A national production company is in Kansas this week to film a Discovery Channel documentary about the Jodi Sanderholm case. The Cowley College student was murdered in early 2007. Her killer was eventually found and sentenced to death.

The story is not about the murder. The episode will focus on how small town police agencies came together to solve a brutally challenging case.

"We didn't want it to be for entertainment," said Jennifer Sanderholm, Jodi's sister. "We figured that Extreme Forensics was more educational and more focusing on how they found her and not her actual murder."

The new Investigation Discovery season begins this February. The production company has been in Ark City for the past week filming interviews and video for the piece. Jessica Grumet is one of the producers.

"She was active in the community. She taught young girls dance," Grumet said. "Just to have her light snuffed out in this case, I think it's a tragic story and one that will resonate nationwide."

Authorities worked for days to locate Jodi's body. She was eventually found in a remote part of the Kaw Wildlife area near the Oklahoma border. Her car was found in a nearby lake.

Arkansas City Police Chief Sean Wallace told us Sunday that he's very proud of the men and women who work for his department and the Cowley County Sheriff's Department. He points out that small agencies make up the vast majority of police departments across the country. They must be generalists, he says, because they don't have the resources to be specialists.

"All combined, we had local trackers from various fire departments and police departments that all really combined to find justice in this case," Grumet said.

After the trial, a jury ultimately convicted Justin Thurber because of the evidence that Cowley County investigators found. That evidence? One piece of hair off of Thurber's arm that was recovered inside that submerged car.

The new Investigation Discovery season begins in February, but we're told the exact air date of this program is not yet known.