Forensic Files
Upcoming episodes
Jan 16th
900a
Deadly Curve
It was supposed to be a routine motorcade for the Queen of England. But on the way to Yosemite National Park, a car carrying three Secret Service agents collided with a car driven by a deputy from the local sheriff’s office. The agents were killed instantly. In the investigation which followed, two teams of accident reconstructionists reached very different conclusions. It would take a court case and a judge’s ruling to determine what really happened, and who was responsible.
Jan 16th
930a
Visibility Zero
In 1993, the Amtrak Railroad experienced the deadliest train crash in United States history when the Sunset Limited derailed while crossing Alabama’s Bayou Canot bridge. Forty-seven passengers and crew were killed; scores more were injured. The clues to the cause of the crash lay etched in twisted steel and buried in the mud of the Bayou Canot.
Jan 16th
1000a
Flashover
A fire erupted in the Kings Cross Underground Station in London, killing 31 people and injuring dozens more. Arson investigators were able to pinpoint the cause of the fire, but it would take state-of-the-art computer technology and experts in the field of fluid dynamics to explain why it became a deadly inferno.
Jan 16th
1030a
The Disappearance of Helle Crafts
A Connecticut flight attendant went missing and was never seen again. Police suspected her husband was guilty of murder and they were able to prove it – even though they never found the woman’s body.
Jan 16th
500p
A Vow of Silence
In 1987, Emelita Villa came to Arlington, Texas from the Philippines as a shy, impoverished, 18-year-old mail order bride for Jack Reeves, a man almost 30 years her senior. Six and a half years later, Emelita disappeared. During their investigation, detectives learned that both Reeves’ second and third wives had died amid mysterious circumstances. The death of Reeves’ second wife, Sharon, had been ruled a suicide, but blood spatter evidence in a photo indicated she might have been murdered. An autopsy, performed on Sharon’s body 14 years after her death, revealed even more.
Jan 16th
530p
Elephant Tracks
An elderly couple was bludgeoned to death in their home, but the crime went unsolved. Two years later, the owner of a pawn shop was looking through a stack of old newspapers and came across an article about the murders. There was a photograph of the victims, and the woman pictured was wearing an unusual elephant pendant necklace – a necklace which the owner realized was in her shop. Not only that, she still had the pawn ticket, identifying who had sold the jewelry.
Jan 16th
600p
A Bag of Evidence
When nine-year-old Jessica Knott disappeared from her home and was later found murdered, all of the tools in the arsenal of forensic scientists were brought to bear. Painstaking analysis of hairs, tiny fibers, and the plastic garbage covering her body lead police to a suspect – who turned out to be the same person who made what he thought was an anonymous 911-call, reporting where Jessica’s body could be found.
Jan 16th
630p
Tooth or Consequences
The investigation of the disappearance of a young woman leads police to a suspect with a history of sexual assault, rape, and kidnapping. But police could not find the victim’s body, making it more difficult to connect their suspect to the crime. Finally, police discover the remains of a charred tooth. Superimposed images and an analysis of the elements of a dental filling give investigators the proof they need to bring the perpetrator to justice.
Jan 19th
900a
The Magic Bullet
A fifteen-year-old boy died from a mysterious gunshot wound to his head while he was sitting in the lobby of his father’s gun club. Ballistics, laser technology, made-to-scale models and the latest in forensic animation showed that bullet had followed a tragic course after a misfire at the outdoor range.
Jan 19th
930a
The House that Roared
A woman disappeared and her husband became the prime suspect -- especially after police found a huge bloodstain on the carpet of their bedroom. When they sprayed the bedroom with Luminol, they discovered it was awash with blood spatter. Complex DNA testing proved it was the wife’s blood. Now all they had to do was find her body.