Forensic Tales

#274 - In October 1986, a 29-year-old nurse and mother was found dead inside her Polk County, Florida home. The attack was so vicious that it left her nearly decapitated. Despite the tremendous amount of DNA evidence left behind at the crime scene, investigators were unable to identify her killer for over three decades. But just when everyone thought they had hit a roadblock in the investigation,...

#273 - The death of UK spy Gareth Williams in 2010 has become one of the most high-profile unsolved mysteries in years after his naked body was discovered padlocked inside a duffel bag. Described as a genius mathematician who the intelligence service had recruited, Gareth’s exact cause of death remains unknown, and people can’t agree whether he could have locked himself in there on his own or whet...

#272 - In February 1979, 17-year-old high school student Esther Gonzalez was attacked while walking from her parent’s house to her sister’s home in Riverside County, California. The following day, her body was found dumped in a snowpack near a highway. Without any solid leads or suspects, the case went cold for more than 45 years until the police were able to use new DNA testing to find her killer...

#271 - In the summer of 1987, a young bartender from Green Bay, Wisconsin, goes missing, only to turn up dead hours later. The police interviewed dozens of people, including the customers who were at the bar with the victim the night before. Almost all of them said they noticed a strange man hanging around the bar wearing a flannel shirt despite temperatures above 90 degrees that day. It wasn’t un...

#270 - In September 2002, two women were found dead inside the Dolly Madison bakery in Great Bend, Kansas. They were 24-year-old Mandi Alexander and 79-year-old Mary Drake. Even after years of investigating and the discovery of foreign DNA on one of the victims, the case of the Dolly Madison murders is still unsolved today. How might new advancements in forensic science solve these awful murders?...

#269 - Over 40 years ago, Susan Schwarz was found bound and shot to death inside her own Washington home. At first, the police suspected this was somehow a robbery gone wrong. But over the years, that theory fizzled out, and they began looking at someone very close to the victim. However, without any forensic evidence linking him to the crime, would there be enough evidence to send an accused kill...

#268 - A 78-year-old grandmother was found dead inside her Salt Lake City, Utah, home in February 1991. But for years, her brutal murder baffled investigators. Who would want to kill an elderly lady inside her very own home? The case remained a mystery for two decades until investigators got the clue needed from a very unlikely source: A children’s Lego piece.   Support If you love the show, the e...

#267 - In April 2005, 25-year-old Janet Abaroa was discovered stabbed to death inside her North Carolina home - she had been found by her husband, Raven. Nothing else in the home was disturbed, and the couple’s 6-month-old son, Kaiden, was found unharmed in another bedroom. The question of who killed Janet became a mystery that quickly captivated the Durham, North Carolina, community. Despite its...

#266 - It’s a case that haunted the authorities for decades. A woman is stabbed to death a total of 65 times inside her Minneapolis apartment. Although the scene overflowed with physical and forensic evidence, the case eventually turned cold. It wasn’t until the police collected DNA from a hot dog napkin that they finally got the break they had hoped for.   Support If you love the show, the easies...

#265 - A beautiful young nursing student is abducted from her parent's house in Tennessee, sparking a nationwide manhunt. But even after six people are arrested, is there enough forensic evidence to explain exactly what happened to Holly Bobo?   Support If you love the show, the easiest way to show your support is by leaving us a positive rating with a review. You can also tell your family and fri...

#264 - In January 1993, seven people were shot and killed inside a Brown’s Chicken fast-food restaurant in Chicago, becoming one of the deadliest mass shootings in the area at the time.  For years, the case was cold, with very few leads. It wasn’t until evidence collected from a trash can at the crime scene was tested that investigators finally got a break.   Support If you love the show, the easi...

#263 - On February 2nd, 2008, a man posing as a delivery driver walked into a Lane Bryant clothing store in a Chicago suburb with a gun. He ordered the six women inside the store to the back room, where he duct-taped their hands behind their backs and eventually shot all of them. Despite a massive manhunt involving multiple law enforcement agencies, the shooter remains at large.   Support If you l...

