All language subtitles for A.U.S01E15.1080p.WEB.h264-CASUALTY_track3_[eng]

(suspenseful music)

- [Narrator] Utah is
known as the Beehive State

because of the hard work
of the early pioneers.

And the natural beauty of
Utah brings in visitors

from around the world.

But the serenity of Utah's
landscape will be tarnished

by a gruesome roadside
chance discovery,

this will lead authorities on
a more than 20 year journey

for the truth.

- To have it just go
cold, it's frustrating.

Sometimes it's really
tough to get that news

or to get to that point
where you're stuck.

- Cases like this remind
you of how important it is

to follow up with due diligence

when someone calls in
anything suspicious.

- [Narrator] The manner in
which the person was killed

and disposed of leads
police to a suspect

with a history of murder.

- We want justice, we're
gonna find out who did this.

Justice for victims,
justice for perpetrators,

we want someone to
put handcuffs on.

- [Narrator] But justice
isn't always swift

and can require time, luck,
and unrelenting hard work.

(solemn music)

(soft music)

- The unsolved ones,
we have to stand up.

- And approach these cases,
in a way, outside the box.

- Let the world know
there's those out there

that did commit a murder
and there are people

that are coming after you.

- There's just a lot
of good people trying

to do the right thing.

- Because it's
something that you have

to be passionate about.

- Solve this, bring some
peace to the family, at least.

Just doing my job.

(suspenseful music)
(gavel bangs)

(anxious music)

- [Narrator] Garfield
County, Utah, 1998,

one of the least
populated counties

in all of the state.

- Just about 38 miles
north of Lake Powell,

it's a very open,
rural, vast area.

It's beautiful country,
it's red rock, red sand,

very, very open.

- [Narrator] Utah was founded
on the lands of the Ute,

Navajo, Paiute,
Goshute, and Shoshone,

and was the 45th state to enter
the United States in 1896.

(gentle music)
(crowd cheering)

But just over 100
years later, in 1998,

excitement was building
as the state was preparing

to host the 2002 Winter
Olympics in Salt Lake City,

which prompted improvements
to building an infrastructure,

which meant more
workers were required.

- Yeah, Utah's grown
quite a lot since then.

The population, it's
really definitely grown.

And Salt Lake City
itself, I guess,

maybe hasn't changed that much.

The outlying areas
have really grown,

there are a lot of
outdoor things to do,

and it's just a
nice place to live.

There's good people here,
it's a good culture.

You know, growing up here,

that's why I,
kinda, I've stayed.

- [Narrator] Utah's
population grew to more

than 2 million
people, and with it

the murder rates
increased almost 10%,

and firearms were used
in almost 60% of murders.

On average, there was a new
homicide every six days.

In April of 1998, a couple
takes a peaceful drive

along Route 276 in Utah,
about 40 miles north

of Lake Powell in Garfield
County, near Maidenwater Spring.

- This particular place
was a two-lane highway,

and not a lotta traffic,

and really the biggest reason
people travel that road

is to go to Lake Powell, which
is a big recreation part,

which is beautiful,
Lake Powell's amazing.

- [Narrator] The
couple is unfortunately

about to make a
horrific discovery.

(tense music)

- There were two
people in a vehicle,

it was a husband and
wife, just driving along

on a nice spring day.

And they looked off
the side of the road

and saw something
that caught their eye.

What they could see
was a sleeping bag,

and it obviously
looked odd to them,

so they stopped and they
discovered that there was a body

that had been wrapped
up into various layers,

so they just called police.

The sheriff's
department responded.

- When we receive a
call to investigate

something suspicious, you
have to assess the situation,

then evaluate the
method by which you

were contacted
before investigating.

It's easy to brush off
something that could

be a duffle bag or
something similar,

but cases like this prove
the importance to follow up

and see for yourself.

(suspenseful music)

- [Narrator] The driver of the
car reports to local police

the strange object they saw
on the side of the road.

- That was the
discovery of the body.

At that this time, she was,
you know, a Jane Doe, unknown.

