Bloodline Detectives focuses on familial DNA investigation, a search technique which uses genetic material from relatives to track down a suspect to solve violent crimes.
Each episode shows detectives from all over the world solving cold cases by using the DNA of family members and how that additional DNA information is revolutionising genetic profiling to solve criminal cases.
The story of Pamela Maurer, whose killer, Bruce Lindahl, was identified after 43 years. In 2024, testing also linked him to 1979 victim Kathy Halle.
In 2024, Pamela Wittman, a 25-year-old from Indiana, was identified, solving the 1980 Daytona Beach cold case linked to a serial killer.
Found shot near Highway 67 in 1986, Maria Pilar Del Gadillo Carrillo remained unidentified until 2024, when authorities used genetic genealogy and reopened her case.
Esther Gonzalez was killed in 1979 while walking in Riverside. Randy Williamson, cleared by polygraph, lived freely until 2014. In 2023, forensic genealogy closed the cold case.
In 1991, 16-year-old Sarah Yarborough was murdered outside her school. Eyewitnesses saw a man - but it took nearly 30 years and forensic genealogy to find him.
DNA and genealogy reveal serial killer Jerry McFadden murdered Anna Hlavka in a 1979 Portland case.
Found murdered in a Seattle garage in July 1967, Susan Galvin remained without justice until 2018, when DNA and genetic genealogy identified her killer, Frank Wypych.
In October 2003, the San Diego County community was shaken by a tragic discovery: the dismembered legs of a woman were found in a dumpster.
Student Terri McAdams was beaten and killed by an intruder who entered the apartment she was staying in. In 2024, genetic genealogy caught Terri's killer.
The story of how DNA identified 25-year-old Mary Schlais's killer in Minnesota, linking it to John Miller and showing how genetic genealogy brought long-awaited justice.
The story of Pamela Maurer, whose killer, Bruce Lindahl, was identified after 43 years. In 2024, testing also linked him to 1979 victim Kathy Halle.
In Winsconsin in 1959, skeletal remains were found and baffled investigators. Sixty-five years later, genetic genealogy revealed the victim was Chester Alfred Breiney.
The story of how five-year-old Anne Pham's murder was solved after 40 years, using DNA and genetic genealogy. Army soldier Robert Lanoue was identified as her killer.
In this compelling episode, detectives take on the unsolved murder of Sharon Hammack.
Police use new technology to find out who is responsible for a brutal rape.
DNA Detectives work to solve a murder of a great-grandma in Utah.
Forensic investigative genetic genealogy solves the 1987 double murder of a young couple in Wisconsin.
Police solve the decades-old cold case of Clare Holman through new advancements in DNA technology.
In 1976, 19-year-old Janet Stallcup goes missing while on her way to a party. Eight days later, her body is found in her car.
In 1978, the body of 16-year-old Krisann Baxter is found in Washington. Investigators try to find Krisann's killer, but don't find any answers.
In 1989, Krista Martin's life is tragically cut short because of an intruder. A friend finds her and calls 911, starting an investigation that will span four decades.
In Chandler, Arizona in 1991, an intruder viciously sexually assaults a woman in her own home. The case goes unsolved for decades until revolutionary science connects the dots.
In 1995 in Beaumont, Texas, the parents of Catherine Edwards find her body in her bathroom. The killer evades justice, that is, until forensic science catches up with him.
Will a new forensic science tool find the killer of Cathy Sposito, murdered on an Arizona hiking trail in 1987?.
Susan Eads is found murdered in Texas in 1983. Decades later, can modern forensics finally find the perpetrator?
In 1986, Barbara Carr was killed in a home invasion, while her husband escaped. Will new science finally unearth a suspect?
Years after a murder in 1991, will determination and new forensic tools finally find Danielle Clause's killer?
Human remains found in 1994 start a long search to identify Suzanne Kjellenberg and a killer. New forensics may give answers.
Episode 16 examines the 1986 murder of a young mother Lisa Holstead from Michigan. Her case remained unsolved for decades as the investigators in the 80s didn't have the tools to solve it, despite collecting a significant amount of DNA. 14 years on, forensics helped to eliminate Lisa's boyfriend as a suspect and a male suspect profile was developed. Sadly, it had no matches in the database and Lisa's family had to wait another two decades for answers which came with the arrival of forensic investigative genetic genealogy.
The 17th episode revisits the murder case of Mary Davis from North Carolina. Mary was killed in 1987, but no viable suspect was found at the time of the initial investigation. Years later the DNA data from the crime scene had been entered into CODIS, but even that provided no answer. In 2020, new generation of detectives were assigned to the case with the help of forensic investigative genetic genealogy.
Serial rapes spur fear in a city in North Carolina. Years later new forensic science finds the perpetrator.
Experts hope forensic science can solve the murder of Melissa Lee, which baffles Washington detectives.
A woman in Texas is killed and left in an old cellar. Experts hope new forensic science tools can help with finding the murderer..
A man discovers the body of a young woman in a ditch in Kentucky. The girl is identified as 16-year-old Carol Sue Klaber who was last seen riding her bike.
