Forensic Files

Now in its second season, Hell And Gone is a podcast from iHeartRadio and School of Humans that follows writer and private investigator Catherine Townsend as she investigates unsolved deaths in small-town Arkansas This season, she dives into the mysterious death of Janie Ward, a 16-year old high school student who died at a party in 1989 in Marshall, Arkansas. In the 30 years since her death, no one has been able to determine how she died even though there have been multiple investigations...

A Canadian scam-artist, Albert J. Walker, assumes the identity of co-worker Ronald Platt as part of a money-laundering scheme. Platt later turns up dead and the only clues to his real identity are a Rolex watch and a maple leaf tattoo. via Knit

A brilliant young architect became ill and died just before she was to testify in a criminal trial. The autopsy revealed she'd been poisoned with arsenic; it was a slow and painful death, so suicide was unlikely. Investigators had to determine who among her family, friends and business associates had a motive for murder. via Knit

A murder mystery theater performance turns into a real life whodunit when a badly burned body is discovered after the performance. via Knit

The year was 1984, and a serial killer was on the loose in Florida. Eight women had been found dead. At each crime scene, investigators found tiny red fibers, fibers they hoped would lead them to the killer. via Knit

A woman disappears without a trace; even though foul play is suspected, the leads don't pan out and the trail turns cold. Twenty years would pass before police are able to link a clump of hair discovered in an isolated area with the missing woman. Members of "NecroSearch," a group of volunteer forensic scientists, searched a remote area of Colorado a meter at a time, found the victim's body, and gave authorities the evidence they needed to bring the killer to justice. via Knit

Police find an abandoned car on a busy Philadelphia highway; later, strange marks on the driver's body lead police to her killer. via Knit

A young woman was killed in a senseless act of revenge. Could police identify the killer through a fingerprint on cloth? via Knit

The huge amount of blood at the crime scene spoke of the violence of the attack; investigators describe it as "overkill," and it's usually an indication that the victim knew the attacker. Police hoped that, during the struggle, the killer had left some of his own blood - and his DNA - behind. Their challenge was to find it. via Knit

When hunters reported finding a skull in a Texas canyon, police immediately began an investigation. At the scene, they found bits of clothing, a woman's shoe, some small bones and a strand of hair. An anthropologist determined the victim was a Caucasian woman, and that she'd been stabbed repeatedly. A forensic artist reconstructed her face, and the image was released to media. Eventually, police learned who she was. Now all they had to do was find her killer. via Knit

After the rape and murder of a popular high school student, authorities ask the males in her social circles to volunteer DNA. When a match is found, the community is stunned. via Knit

While staying at a hotel in St. Louis, Missouri, a Louisiana woman drowns in a bathtub. Her husband claims it was an accident, but detectives are skeptical as they discover evidence of foul play. via Knit

The story of nurse Tanya Reid who may have murdered her own baby and was planning to murder her son. via Knit

A retired police officer is discovered dead in his bed. Examination of the evidence at the crime scene, the tape from a bank surveillance camera, and forensic textbooks found in the victim's home are used to solve the murder. via Knit

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. via Knit

The victim had ingested a massive amount of cyanide. An unlikely clue - a flaw on a mailing envelope -- exposed a murderer who was willing to kill innocent people to get the one person he wanted. via Knit

A series of murders near Sacramento, Calif., where prostitutes were gagged and molested, their clothes cut off in random patterns and their hair cut off. via Knit

A man confesses to killing his wife but forensic evidence may lead to another suspect. via Knit

When the body of a female prison guard shows up in a landfill, investigators suspect the prisoners in the facility where she worked. The medical examiner found an important clue, a "signature" element, which figured in two other murders. via Knit

When someone dies under mysterious circumstances, the spouse almost always is a suspect -- especially if they are in bed, sleeping beside the individual at the time of their death. via Knit