Forensic Files

In this classic episode of Forensic Files, the longest running true crime series in television history, a man riding a bicycle is fatally injured, and police believe he is the victim of a hit-and-run accident. Tiny clues found at the scene create a picture of the vehicle that struck him... and lead police to its driver.

Bombings are difficult to solve, because the perpetrator isn't usually at the scene, and the evidence goes up in smoke. But there are clues if investigators know where to look. In this case, pieces of plastic the size of grains of sand held the key to a man's murder.

The wife of an Air Force officer was found dead in her bed, with a plastic laundry bag near her face. At first glance, it appeared she'd been doing laundry, fell asleep, rolled onto the bag, and suffocated. But further investigation proved that the scene had been staged. Her death wasn't an accident; it was cold-blooded murder.

When a fire destroyed most of a home and a young boy went missing, police organized the largest search in the history of their small town. First the boy's backpack was discovered five miles from home, and then his body was found 50 miles away. But the killer had been careless, and the evidence he left behind would lead police directly to him. Originally aired as Season 10, Episode 12.

The decomposed body of a young woman was discovered in a Bakersfield irrigation canal. If there was trace evidence, it had been washed away. Another victim was found in that same canal a year later; this time, the perpetrator had been careless. The shoe prints found at the scene would lead police to the most unlikely of killers. Originally aired as Season 10, Episode 14

Emergency dispatch received a call from a man saying his girlfriend shot and killed herself. Police found the victim in the caller's house, lying in a pool of blood with the gun next to her on the floor. The autopsy revealed the gunshot wound was not self-inflicted, and the evidence found on her body gave police a golden opportunity to catch her killer. Originally aired as Season 10, Episode 19.

A Native American woman was brutally killed in the desert of New Mexico, and the crime scene was rich in evidence: tire tracks, shoe impressions and even the murder weapons. The site was less than 10 miles from another crime scene where a male Native American was murdered two years earlier. Police began to wonder: Was a serial killer on the loose?

A college student was found dead, and the evidence suggested he knew his killer. Three hairs and some microscopic cells helped police to unravel a web of lies, and find the motive for murder. Originally aired as Season 10, Episode 26.

In an affluent suburb of Philadelphia, police were called to the scene of what appeared to be an accidental drowning. The investigation gradually focused on one person, a suspect who had more than a million reasons to want the victim dead.

A young woman was found dead on a golf course in the Bahamas. The grass on that course was so distinctive that it had evidentiary value. The evidence led police to two suspects. Each blamed the other, and they had to find out who the killer was.

A teenager went missing after an evening of horseback riding; her body was found a month later, three miles from her home. The killer unknowingly left trace evidence behind, tiny but unmistakable clues that pointed to him and him alone.

When a popular disc jockey was found murdered in a community garden, police swung into action. A sniffer dog and a blood spatter expert led police to the killer... and he'd been much closer than they realized. Originally aired as Season 10, Episode 31.

The crime scene was awash with blood. The victim had been brutally murdered as he slept in his own bed. There were no foreign fingerprints in his home, but investigators did find a shoe impression in the mud outside... physical evidence they hoped would lead them to the killer. Originally aired as Season 10, Episode 34.

When the head chef of a historic Philadelphia restaurant was found dead, investigators interviewed the usual suspects: family, friends and co-workers. As they sifted through the evidence, police uncovered a chilling tale of debt and deceit.

A serial arsonist was on the loose in Washington, DC. Each of the fires was started with the same type of incendiary device. The perpetrator was very careful, and seemed to leave no evidence behind... but there were clues in the ashes and it was up to forensic scientists to find them. Originally aired as Season 10, Episode 37.

When a woman was found dead in her bathroom, the evidence pointed to suicide. But a coroner's inquest and a unique application of forensic science gave investigators a different explanation for her death. It was a theory that, if true, could turn the grieving husband into the prime suspect. Originally aired as Season 10, Episode 38.

Three homicides on two continents looked like professional executions. Investigators on both sides of the Atlantic needed to find out if they were related and, if they were, who or what they had in common.

A 29-year-old woman was killed instantly when a bomb exploded in her home. The device was so powerful that shrapnel was imbedded in houses across the street. The bomber had not only knowledge and skill, but also a motive for murder.

A killer tried to incinerate and destroy everything that could link him to his crime. But in doing so, he inadvertently created new forensic evidence - evidence that came to light with a technique never before used in a criminal investigation.

It would take forty-six years, handwriting analysis, and new fingerprint technology to solve the 1957 murders of two California police officers.

Investigators must determine what caused a house fire that killed an elderly couple and whether the victims' son is responsible.

Police instituted a search when the mother of two young children went missing. Less than a day later, they found her body. The evidence was little better than circumstantial, and the case turned cold. Twenty years later, advances in technology allowed investigators to see the evidence in a new light, and to learn that it pointed directly to the killer.

When hunters reported a skull in a Texas canyon, police quickly began an investigation. At the scene, they found clothing, a shoe, some bones, and a strand of hair. An anthropologist determined the victim was a Caucasian woman and that she'd been stabbed repeatedly. Eventually, police learned who she was. Now all they had to do was track down her killer.

A married couple decided to escape the cold of winter with a vacation in Key West. The wife went missing and police searched every inch of the island; they found nothing but a pair of sandals that may have belonged to her. Then two pieces of video surfaced and investigators started to wonder if they should be searching for a missing person or a murderer.

An Army wife's death appears to be a suicide, but detectives are suspicious when they learn that the woman almost died in a house fire a few years earlier.