In October 1970, 28-year-old court reporter Nancy Bennallack fails to show up for work, and her colleagues become worried.
For 15 years, northern California is haunted by a serial rapist until genetic genealogy finally reveals the identity of the elusive sexual predator.
40 years after the sexual assault and murder in April 1980 of 20-year-old Robin Brooks in Sacramento, California, determined cold case detectives collaborate with scientists using revolutionary forensic techniques to put her killer behind bars.
July 1987, Carlsbad, New Mexico, Donna Hyatt's daughter returns home to find her mother brutally murdered. She has been beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled to death.
In 2003, the skeletal remains of a young woman are found and identified as Isabel Sanchez Bernal.
On the 16th of December in 1988, the tranquility of smalltown life is shattered forever when the body of a woman is found by a group of road workers on the interstate.
Using witness testimony, new interviews, archive footage and dramatic reconstructions, detectives delve into the murder of a young girl in Hazleton, Pa in 1964.
Two unsolved murders from the late 1970s near Tahoe, Calif., stump investigators for decades.
In California in 1968, a group of schoolboys find what they think is a scarecrow. The reality is much worse; it is the body of a woman who has been murdered
Investigative genetic genealogy is used to resolve the 1988 murder of a mother killed in front of her toddler.
Cutting-edge DNA science finally names the Phoenix Canal Killer who terrorised the city in the early 90s
Investigative genetic genealogy reveals the killer of a young mother murdered in her own home 34 years prior.
Forensic science reveals the name of a serial killer who murdered two women in the late 80s, 30 years later.
In 1990, a woman in Rankin County, Mississippi, was kidnapped and raped at knifepoint, but the case went cold for decades until a DNA match from an unrelated crime identified the perpetrator.
DNA science unveils a predator who sexually assaulted a 20-year-old before shooting her in Washington in 1972.
In Willoughby, Ohio in 1980, Mark Madger comes home to find his wife Nadine lying in a pool of her own blood with a kitchen knife embedded in her chest.
In 1985, a young woman is awoken by an intruder in her apartment, who steals her valuables and sexually assaults her at gun-point.
Investigative genetic genealogy unmasks the sexual deviant who raped and killed Christina Castiglione in 1982.
The 1972 rape and murder of 9-year-old Debbie Lynn Randall is solved thanks to science 50 years later.
Terry Wood comes home to find his wife Roxanne, lying dead in a pool of blood.
A seven-year-old girl is walking to school when an unknown assailant snatches her off the street and drives her to a secluded location where he sexually assaults her.
The murder of 17-year-old Carla Walker, who was abducted by an unknown assailant in Texas in 1974.
The murder of 16-year-old Kim Bryant, who disappeared outside of a Dairy Queen restaurant and was found dead three weeks later on the outskirts of town.
Linda Slaten is found murdered in her bedroom in her Lakeland, Florida apartment. She had been sexually assaulted while her children slept and strangled with a coat hanger.
Diana Hanson fails to return home from jogging in Las Vegas. Her worried parents call police but in a devastating turn of events, news of a brutal murder scene emerges.
The mystery surrounding the death of a woman in Annandale, Virginia.
The body of a little girl is found in the Arizona desert. Detectives are unable to identify her so the local community lays her to rest with the name, Little Miss Nobody.
The body of Sylvia Quayle is discovered by her distraught father in her Cherry Hills home. She had been shot, stabbed and sexually assaulted.
A young woman is last seen alive hitchhiking on Valentines Day. The next day her body is discovered along a deserted road, and she had been strangled to death with a bikini top.
Genetic genealogy brings answers to the families of two little girls who were murdered in 1986.
Investigative genetic genealogy solves the decades-old murder of Naval recruit Pamela Cahanes.
When Mary Scott is found murdered in her home, an investigation is opened that will last 51 years.
In Las Vegas, 1989, 14-year-old Stephanie Isaacson is raped and murdered.
New forensic science may finally be able to reveal who murdered Tonya McKinley.
The 30-year hunt for a killer starts when Darlene Krashoc's body is found behind a restaurant.
A town in Washington lives in fear after a 17-year-old girl is abducted without a suspect in sight.
The 1959 rape and murder of 9-year-old Candy Rogers in Spokane, Wash., is solved six decades later.
Police are stumped when a toddler's body is found in a river, leading to a decades-long mystery.
Michelle Wyatt is found strangled to death in 1980; few leads arise until 41 years later.
In 1999, hospital worker Jennifer Watkins is sexually assaulted and murdered; 20 years later, revolutionary DNA testing helps to solve the cold case.
In Sacramento, Calif., three woman are brutally assaulted by the same man; investigators use genealogy to track down the suspect.
A young couple is murdered in Montana in 1956; in 2019, investigators use voluntary genealogical databases to catch the killer.
In 2018, a 79-year-old woman in Utah is sexually assaulted after a man breaks into her home; genetic genealogy immediately identifies the rapist.
In 1993, a 19-year-old woman is kidnapped and raped; a private forensic genealogy company is able to track down the suspect.
