Marty Griffin Reflects On His Favorite "Get Marty" Segments Of 2015

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – As we begin to reflect on the year that was, we started thinking about all the people who contacted KDKA investigator Marty Griffin over the past year, asking for help through his "Get Marty" segments.

Marty gets so many calls and emails, it's hard to help everyone, but we asked him to pick some of his favorite stories of the year.

Last year at this time, Sandra Karr's son had just died, leaving behind a 4-year-old daughter. All she wanted for Christmas was the Disney Elsa doll every kid wanted and no one could get… except Dave Hollick.

The complete stranger answered KDKA's call for help and answered a 4 year old's prayers.

In the meantime, the little girl is now 5 years old and doing much better, although she still misses her daddy a great deal.

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April Waller reached out to "Get Marty" following the death of her husband. Ken Waller was the Penn State McKeesport police chief. He died while on duty. Turns out, by law he wasn't considered a "real" police officer, so by law, he wasn't eligible for death benefits.

"Get Marty" got state senator Kim Ward involved. She helped get the law changed and get benefits for April and her children, as well as other officers down the road.

The law was changed and April is happy for the most part. However, she is still fighting to get compensation. "Get Marty" is told it will happen soon.

Faith Gratton's brother Jeremy has special needs, and he needed special equipment and special remodeling to get in and out of their Plum home. Nearly $75,000 worth of work was all donated by bricklayers, carpenters and small business owners.

All of the equipment is now in place in the home. Jeremy's sister says she no longer has to carry her brother up and down the stairs and that her little brother is very happy.

For Denise Golden, walking and breathing is difficult. Life is difficult. She'd been shot in the chest twice and left for dead.

Police describe her as a truly innocent victim of a cold-blooded criminal. Detectives asked "Get Marty" to help them raise $5,000 in reward money to get a suspect identified. It worked.

Police arrested a man shortly after an informant claiming the reward money came forward.

Denise still struggles with day-to-day life and physical and mental anguish. However, she is at peace knowing the man who shot her is in jail.

Rex Coughenour had been characterized as an "attempted rapist murderer" and a "horrible person" when he came to "Get Marty" this year.

A desperate plea from a friend via email got "Get Marty" involved. It turned out, he was wrongfully accused and spent a month in jail for no reason. An aggressive public defender's office produced surveillance tapes proving he didn't commit the crimes.

All charges have been dismissed and Rex is back on campus as Duquesne University, pursuing his master's degree. The University is allowing him to make up classes he missed while in jail. He feels vindicated, but will always be a bit wary of police.