These cases took a decade or more to solve. There's no statute of limitations on murder. As a case turns cold, the clues become scarce, investigators must rely on science to close cold cases.
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Forensic scientists find clues written in blood as they investigate the deaths of three women killed by the men who once loved them.
The tread of a tire, a single shoe print and even the shape of a bruise help investigators track down killers, based solely on their patterns of guilt.
When killers hide or destroy the remains of their victims, it becomes the mission of forensic scientists to reconstruct the scenes and prove murder for an absent witness.
Some of the best clues come from the least likely places. Baffling crimes have been solved and criminals betrayed through evidence provided by insects, beer bottles, and other seemingly meaningless objects.
At a crime scene, anything left behind or seemingly out of place is considered a clue. But a fire can extinguish everything in its path challenging forensic investigators at every turn and making each arson a trial by fire.
Some cases simply can't be solved with current technology or with the evidence at hand. But that doesn't mean they'll remain unsolved forever.
For serial killers, once is never enough. For investigators, the challenge is steep when the killers murder by numbers.
These cases took a decade or more to solve. There's no statute of limitations on murder. As a case turns cold, the clues become scarce, investigators must rely on science to close cold cases.
A dog can be a dead man's best friend. Dogs have been trained to sniff out corpses, drugs, explosives, and missing persons. They're often the first to find the essential clue that sets an investigation in motion.
Investigators are always on the cutting edge of new forensic techniques that can help them solve cases more accurately. An experimental brain fingerprinting technique has already won the acquittal of a police officer accused of a drug charge.
Accidental deaths, suicides, disappearances, and fires they're an everyday part of an insurance investigator's life. But cases shouldn't be taken at face value. Forensics has become a tool for exposing insurance fraud.
In most homicides, police rely on motive to pursue a murderer. But when the killer is a stranger the crime may go unsolved for years. It takes a full arsenal of forensic techniques to trace a lethal encounter.
For some killers, murder can be a profitable business. And the scene of the crime can be both a source for clues, and puzzling questions. When a victim has been targeted for death, investigators must look beyond the obvious to uncover a murder for hire.
Poison is the subtlest form of death, and investigators must see through unusual circumstances to bring these murders to light.
The forces of nature can reduce a body to bones in a matter of weeks. Using a unique combination of art and science, forensic anthropologists give victims a face long after they have been forgotten.
Ballistic analysis is the key to finding killers who turn guns on their victims. Each shot fired leaves its own fingerprint, allowing scientists to target murderers with deadly aim.
Bombers, snipers, spree killers: some people don't care who they kill, they just want to hurt innocent people.
When abduction turns to murder, forensic science is the only key to finding justice for the victims of a kidnapper's deadly intentions.
Missing Person: Approximately 1.8 million Americans are reported missing each year. Worldwide, the number of missing persons nearly triples.
It is difficult to convict a murderer if the body can't be found. But forensic science is finding ways to do it. Devious killers can think up many was to dispose of their victim's remains, but they are often no matches for investigators.
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