Forensic Files

The investigation of the kidnapping of a distinguished banker's wife led police on a wild goose chase, tracking down irritated bank customers and examining computer fonts. An unexpected discovery made by an entomologist will result in a new suspect, and the realization that ordinary office equipment can leave behind astonishing clues. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 29.

A two-man shrimp boat sank when a severe storm struck the Louisiana coast. The captain drowned, and the deckhand was rescued hours later. He told the Coast Guard that the captain's foot had become entangled in the fishing nets; he tried to free him, but he failed. Ultimately, he was coerced into confessing to the captain's murder. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 26.

The news of a flight attendant's brutal murder prompted the son of a victim who had been killed five years earlier to contact police. The MO of both murders was remarkably similar, and analysis of the biological evidence from the crime scenes proved that these were serial killings. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 25.

A hunter who'd been shot and killed was a target of a crime, not a hunting accident. Investigators found a .243 calibre bullet in his lung and a .308 calibre shell casing near his body, and began looking for two killers with two murder weapons. But analysis of the forensic evidence moved them in a completely different direction, one much closer to home. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 20.

A man disappears one year to the day after starting an affair with his friend's wife. Fifteen years later, with the help of a metal detector, police discovered evidence that would finally reveal what had happened and who was responsible. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 17.

A nineteen year-old woman was discovered dead in her car; the scene had been staged to make murder look like suicide. During their investigation, police found the victim was involved in a love quadrangle, giving many people a motive to kill her. The killer's identity would be revealed by a piece of evidence found in a suspect's trash. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 16.

After a street fight claimed the life of a national wrestling champion, a jury decided it was murder, and sentenced the accused to twenty years in prison. Six years later, he was granted another trial; a forensic animator, who testified on his behalf, gave a different explanation for the most shocking piece of evidence. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 15.

A beautiful, vibrant young woman fell to her death from a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Initially, investigators thought it was just a terrible accident. But after a closer forensic examination of photographs taken at the scene, police had a very different story of what had happened. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 12.

A couple decided to celebrate their wedding anniversary with a camping trip. During the trip, the husband was murdered and his wife told two different versions of the events preceding his death. Forensic psychiatry finally enabled her to distinguish fact from fiction, and the evidence from ballistics tests let investigators determine what truly happened. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 10.

For seven years, three men robbed one bank after another and they always left no evidence behind. But the way they stood and the clothes they wore told a story that could be read by forensic scientists. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 7.

A woman disappeared without a trace; twenty years would pass before police were able to link a clump of hair found in a remote area with the missing woman. Members of "NecroSearch," a group of volunteer forensic scientists, found the victim's body, and gave authorities the evidence they needed to bring the killer to justice. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 4.

An Alaskan police officer discovered a woman's body while patrolling a public park. A knife thought to be the murder weapon was found days later, two thousand miles away. Forensic scientists now had an opportunity, which seldom occurs: to compare the microscopic marks on the presumed murder weapon with the marks on the victim's bone. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 3.

In the middle of the night, a neighbor witnessed a man stab his wife, push her into the swimming pool, and hold her head under water. When questioned by the police, the husband not only had no explanation for his actions, he had no recollection of the crime. A jury would have to decide between the evidence at the scene and the mysteries of the mind. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 30.

The cold-blooded murder of an American tourist in a Mexican resort focused law enforcement resources on both sides of the border. At first glance, the motive appeared to be robbery, but careful analysis of the forensic evidence pointed to something much more sinister. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 28.

When a wealthy real estate tycoon went missing, it appeared to be foul play. He had been aware that he was in danger. In his will, he left instructions regarding what was to happen if he died under violent circumstances - instructions which were carried out after a hiker came across a bullet-ridden skull. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 27.

Hikers near Anchorage, Alaska discovered a body wrapped in sheets that were edged in orange stitching. Authorities hydrated the fingers and obtained a fingerprint, enabling them to identify the victim. Clinging to the sheet, they also discovered a tuft of red carpet fibers - threads of evidence that led them straight to the killer. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 24.

A woman disappeared without a trace, leaving two possible explanations: kidnapping or murder. Concern was heightened when police learned that two other women had similarly vanished. An investigation including DNA profiling and a talented forensic artist enabled police to link the crimes to a single suspect - an immigrant known to prey on vulnerable women. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 23.

A small community in upstate New York was devastated when a car accident claimed the life of a well-respected nurse. Investigators initially thought alcohol was to blame, but blood tests proved the victim was not intoxicated. The seedpods found in her hair and on her clothes would prove that this was no accident. It was cold-blooded murder. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 22.

In 1984, California firefighters had battled ten arson fires in three weeks. When cigarettes and a scrap of paper connected the southern California fires to several fires further north, the hunt was on for a dangerous pyromaniac. Investigators finally found a fingerprint, and it pointed to a most unlikely suspect. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 21.

A go-go dancer told her family she needed to get away for a while, and then she simply disappeared. Investigators were suspicious, because she took neither her car nor her clothes. The next twenty years passed slowly, and the family began to think they might never know what happened until they received a phone call that changed everything. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 19.

The body of a young California co-ed was found under an isolated ramp of the Interstate, and San Diego police had no idea who would want this girl dead. But their questions would be answered when they discovered a tiny, unique fiber on the victim's clothing, which led them straight to the most unlikely of killers. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 18.

Haunted by the disappearance of her mother some twenty years earlier, a young woman undertook an investigation of her own. Her mother's diary was in the now "cold" case file; there, in her mother's own handwriting, she discovered a dark family secret, which might have been the reason her mother vanished. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 13.

The body of a 16-year-old girl was discovered nine months after she disappeared. Forensic scientists found clues that painted a virtual portrait of her killer. They knew that he had a dog, that he worked for the postal service, and that he had red carpeting in his home. Now all they had to do was find him. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 11.

Residents of Noel, Missouri were stunned to learn that their bank had been robbed and the bank president was found floating in a lake, securely bound to a chair with duct tape. When the tape was carefully reassembled using a technique known as end match analysis, investigators discovered one piece was missing, and that piece would solve the crime. Originally aired as Season 9, Episode 9.