Forensic Files
When a college student is reported missing, police believe their investigation will be like countless others.
When a college student is reported missing, police believe their investigation will be like countless others.
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When an off-duty policeman was shot dead, his fellow officers were determined to solve the crime. They needed clues to find the killer and they discovered them in tiny fibres and an asthma inhaler.
In 1991, Dorothy Donovan was murdered in her Dover, Delaware home and police are skeptical when her son Charles Holden stated that she was murdered by a hitchhiker he had picked up.
Even though their daughter had run away before, she'd always come back. Her parents were sure this time would be no different, but they were wrong.
In 1994, Shannon Melendi disappeared while at Emory University. Her disappearance remained a mystery for ten years, until new scientific testing cast a different light on Colvin "Butch" Hinton.
In 2004, nursing student Tamika Huston went missing from her Spartanburg, South Carolina home. A tip led detectives to her car, where they found an unknown house key that could help solve the case.
In 1991, Grand Junction, Colorado is on edge after a series of deadly bombings kill two people and injure one more. Police race to find the culprit before he strikes again.
Seattle police had no suspects in the violent murder of post-grunge singer, Mia Zapata. More than a decade passed before the evidence could be used by forensic scientists to identify the killer.
A young, attractive hairdresser was sexually assaulted and murdered in her own beauty salon. The evidence at the crime scene didn't match any of the suspects and the case went cold for ten years.
A bomb, constructed to cause as much damage as possible, kills a victim with deadly force and flame. When a search yields some tiny clues, police are able to identify the killer.
When a car was found in a drainage ditch with two bodies inside, a fingertip torn from a latex glove would point investigators to both the crime scene and the killer.
In 2000, Judy Southern arrived home from work and was shot by a gunman waiting within. Her husband Allen arrived shortly afterwards, called 911 to report his wife had been shot.
In 1996, Derrick Duehren returned to find his Oregon home burned to the ground. His wife's charred remains were later found in the rubble.
A driver said he couldn't have hit and killed a pedestrian because his Jeep had been sold months ago.
In 2006, Nevada politician Kathy Augustine died mysteriously during a hard-fought re-election campaign and the medical examiner could neither isolate the cause of death.
Police are able to create a composite sketch of a man burnt beyond recognition. But tracking the killer is more challenging.
In 2007, the Florida mobile home of Effie and Michael Ratley catches fire. Michael heroically rescues his wife and infant son. A month later, his wife is found beaten to death in a bedroom of his parents' home.
It's usually easy to determine how a criminal entered the crime scene. But in this case, it was far from clear. It looked like the killer vanished into thin air...and perhaps he had.
A wealthy man and his wife were attacked by three masked men outside their luxurious Louisiana home. He was shot dead and she was forced to open their hidden safe.
In 1987, the death of Crystal Purcell was considered an accident. Then in 2001, Barbara Purcell called police to suggest that her estranged husband had killed Crystal.
A brutal murder, lots of suspects and conflicting evidence but the forensics were clear on one thing: The killer knew his victim. And that alone gave investigators a head start.
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