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Private Notes
When 31-year-old real estate appraiser Mike Williams mysteriously vanishes while duck hunting in the Florida swamps in December of 2000, authorities suspect he accidentally drowned. For sixteen years Mike's disappearance remains a mystery. The case heats up when police receive a distress call from the victim's wife in 2016. Featuring interviews with detectives and the victim's mother as well as rare footage of the crime scene and recorded audio confessions with the accused, the episode explores how the disappearance unfolded into a sinister plot to cash in on millions of dollars of life insurance.
When 36-year-old computer programmer Lisa Valdez fails to show up for work, her apartment manager finds her brutally murdered in her tiny studio. Her body is riddled with stab wounds, the walls are covered in blood. Evidence shows the killer cut off her long, dark hair, taking it as an apparent trophy. Detectives ask, could she be the victim of a brutal serial killer? Or was Lisa murdered by someone she knew? Clues left on an answering machine point to a co-worker who was known to have feelings for Lisa, but two bloody fingerprints left on a toilet seat clear him as a suspect, and the case goes cold for thirteen years. Things heat up when a detective gets a hit during a search of the state's DNA database, leading to an unsuspected person from Lisa's past.
When Sherry Leighty goes missing in 1999, her family is left wondering how a dedicated mother of three could vanish without a trace. A decade later, the cold case heats up when Sherry's sister launches a social media campaign to help solve her sister's mysterious disappearance. An online tip unearths the killer truth and a sinister family secret. This episode features an interview with Shelly Leighty, who never gave up on solving her sister's case, along with rare home video of Sherry and her family not long before she disappeared.
When 25-year-old schoolteacher Christy Mirack is found brutally murdered in her Lancaster, Pennsylvania, apartment in 1992, there is no shortage of suspects. Frustration and fear mount as each person is ruled out, one by one, and eventually the case goes cold. Twenty-six years later, in 2018, cold case detectives get a break when a relative of the killer uploads DNA to a public genealogy website. This story features a rare interview with the victim's brother and the forensic genealogist who helped crack one of state's first cold cases to be solved by familial DNA technology.
In the 1980s, a suspected serial killer preyed on women in small towns located on the banks of the Mississippi River until the murders abruptly ceased and went unsolved. In 2006, 26 years later, a cold case detective and producer on the set of "Cold Case Files" unknowingly began to connect the dots that would crack the case while discussing the murder of Deborah Sheppard, a Southern Illinois University student whose death had remained a mystery since 1982.
23-year-old teacher Irene Garza was a former beauty queen and devout Catholic who vanished the evening before Easter after giving confession. Residents of her close-knit border town did their best to find her, but after a series of false leads, her body was found floating in a drainage canal clearly the victim of a violent sexual predator. At the time, a key witness hinted that a member of the Catholic clergy may have been responsible, but the clue remained buried for 42 years until a former priest comes forward with a damning confession from another man of the cloth that reveals a sinister coverup.
Near what's known as the hanging tree, the mutilated body of Timothy Coggins is found in late 1983. The investigation is thwarted and the case freezes for over 30 years, until a newly elected sheriff vows to bring the killers to justice.
On a bitter morning in 1980, radio intern Helene Pruszynski is found brutalized in a snowy field. After 37 years of fruitless leads, investigators tap into a public genealogy website that leads them across the country to the killer they've been hunting.
The body of 24-year-old Lisa Ziegert is found stabbed to death in a field in Agawam, Massachusetts on Easter Sunday of 1992. The investigation yields several leads, but there is no prime suspect. After more than two decades, DNA phenotyping puts a face to the killer.
Just after the last day of school in 1984, 15-year-old Reesa Trexler is found murdered in her grandparents' home. For decades, a stalled investigation only fuels the town rumor mill, pointing an accusing finger at Reesa's 13-year-old sister, Jodie.
When a beloved schoolteacher is found murdered in her Neptune, New Jersey apartment in the fall of 2009, suspicion is cast on her soon to be ex-husband. Long after the case goes cold, a detective embarks on a mission to help the man clear his name and track down the real killers.
In August 1972, the body of Jody Loomis is found in the woods. 34 years later, the killer's DNA is recovered from Jody's old clothing but it isn't matched until 2018, when genetic genealogy helps point to one suspect--whose guilt must be proven in court.
On February 2, 2010, two masked gunmen commit a violent robbery and shoot Michael Temple Jr., rendering him a quadriplegic for five years before his death. In this unusual cold case, DNA from a knife is used to create a sketch of the killer.
13 days after Pam Pitts disappears in 1988 her charred body is found at a popular hangout spot in the Arizona desert. When a second victim is discovered in a mineshaft, detectives suspect the killer may have known them both, but the truth is decades away.
In late 1983, the bodies of five people abducted from a local fast food restaurant are found brutally murdered in an oil field. The main suspect is long believed to be a well-connected local man, until new evidence reveals the true killers had been hiding in plain sight for decades.
When 23-year-old Tonya McKinley is found brutally murdered on New Years Day 1985, a little boy is left motherless. A family must wait 35 years for advancements in forensic science to finally catch a killer using familial DNA.
March 1984. Jack Kennedy discovers his daughters brutally murdered. Their mother and niece spend their lives keeping the case alive. DNA leads nowhere. Thirty years later, an informant gives up a name. But the family's ordeal is far from over.
In July 1997, the brutal murder of 19-year-old Tiffany Johnston rocks the small town of Bethany, Oklahoma. DNA points to her killer over a decade later and leads investigators across state lines to Texas--to the buried bodies of two other missing women.
In July of 1970, the brutal murder of single mom Loretta Jones leaves four-year-old Heidi Jones motherless. Nearly 40 years later, Heidi vows to solve her mother's cold case and calls on an old high school friend to help her find justice for Loretta.
When a deadly house fire claims the life of a family in rural Oklahoma, investigators suspect foul play and it sends a mother on a decades-long crusade to find out what happened to her missing teenage daughter and best friend.
In June 1985, a 20-year-old "Sucker Day" Festival Queen is found brutalized. The small community of Nixa, Missouri, is certain her blood is on the hands of a local wealthy businessman, but after 25 years DNA reveals the true killer.
In December 1985, when human bones are discovered in the woods, it puts an end to the search for missing teen David Reed. David's disappearance shook a small town, and skull fractures point to murder; but it will be decades before investigators can find his killer.
When firefighter Gary Parks is killed in a fire ruled arson, the investigation into his death shifts to homicide. A serial arsonist is thought to be the culprit; but it will take a dogged cold-case detective following his gut to track down the real killer.
Just two years into their marriage, Chuck and Cheryl Hall are torn apart when Chuck finds Cheryl murdered. Though Cheryl's family is certain they know her killer, the law isn't as sure. After several decades, a DNA match erases all doubt.
In 1979, Janie Landers disappears from a home for the impaired. When Janie's body is found, there are many suspects but it takes years before the killer and the atrocities in the care facility are revealed.
In Cree culture, a promise is sacred. When Cree woman Shirley Soosay goes missing in 1980, her niece Violet promises her grandmother that she will bring Shirley home. But Violet never dreamed the search for Shirley-and justice-would take a lifetime.
Aurora, Colorado: In 1984, three-year-old Vanessa Bennett becomes the lone survivor of her family's brutal murder. Initial investigators suspect a serial killer is at large, but decades pass before DNA narrows the suspect pool to one man.