The investigation
began and they utilized

the assistance of the State
Bureau of Investigation,

and they worked her jointly
right from the beginning.

- [Narrator] The body of
the unknown victim is moved

to the Utah State
Medical Examiner.

- So, the body of a woman
that was discovered,

she had been packaged
in multiple layers

of plastic, duct
tape, tied with robe,

a sleeping bag,
carpet, more rope.

So it was very intricately
wrapped, packaged, layered.

Some interesting
facts about the body

is that the fingertips
had been removed,

you know, postmortem,
after death.

According to the
medical examiner,

the cause of death
was a small caliber,

close contact gunshot wound
to the back of the head.

- When a person is shot
a close range to the head

with any type of bullet,
the effect is going

to be immediate, they will die.

- [Narrator] But that
wasn't the only thing

that they noticed.

(solemn music)

- The body was very
well preserved,

there was really no
trauma to the body

other than the contact wound
at the back of the head,

but it was frozen to the core.

And, you know, April, in
that area of Lake Powell,

it's certainly not cold, she's
not frozen from the elements.

- [Narrator] Authorities
believe that the body

had been stored in some
sort of deep freezer,

large enough for the
body to lie flat.

A typical residential
freezer wouldn't have worked,

it would've had to
have been an industrial

or commercial freezer.

- It's hard to speculate
on why someone would kill

and then freeze a
body, but essentially,

what they've done is
preserve the body.

Freezing slows down
certain aspects of decay,

so it actually assists
us in the autopsy,

especially if it's
been days or weeks.

- So that was pretty unique
circumstances to the body,

and of course that made it
very difficult to identify her.

We knew what she looked like,
but we had no fingerprints

and really no other
way to try to verify

that identity of the victim.

(solemn music)

- [Narrator] In 1998,
fingerprints were
one of the best ways

for investigators to focus
on evidence and clues.

But without that option,
because the fingerprints

were cut off, they looked
to the autopsy for clues.

- Of course, the
victim was taken

to the Utah Medical
Examiner for the autopsy,

the evidence was collected,

taken to Utah State Crime
Lab, looking for fingerprints,

hair, hair follicles.

And again, DNA, it was there,

but it wasn't like it is today.

The evidence didn't
give 'em anything,

they didn't find
any fingerprints,

they didn't find anything
that helped them.

The only known DNA or hair
that they found belonged

to the victim.

- [Narrator] With little
to no evidence or clues

to the body's identity,
police are at a loss

as to whom the killer
could be and where.

(soft determined music)

Authorities are having a
difficult time identifying

the body without fingerprints.

- There are various ways
for a medical examiner

to identify a body.

Usually, fingerprints
are the first way

to identify a person,
but that only works

if their fingerprints have
been previously submitted

to an organization.

If that fails, they could also
use dental records and DNA.

Failing all of that, they could
also use presumptive methods

that won't actually
identify the person,

but will help identify
his physical attributes

in hopes that'll help
others identify that person.

(soft music)

- [Narrator] With few leads
to help identify the victim,

authorities reach out to
the public for assistance.

They describe the body

as having multiple
dental restorations,

freckles on the face,
tattooed eyebrows,

and several small moles,
including a distinctive mole

on her right ear.

She was believed to be
Hispanic or Native American.

- So, they went to the
media, they did, like,

some flyers and posters to
identify the victim who,

effectively, became known
as the Maidenwater victim,

because she was found near
the Maidenwater Springs area.

- [Narrator] With
limited clues to go on,

authorities cast a wide net,
rounding up known criminals

and people in the state
who they think might just

be connected to the
murder of their Jane Doe.

(suspenseful music)

(gentle music)

(suspenseful music)

A couple driving along
a southern Utah highway

spots something peculiar
on the side of the road.

- There were two
people in a vehicle,

it was a husband and
wife, saw something

that caught their
eye, so they stopped

and they discovered
that there was a body.

- [Narrator] Concerned,
they called the authorities.

Authorities in Utah
find an object wrapped

in a sleeping bag; the
deceased body of a female.

