McCann, then a reserve police officer with the Constantine (Mich.) Police Department, was a close family friend. Gilson had dated his brother decades earlier. Their kids played together. And Gilson's daughter, Jodi Parrack, had a little crush on one of McCann's two sons.
Police say McCann not only joined in the search for Parrack but suggested they look in the local cemetery. And that was where they found her body near her bicycle.
More than six years later, police say this was not a coincidence.
Police arrested McCann, 46, on April 18 on a perjury charge, alleging he told a series of lies under oath during the investigation into the murder. On Tuesday, in a press conference attended by members of both families, Gilson urged McCann to come clean.
"Tell the truth. Get it over with," Gilson said, according to M Live. "I think I deserve to know the truth."
Michigan state detective Trooper Bryan Fuller says McCann was arrested now because prosecutors recently concluded there was enough evidence that he committed perjury during the course of a murder investigation, which could get him sent to prison for life; however, the homicide investigation is ongoing.
"I have no problem saying he's a suspect," Fuller tells PEOPLE. "There certainly is a possibility that there will be future charges" against McCann.
According to a police affidavit, McCann claimed that, as a reserve police officer, he only had access to one pair of handcuffs – Parrack's killer apparently used two. But police say that was a lie.
Detectives also found no truth to McCann's explanation as to how Parrack's DNA might have wound up in his pickup truck – or how his DNA was found on her.
The report also says that, "When interviewing Angela McCann, (McCann's) wife at the time of the incident, she relayed that McCann was extremely concerned that DNA evidence would be found linking him to this crime and he began to explain its possibility with accounts … that continually changed."
McCann, whose first court appearance is scheduled for May 1, is being held on $225,000 bail.
Gilson told reporters she has mixed feelings about the recent break in the case.
"It's kind of bittersweet because everybody that loves Jodi is glad that the case is moving forward," Gilson said. "But most of the McCann family is like family to us, so both families are suffering for both people involved."
She also has said she doesn't know if McCann is lying to protect himself or someone else.
Several relatives of McCann's stood by Gilson at the press conference, including Julie McCann, who echoed Gilson's sentiments and shared that, since the murder, her brother-in-law has distanced himself from other family members.
"I never thought he could be responsible for where he is today," Julie McCann said. "(Jodi) deserves justice, she deserved it years ago and I don’t care who it was, they need to be put away."
McCann's attorney did not return calls seeking comment.
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