Slowly, some Twin Cities mysteries are being solved, and some of their consequences resolved.
The discovery last weekend of Mandy Matula's body ended a search that began almost six months ago, after she left with an ex-boyfriend who killed himself the next day.
A funeral on Oct. 26 for Kira Steger ended a months-long wait while her estranged husband was on trial, and ultimately was convicted of her murder.
Other cases linger. Whoever killed Danielle Jelinek, found dead in May after disappearing last December, remains undetermined. An ex-boyfriend, considered "a person of interest" by police, is in prison on a probation violation.
Over a year of hopeless headlines, fruitless pursuits and revealed lives, a question has loomed — one of those artless queries that are the stuff of water cooler chats: Why can some guys handle a breakup, while others flip out?
Experts say violent impulses often are linked to childhood experiences.
Some men also believe that society gives them permission to be controlling in the face of someone resisting control.
An emerging influence, however, is rooted in the sometimes awful power of love.