#262 - In the spring of 1975, 16-year-old Sharron Prior left her mom’s house to meet up with her boyfriend and friends at a nearby pizzeria but never returned home. She was missing for three days until her body was found in a nearby field. Over the next four decades, the police did everything they could to track down her killer. But it wasn’t until new advances in DNA came around that they finally...

#261 - A 19-year-old college student from San Luis Obispo goes missing on Memorial Day weekend in 1996. She was last seen leaving an off-campus party one early Saturday morning. Years later, soil samples detected the presence of human blood on one of the primary suspect’s properties. But without ever recovering human remains, is that enough to secure a conviction against him?   Support If you love...

#260 - In the summer of 1971, 24-year-old schoolteacher Rita Curran was found brutally murdered inside her Burlington, Vermont, apartment. But despite an intense investigation, her killer remained at large for over 50 years. It wasn’t until investigators got the critical piece of forensic evidence they needed that her killer was finally identified.   Support If you love the show, the easiest way t...

#259 - An 18-year-old law student goes missing after a night out with friends in Monterrey, Mexico. Two weeks later, her body is found floating in the water tank of a motel. But even after three autopsies, there is still a lot of confusion surrounding her death. What happened to Debanhi Escobar, and what does the forensic evidence tell us?   Support If you love the show, the easiest way to show yo...

#258 - Part 2: One night in April 1981, a grisly quadruple murder took place in the small northern California town of Keddie. To this very day, the case remains unsolved. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any forensic evidence or suspects.   Support If you love the show, the easiest way to show your support is by leaving us a positive rating with a review. You can also tell your family and friends...

#257 - Part 1: One night in April 1981, a grisly quadruple murder took place in the small northern California town of Keddie. To this very day, the case remains unsolved. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t any forensic evidence or suspects.   Support If you love the show, the easiest way to show your support is by leaving us a positive rating with a review. You can also tell your family and friends...

#256 - A Florida woman was accused of murdering her boyfriend by zipping him inside a suitcase in an alleged game of hide-and-seek. Was this just a tragic accident? Or did Sarah Boone intentionally murder Jorge Torres Jr?   Support If you love the show, the easiest way to show your support is by leaving us a positive rating with a review. You can also tell your family and friends about Forensic Ta...

#255 - In April of 1981, the body of a young woman was found alongside a road in Troy, Ohio. She had been strangled and beaten to death. But her identity remained a mystery for almost four decades. It wasn’t until the authorities used advanced DNA testing and genetic genealogy that the girl once known only as “Buckskin Girl” finally got a name.   Support If you love the show, the easiest way to sh...

#254 - One morning in August 2007, five members of the same family were attacked inside their Powder Springs, Georgia home, leaving 3 of them dead and the other two severely injured. Even after years of investigation, the case remains unsolved today. Who is responsible for these murders? And how can forensic science bring a killer to justice?   Support If you love the show, the easiest way to show...

#253 - For nearly 40 years, a teenage girl found dead on Valentine’s Day along an Arizona highway was known only as “Valentine Sally.” But now, with advancements in DNA testing and forensic genetic genealogy, she has finally regained her name.   Support If you love the show, the easiest way to show your support is by leaving us a positive rating with a review. You can also tell your family and fri...

#252 - Tara Grinstead was a 30-year-old history teacher from Georgia when she went missing in October 2005. Without any sighting of her for the next five years, she was legally pronounced dead, leaving many to wonder if we would ever know what happened to her. Then, over a decade later, the authorities finally got the tip they had been waiting for. But would this tip be enough for Tara’s family to...

#251 - In November 1984, 13-year-old Candace Derksen went missing on her way home from school. Her sudden disappearance sparked one of Winnipeg's most extensive searches for a missing person, lasting six and a half weeks. Twenty-two years later, a man was finally arrested for her murder. However, justice is still far from being served after concerns arose over the integrity of the forensic evidenc...

#250 - It’s a story often referred to in the media as “The Fitbit Murder.” In 2015, 39-year-old Connie Dabate was found shot to death inside her Connecticut basement. Her husband, 40-year-old Richard Dabata, says a masked intruder was to blame. But when the authorities examined Connie’s wearable fitness device, they suspected he was lying.   Support If you love the show, the easiest way to show yo...