The Maidenwater victim, as
the press would describe her,

had been shot in the
head at close range,

and then wrapped and
tied up with rope

in various blankets and carpets.

- Shortly after she
was killed, was frozen.

So that was pretty unique
circumstances to the body,

and of course that made it
very difficult to identify her.

- [Narrator] Another roadblock
in finding the identity

of the Jane Doe and
the killer is where

the murder actually took place.

Was it in the state of
Utah or another state,

and then discarded in Utah?

- It's very difficult with
limited clues and evidence.

It's there, you know it, and
sometimes it's a new approach

that can revive
an investigation.

The key is not to be discouraged
by the lack of evidence,

remaining confident that you
are qualified to work the case,

and determined to solve it.

- [Narrator] Despite having
previously been frozen

and inadvertently preserved,
authorities are no closer

to an ID for the body, as
the fingertips were cut off

at a right angle,
robbing investigators

of one of the quickest
ways to identify a body.

- The evidence was collected,

taken to the Utah State Crime
Lab, looking for fingerprints,

hair, hair follicles.

Again, DNA, it was there, but
it wasn't like it is today,

so when they processed
all of these things,

ultimately the evidence
didn't get 'em anything,

they didn't find
any fingerprints,

they didn't find anything
that helped them.

The only known DNA or hair
that they found belong

to the victim.

- There are many roadblocks
that investigators face

when dealing with
a Jane or John Doe.

Normally, with an
identified body,

you're able to find relatives
and work from there.

You can explore the
victim's entire life;

their work, family,
friends, and their home,

you start to get a good
idea of their habits,

but without an identification,

you can't rely on
any of those things.

You cast a large net in
hopes of catching a lead.

(solemn music)

- [Narrator] Casting a wide
net, authorities roundup

known criminals and
people in the state

who might be connected
to Jane Doe's murder.

Unfortunately, not one of
the 12 suspects were proved

to be connected with Jane Doe.

- They did develop
some potential suspects

in regard to this case, however,
they were all ruled out.

They conducted some interviews,

they executed search warrants,

and ultimately they cannot
tie those individuals,

they really had no
connection to this death.

Working all of those
different angles and aspects

that were known and
available to law enforcement,

at the time, were done,
and they worked it jointly

with the Sheriff's Department

and the State Bureau
of investigation,

but ultimately the lead's
exhausted and it went cold.

- You can view letting
persons of interest go free

a couple of ways.

First off, it's disappointing.

It doesn't matter if
it's one person or 12,

it's frustrating to let
a suspected person go.

However, you also
ruled someone out,

this does help in
the investigation

because the list of
suspects is narrowed down.

- [Narrator] Because the victim
was Hispanic in appearance,

investigators contact
various Catholic diocese

and parishes in Utah,
Colorado, and Mexico,

to see if they are aware
of the missing person

fitting Jane Doe's appearance.

- You really have to follow up
on every lead that comes in.

When there are no leads,
you have to dig deeper

and create different
approaches of investigation.

This is a job that demands
you try everything you can

to find justice
for the deceased.

(solemn music)

- [Narrator] Investigators
are having a difficult time

finding any real
leads in the case.

- There's a certain
protocol to follow

when the investigations
cross state lines.

You have to work with
local authorities

and keep them informed of
your actions and objectives,

this ensures there's
no miscommunication

and everyone is working
towards the same goal.

- They just got to a point
where they exhausted all

of their leads and really had
nowhere else to go with that.

- [Narrator] Another thing
hampering the investigation

is the location of Utah
itself, as it shares borders

with five other states; Idaho
and Wyoming in the north,

Colorado in the east,
Arizona in the south,

and Nevada in the west, as well,

the southeastern
corner touches Arizona,

New Mexico, and Colorado.

- Geography certainly affects

how your investigation
will proceed.

If the location
borders another state,

it's possible your
suspect either came from

or returned there.

When you're in the
middle, like Utah is,

there are so many
directions that a suspect

may have come from
or relocated to.

It's almost like finding
a needle in a haystack,

the killer could be anywhere.

