Thursday

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 which occurred five months earlier, 15 miles away. When investigators learn the crimes might not be isolated or random, they also realize a serial killer may be on the loose.

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 creative and devoted investigators. A speck of blood, a piece of a fingernail or a strand of hair may now be enough evidence to prove a murder and capture a killer.

In this special episode, we take a closer look at cases previously featured on this series. Our goal is to explore more fully some of the investigative methods and techniques that have made the FBI the premier law enforcement agency in the world.

In the 1970s, cities across the United States became a battleground for vicious Croatian radicals. Their violent agenda targeted their own people living in America.

Ohio v. Stanley Ford. Firefighters made a desperate effort to save a young family from a blazing fire, but rescuers were too late. Police declared the fire was no accident and began an arson investigation, which included another unexplained fire a few blocks away that killed a beloved elderly couple. Detectives found their first clue in surveillance footage from neighborhood security cameras — a hooded figure, dressed in white, with no face visible — seen dousing both homes with lighter fluid, igniting the flames and running away. Who was the mystery man?

How do bugs, pigs and even the weather help investigators solve crimes? From tropical hawaii to the frigid waters of lake ontario, forensic experts reveal, in gory detail, the clues nature leaves behind on a human corpse.

While her 10-year-old daughter listens upstairs, failed self-help guru Derek Medina shoots his wife during an argument, then casually posts pictures of her dead body on Facebook.

After a night of drinking, 45-year-old Ana Trujillo bludgeons her on-again-off-again lover Stefan Andersson to death with a blue suede stiletto shoe.

Young pregnant couple Elizabeth and Tony are viciously attacked in their home, just hours after evicting three down-on-their-luck men who had been staying with them. Is it a home invasion motivated by revenge, or something even more sinister?

The quiet farming community of Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan is left in shambles after a suspicious fire ravages the home of young mother Abbie Speir. It isn’t long before investigators discover that the fire is no accident – someone murdered Abbie in cold blood. As police race against the clock to locate a suspect, the small town grapples with the revelation that a killer could be lurking among them.

Soft-spoken restaurant worker Sharon Coleman is murdered in a hail of large caliber gunfire. With scant physical evidence, Lt. Joe Kenda must break through a web of lies to hunt down one of the most dangerous criminal masterminds he’s ever faced.

Cindy Zarzycki is 13 years old when she goes missing on her way to a Detroit ice cream store. Considered a runaway, Cindy remains just another missing child on a milk carton until Detective Derek ÒMacÓ McLaughlin receives her file nine years later. Teaming up with Jen Liebow, a fresh-faced intern, Mac revisits every single clue to identify Arthur Ream, father of CindyÕs boyfriend Scott, as his prime suspect. With dogged determination and superb investigative skills, Mac and Jen discover new and conclusive evidence Ð enough to convict the killer. Arthur Ream is sentenced to life in prison twenty-two years after CindyÕs disappearance.

Between1993 and 1996, the rape and murder of three Arkansas women puts local detectives on the trail of a sadistic killer. In their hunt for the truth, investigators learn that nothing in these cases is cut and dry.