.
"She was a young mother, her whole life ahead of her, two kids, and she was doing what she could to make her life better and have a good family," Coronado said. "I guess it was just a shock, it just wasn't right."
During the time Ault was murdered, she had high hopes of becoming an attorney herself.
"She was a go-getter," Bill Laskey, Ault's father, said.
Laskey said after she got her business degree from the University of Missouri - Kansas City in 1989, she went on to get her paralegal certification. She wanted to jump right into law school, but her only hesitation was wanting to be an involved mother to her two young kids and paying the bills.
"I said, 'Tell you what, you go back to school, I'll pay your salary,'" Laskey said. "And I said, 'At that point, you can get your degree.' And I said, 'You don't have to worry about going back to work.' Well, that never did materialize because it wasn't long after that she was murdered."
The KSHB 41 I-Team was first to tell you that the FBI was reopening her cold case. The FBI then told the I-Team that they have new leads and have submitted evidence that has never been tested before for DNA testing.
This is the news so many who knew Ault have waited for.
"I think everyone deserves justice, no matter how long it takes," Coronado said.
Laskey remembers the last time he saw his daughter. It was January 1994, and she was also working at a jewelry store in Independence Center. Laskey happened to pass her as he walked toward the food court. She was on her way to grab a cookie on her work break.
"That was her dinner, I guess," Laskey said.
They exchanged normal hellos, and that was it. He didn't think that would be the last time.
Laskey hopes these new leads will finally lead to justice for his Diana, the young woman with so much potential.
"Even when things were really bad, she never gave up and never got down," Laskey said. "She was always uplifted. So, she was maybe one of a kind, I don't know."
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