The New Detectives

In criminal investigations, a simple clue can provide the missing link by placing a suspect at a crime scene. Dirt left on shoes, tires or clothes, or even a tiny piece of plastic can pinpoint a crime scene. But it takes the keen eye of the forensic investigator to follow the trail of evidence that leads to the killer.

Approximately 1.8 million Americans are reported missing each year. Some are runaways who find their way home, but others simply disappear. When foul play is suspected, investigators turn to forensics to find the missing.

Bombers, snipers, spree killers: some people don't care who they kill, they just want to hurt innocent people. These killers are the hardest to catch because they have no connection with their victims, who are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. But even random bloodshed leaves traces at the scene that can direct an investigation and stop the killer before he can strike again.

Every family has its secrets, and sometimes blood relations lead to bloodshed. When money is the motive, murder can rip at the very foundation of marriage and family. When murder becomes a family affair, investigators must turn to forensics to uncover a death in the family when the motive is for love or money.

The tiniest residue left at the scene can become a mark of distinction in the most singular and intimate of ways. Investigators have come to rely on forensic evidence as simple as a smudge on a piece of tape or a faint impression left in the dirt. Investigators must have their eyes trained to find the full story of a murder etched in clues left at the scene.

Poison is an almost invisible form of death, and toxicologists must look for hidden clues in blood and tissue to bring these murders to light.

Some people do get away with murderat least for a while. Flush with their success, serial killers murder again and again. But each time they kill, they leave behind a few more clues, which ultimately lead to their capture.

At the scene of a murder, sometimes the victim provides the only clues to their killer. Forensic anthropologists use skeletal remains to decipher the clues written in the bones.

Time of death is an important consideration in a murder investigation, but when a killer freezes, burns, or grinds his victim, even the most skilled medical examiner would be at a loss about how to calculate it. Forensics has its own techniques to foil a killer's plans to halt an investigation.

Accidental deaths, suicides, disappearances, and fires; they're an everyday part of an insurance investigator's life. But cases shouldn't be taken at face value. Forensics has become a tool for exposing insurance fraud.

Drowning deaths often look like accidents and water can destroy the scant clues the killer may have left behind. Investigators must turn to forensic science to solve cases where the victim is found dead in the water.

A dog can be a dead man's best friend. Dogs have been trained to sniff out corpses, drugs, explosives, and missing persons. They're often the first to find the essential clue that sets an investigation in motion.