In 1997, a woman is attacked on her route home; a suspect is arrested over 20 years later with the help of a genetic genealogical search.
In 1974, a 5-year-old girl disappears while walking to her friend's house; after 46 years, detectives are able to put the case to rest using modern DNA technology.
Ricky Davis was convicted of the 1985 murder of a woman, but always maintained his innocence. It took 18 years before re-examined DNA evidence proved him right.
When a woman takes a genealogy test to learn what happened to her estranged mother, she is shocked to learn that her DNA has helped law enforcement identify two bodies found in California's Mojave Desert in 1980, which remained a mystery for over 40 years.
On 24th December 1984, a body is discovered in a shallow grave. When another dead body is discovered police fear a serial killer is at work. The victims remained unidentified for decades before a new DNA technology gave them justice.
In 1981, a high school student is found dead on the side of a road. Police work tirelessly on the case until new DNA technology exposes the killer.
In 1995, a masked man commits a series of sexual assaults at knifepoint. It takes more than 20 years for this serial rapist to be identified and then brought to justice.
In Alexandria, Virginia in 2016 a young female lifeguard is raped while working at a local pool. Police learn of a similar incident in Fairfax, Virginia 2 years earlier. It takes ground-breaking genealogy tools to find the perpetrator.
In 1977, the body of a young woman is found covered in flies and maggots. Police officers fail to identify the victim until revolutionary technology breaks open the case.
In 1968, a 60-year-old is brutally raped and killed inside her own home. A devastating flood halts the police investigation until ground-breaking science offers new hope.
In 1998, a woman and her young daughter are found brutally murdered. The case goes cold for over a decade until genetic genealogy uncovers the perpetrator.
In 1976, a young woman is found dead at a military base in Orange County, California. Using forensic genealogy, experts break open the 40-year-old cold case.
In December 1987, the body of a girl was dumped on the side of a road in Ohio. Genetic genealogy is called upon to help solve this violent murder.
In 1988, Janet Tinsley reports her 8-year-old daughter April missing after she fails to return home. Three days later, a man out jogging makes a gruesome discovery in a nearby ditch.
On June 11th, 1963, a man fishing in the Keene Creek reservoir in Ashland County, Oregon, reels in the body of a toddler. The child had been wrapped in blankets and weighed down by iron molds. After nearly six decades, developments in technology provide a major break in the case.
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In March 2003, a lorry driver was found dead behind the wheel in Camberley, England. Police gambled on the revolutionary technique of familial DNA analysis.
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In 1976, a woman was left for dead in her home in southern California. Despite a major manhunt, the violent killer avoided detection for over four decades.
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On Valentines' Day 2007, police in Southern California were called to a particularly violent murder scene. Advances in forensic genealogy finally solved the case.
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In 2018, two paralegals were shot dead while at work in Scottsdale, Arizona. Four more victims were linked to the killing - and a serial killer was supected of being at large.
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In 1984, a young woman's body was discovered in a lane close to her home in Bath, England. How did police eventually track down the perpetrator of this heinous attack?
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After being reported missing, a young couple's bodies were discovered more than 60 miles apart. Dedicated investigators set out to find their killer.
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In 1979, two young boys came home from school to find their mother's dead body in the living room. Investigators set out to track down the killer with no firm leads.
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After a young woman was found beaten to death in Wisconsin in 1984, the killer evaded detection for decades. However, a revolutionary DNA method later revealed his identity.
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The murder of a respected teacher brutally attacked in her Pennsylvania home. Her death shocked the community, though it took 27 years for dedicated investigators trace her killer.
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In 1973, two schoolgirls were found murdered in the Welsh village of Llandarcy. The killer's identity would remain a mystery until 2002.
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In 1982, a woman is found shot to death near Lake Tahoe. 37 years later, ground-breaking technology would help identify both the victim and the killer.
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In 1988, police discover the mutilated body of Lynette White. 25 years later, a ground-breaking DNA technique would finally lead detectives to the killer.
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In 1994, 42-year-old Le Bich-Thuy is found dead next to her home. Decades later, DNA and genealogy technology allow detectives to track down the killer.
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69-year-old Evelynne Derricott is found brutally murdered in 2011. After the case goes cold, new DNA technology eventually leads detectives to the truth.
In 1986, in Kent, a teenage girl is on her way to the shops when she is attacked and sexually assaulted. Decades later, new DNA technology reveals the perpetrator.
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In 2001, a young couple were brutally assaulted in Salisbury, Wiltshire. Over a decade later, new DNA technology helped lead investigators to the attacker.
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In Colorado in 1996, a young woman's body was found in an alley. After the case goes cold, advancements in genetic technology lead police to the killer.
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In 2001, a student is attacked in Williamsburg, Virginia and months later the attacker strikes again. Finally, new DNA technology reveals the perpetrator.
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In 1980, a young woman disappears and her body is discovered shortly after. Almost 40 years later, new DNA technology reveals the attacker.
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A series of brutal and terrifying sexual assaults occur across northern Utah and Wyoming. 17 years later, new DNA technology reveals the perpetrator.