- [Narrator] Investigators
thoroughly reexamine the site

of the murder for
any possible evidence

they may have missed,
but find nothing.

- It's frustrating when
you're vested into something

and you've put all this, you
know, blood, sweat, and tears

into a case, and you done
everything you can do,

everything you can think of,

to have it just go
cold, it's frustrating.

Sometimes it's really
tough to get that news

or to get to that point
where you're stuck.

- [Narrator] Until the year
2000 investigators diligently

work on the case, but
are no closer to finding

the killer or the
body's identity.

- We do get passionate
about what we do.

We want answers, right,
we wanna dig, and dig,

and dig, and dig, and dig.

Looking at the victims,
we want justice for them,

to find out who did this, who
could do something like this?

We wanna hold people
accountable for that,

we want someone to
put handcuffs on.

- [Narrator] Much like
how investigators found

the frozen body, the
case has gone cold.

It now seems unlikely
that this Jane Doe

will find her justice.

(suspenseful music)

(gentle music)

(suspenseful music)

The body of an
unidentified female

was found on the side of
a Southern Utah highway.

- So, the body of a woman
that was discovered,

she had been packaged
in multiple layers

of plastic, duct
tape, tied with rope,

a sleeping bag,
carpet, more rope,

so it was very intricately
wrapped, packaged, layered.

- [Narrator] When authorities
discover the body,

it is extremely cold,
indicating the body was kept

in a freezer for some
time before being left

on the side of the road.

- So, she had been in
some type of a deepfreeze,

you know, in the way
that she was laying,

you know, horizontally, it
would have had to have been

some type of a commercial
freezer or a refrigerated unit

to be frozen, a residential
freezer would not be big enough.

- [Narrator] There are 12 people

that investigators
interview in relation

to the murder of the Jane Doe,

but none of them turn out
to have any connection

to the murder.

The autopsy the medical
examiner performs

confirms the few facts that
investigators are aware of.

Her fingertips were cut off.

- And of course, that
made it very difficult

to identify her.

We knew what she looked like,
but we had no fingerprints

and really no other
way to try to verify

that identity of the victim.

(soft determined music)

- [Narrator] Investigators
continue to work

on finding the identity of
the killer and the Jane Doe,

but have no credible leads.

The case has gone cold.

- They worked this case very
actively for about two years,

and they really did
everything that they could do,

but then the only
known DNA or hair

that they found
belong to the victim.

- [Narrator] The case
stays cold until 2008,

10 years after the
body was discovered,

when there's renewed interest.

- In 2008, a major with the
State Bureau Investigation

determined to open
this case back up

and relook at things,
retest evidence.

It's been 10 years,
let's see if there's

any developments with
evidence in the DNA.

- [Narrator] In 2008, the
Jane Doe case is reopened.

- An investigator was
assigned to the case,

and stuff went back to
the State Crime Lab,

and they tested things again,

for everything that
you could think of.

- It's hard not to
get your hopes up.

There is a renewed optimism
that investigators feel

when a case is reopened.

A lot can change in
the span of 10 years

in all aspects of
an investigation,

from collecting and
detecting evidence

to a memory from someone
that wasn't disclosed before.

Someone looking at a
case with fresh eyes

might be able to see the
thing that was staring them

right in the face.

- [Narrator] Investigators
check different databases

for a possible match
on their Jane Doe.

- DNA databases are becoming
increasingly important

and useful to a case.

It's an opportunity to
compare the DNA of your victim

to DNA across the country.

- [Narrator] Unfortunately,
no matches are found

in the North American missing
person network database,

or other databases
for that matter.

(solemn music)

By 2011, things are looking
bleak for investigators

as every avenue they
have pursued so far
has come up empty.

- There is genuine excitement
when you get a new lead

on an old case.

Officers never forget that
somewhere there is a family

and friends missing a loved one,

you want to be the one to
tell them what happened.

It's discouraging when all
those new leads don't pan out.

- [Narrator] But soon
the cold case is about

to get some promising news.

