Forensic Files

A college student is abducted and murdered five days before Christmas. Eight years pass before a cell phone and a pair of running shoes implicates a suspect.

When a college student is reported missing, police believe their investigation will be like countless others, and she'd turn-up a few days later. But when they discover blood spatter in her boyfriend's bedroom - blood spatter someone had gone to great lengths to conceal -- they know this case is going to be different.

The victim has been stabbed more than thirty times, and the crime scene is awash with her blood. Near her head, police discover a distinctive button with strands of thread still attached. If they can find the owner of the shirt the button came from, they'll also find the killer.

A young woman attends evening church services and then disappears. When her abandoned car is found, the tank is empty and a gas can is missing. Eyewitnesses place her at a nearby gas station, getting into a van, but their vehicle descriptions don't match. Three days later when her body is discovered, the search for the driver of that van intensifies.

When a nine-year-old girl goes missing, police and volunteers spend weeks searching for her. A psychic's vision leads to a field where her body is discovered, along with what investigators hope is enough evidence to help them to also find her killer.

Digital enhancement of security camera video shows that what appears to be a casual encounter is actually a forced abduction, leading to murder. The perpetrator's MO is remarkably similar to another murder that occurred five months earlier. When investigators learn the crimes might be related, they also realize a serial killer may be on the loose.

A respected surgeon was stabbed to death in the parking lot next to his office. The most likely suspect is seen having dinner in a restaurant at the time of the murder. But a cryptic conversation leads police to believe that, while the suspect may not have wielded the knife, he could very well have hired the man who did.

Terrified, the young girl hid in her bedroom while her mother was attacked and stabbed to death. Investigators had a wealth of evidence: shoe impressions, distinctive blood drops, and the killer's DNA. What they didn't have was a basis for comparison.

The gunman opened fire as the family of four entered their home, killing two and wounding the others. He'd pulled open a few drawers to make it look like a robbery, but the scene was clearly staged. When police pieced together the clues, they discovered an unlikely suspect and a carefully orchestrated plot.

It was classic "overkill." The woman floating in the harbor of an upscale yacht club had been stabbed more than 50 times. Her ex-husband and daughter are missing, and investigators turn to forensic science to determine if they're searching for victims or perpetrators.

A Minnesota state park employee is murdered and a wristwatch is discovered at the crime scene, leading investigators to believe it belonged to her killer.

The evidence suggested the woman had been bound, sexually assaulted and murdered. Afterwards, the killer spent hours at the crime scene, wiping away his fingerprints and disposing of everything that might incriminate him, including the woman's body. Police face a daunting task: They have to find not only the killer, but also the victim's body.

A couple spent Memorial Day weekend at the beach and then vanished. Their clothes and personal items were still in the rented condo, their car was parked outside, and there were no signs of foul play. A week later, police get an unexpected lead from a robbery in progress. The evidence they found helped solve a crime of unparalleled brutality.

A Texas housewife is murdered and her young daughter is attacked but survives. An in-law is suspected, but no arrests are made until DNA advancements help crack the case 15 years later.

In 2004, Mary Ann Clibbery was found viciously murdered in her Illinois business and police had to determine if this was a robbery gone wrong or a calculated crime. Their focus turned to the business co-owner, George Hansen, when police found that he was embezzling from the company.

A successful and well-liked real estate agent is brutally murdered in a model home. Can the police find out who did it?

In 2003, Jason MacLennan returned home after a night out with friends and found his father's body lying in a pool of blood. There were shoe impressions outside in the snow. Police needed to determine who had the most to gain from his death.

A man is found stabbed to death after a night in a strip club. A drop of blood on a bedspread becomes critical evidence five yeas later.

The body of Rachel Siani, an exotic dancer, is found underneath a bridge in New Jersey. It appears that she had committed suicide by jumping to her death, until police discover evidence of murder.

A construction manager was found dead in his work trailer in Ft. Worth, Texas. When investigators arrived, they discovered that he had been stabbed 46 times, described as overkill and indicating a personal relationship between the victim and the attacker. But finding DNA evidence would turn out to be more than a challenge.

In 2000, Judy Southern came home from work and was shot by a gunman waiting for her. Her husband Allen arrived afterwards, called 911 and drove her to the hospital. She died on arrival and the investigation focused on her husband Allen, but forensic analysis and a suicide note found at the scene pointed to someone else.

Dorothy Donovan was killed in her Delaware home and police were skeptical when her son Charles Holden claimed that she was murdered by a hitchhiker he had picked up. Their suspicions were raised when he refused to take a polygraph test, so they turned to forensic science. Would the blood and fingerprint evidence support Charles' story or prove his guilt?

Two friends out on the town see a red truck drive by with a woman screaming in the back. Later, their friend is reported missing, and her body is found in a nearby river.

A court official and his wife are attacked in their sleep by an ax-wielding murderer. Is the killer a member of 'the family'?

Two suspects living together were linked to a murder by bloodstained boots and a gun, items that belonged to the man who said he'd never met the victim. Investigators hoped the manufacturing code on beer bottles would determine who was telling the truth.