- The FBI contacted an
investigator of ours,

Sergeant Ryan Van Fleet,

and the special
agent, Johnny Grusing,

with FBI in Denver
contacted him and said,

"Hey, we think there
may be a connection

to your case and your body
to this Scott Kimball."

- [Narrator] For the
first time in 13 years

there was a solid lead
on a possible suspect

in Colorado and the murder
of Jane Doe in Utah.

(anxious music)

It isn't hard to track
down Scott Kimball,

as he was already in custody.

- And Scott Kimball was
currently in custody,

he'd been convicted
of four murders

and was serving a life sentence
for those four murders,

but he was suspected of
other murders, as well.

- [Narrator] Including
the Maidenwater victim.

The onetime FBI
informant, Scott Kimball,

was sentenced to prison in
2009 for the four murders.

He also tried to escape
from prison in 2017,

so authorities were
familiar with his name.

- Several things pointed
toward Scott Kimball:

his victims, the way that
some of them were killed,

tied up, packaged, discarded,
where they were discarded.

Two of his victims
were discarded in Utah,

rural Utah, in general
area and general type

as our Maidenwater victim.

One of his victims, his uncle,

Terry Kimball, was
killed in Colorado,

was also wrapped in some
plastic and bound with rope.

And looking at the knots
the uncle was bound with

were very similar to
the knots of our victim.

(suspenseful music)

(gentle music)

(suspenseful music)

- [Narrator] The
unidentified body of a woman

is found along a Utah highway,

wrapped up and tied with rope.

There is little evidence
available to identify the body,

as the killer had cut
off the fingertips.

Authorities hope that
sharing a picture of Jane Doe

on local newscasts will
bring some new leads.

They end up
interviewing 12 people,

but unfortunately none
of them can be connected

to the murder.

Investigators work the
case for two years,

but are unable to find
the identity of Jane Doe

or who her murderer is.

The case goes cold.

But then, in 2017,
there's hope, once again,

for the Maidenwater victim.

- So, the FBI contacted
an investigator of ours,

Sergeant Ryan Van Fleet,

and the special agent,
Johnny Grusing, with FBI

in Denver contacted
him and said,

"Hey, we think there
may be a connection

to your case and your body
to this Scott Kimball."

- [Narrator] It isn't hard
to track down Scott Kimball,

as he was already in custody.

- And Scott Kimball was
currently in custody,

had been convicted
of four murders.

One of his victims, his
uncle, was also wrapped

in some plastic and
bound with rope.

And looking at the knots
the uncle was bound with,

were very similar to
the knots of our victim.

- [Narrator] One focus
of the investigators

was the ropes and knots used

in the Maidenwater victim's case

and the cases that Scott
Kimball had been sentenced for.

- So, actually, the FBI
recommended a knot expert,

who could take those knots
and analyze them, and we did.

So that's kinda pending, right,
and that takes some time.

So those ropes become
kinda significant that way.

- [Narrator] Scott
Kimball is questioned

about his possible
involvement in the case

of the Maidenwater victim.

- It was a very interesting
interview, as you can imagine.

We talk about a lot of things
in regard to this case.

The reason we're here,
Scott, is we've been working,

and we've had some
information coming up

on a cold case homicide
outta Utah, it was from 1998.

Maidenwater, Ticaboo area.

- Let's be honest, if you
had any physical evidence

on any crime, you
would arrest me.

If you had fingerprints,
if you had DNA,

if you had a witness, if
you had any of those things,

you would arrest me, but
you can't have those,

because it wasn't there.

- Ultimately, he wouldn't
make any admissions

or statements about it,
and claimed he didn't

know anything about
it, and that before,

he was just playing games
with law enforcement

when he was implying he had
knowledge or involvement.

- I knew that if I was gonna
claim responsibility for things

that I didn't do, I'd have
to have information about it.

It was a way to get out
of the situation I was in.

It was a way to get attention.

It was a way to get a whole
different things, and so.

In the end, he won, he got
me back in this place, so.

- It was a control thing,

he likes to manipulate
and control.

So, he didn't admit to anything,

but it didn't necessarily
rule him out for us.

- [Narrator] Investigators
finally get the results back

from the rope examination,
and it's not good news.

- Ultimately, the
results of the rope

more or less were inconclusive,

more or less it didn't help
us to tie it to Scott Kimball.

- [Narrator] In
2018, authorities
agreed to participate

in an episode of the
program "Dateline",

which will focus
on Scott Kimball.

Investigators we're hoping
the two-hour episode

would bring in new
clues and leads

because it is shown
all over North America.

- And at this point,
like, they felt like,

"Well, why not?

Let's do an episode on
Kimball with a tie-in

to the Maidenwater case
and see what we get."

So that does happen,
and "Dateline" does

a two-hour episode
on Scott Kimball,

which is very interesting
when you watch that.

We do a tie-in to our
case here in Utah.

My hope was to get some
tips, some leads from this.

So it goes out, and
"Dateline's" a big,

obviously, national program.

- [Narrator] Despite the
high hopes investigators had

for the show, after the
episode airs, no tips came in.

(soft music)

Investigators are disheartened
that no new leads came up

after the episode.

Weeks later, they send
out a media release

to local news stations.

- So, we wait a couple weeks
and we do a local media release

with what we had to,
again, draw attention back

to this case and to this
victim, still not identified.

The photo of the victim's
face that we had,

it was a picture the
medical examiner had taken,

was just of her face, it
wasn't gory or graphic,

had never really been
released to the public.

And we decided, well,
let's, you know,

try and release sketches,
and it's not the same,

let's release her photo and see

if anybody recognizes
her, so we do.

We do this media
release, and this is now

on September of 2018.

- [Narrator] Finally,
investigators get a real tip.

A woman from California
is doing her own research

on the Jane Doe case and
finds something interesting

in the NamUs database.

(suspenseful music)

- The NamUs is a
national database managed

by, ultimately, U.S. DOJ,
Department of Justice.

And it's for missing,
unidentified people,

you know, unidentified
and unsolved murders.

She had been entered into NamUs,

the Maidenwater
victim, since 1998.

- [Narrator] This is one of
the first cases from Utah

that was entered
into the database.

- Initially, I get this tip from

this female in California
stating that she

had seen our photograph, and
then a photograph in NamUs

that had been released from
Youngstown Police Department

in Ohio of a missing
person from 1998.

She's been in NamUs
this whole time,

why had this connection
never been made?

Why had we not made
this connection?

We quickly determined
why that was the case.

Because a detective
in Youngstown, Ohio,

David Sweeney, was working
on cold cases, as well.

He was taken upon
himself to update

some other cold cases,
missing persons.

One of the case he looks
at is this missing person

from Ohio from 1998.

Her name was Lina Reyes-Geddes.

- [Narrator] The amateur
sleuth from California

had noticed a mole
on the upper arch

of the slain woman's ear in
the picture from the database.

- One of the things in
particular was a mole

that was in our victim,
the upper right ear.

In the ICE photograph
it just so happens

that they had them turn
their head to the left,

and you can see a right ear,
you can see a mole in her ear.

And our photograph
that we released,

you couldn't see that.

We knew it was there.

But in seeing that mole, it
looked very promising for us.

So, there's a good chance
that this is our victim.

- [Narrator] Because of Jane
Doe's ethnic Mexican heritage,

a media release goes out
specifically to Texas

and Mexican communities,
looking for anyone

with information
on the deceased.

- And a few days later,
we get a phone call

from a woman in Mexico,
saying that she thinks

this is her sister.

(Lucero speaking in
foreign language)

(tense music)

- [Narrator] Investigators
are confident

that this woman who lives
in Mexico is related,

but need a DNA sample to
confirm the connection.

- The way it works is the
swab collects sample cells

from inside your cheek,
which contain DNA information

in the form of buccal
epithelial cells.

Buccal sample swabs
are generally preferred
by those looking

for DNA testing, because
they are far less invasive

than a blood test.

(bright music)

- [Narrator] The woman, Lucero
Reyes, travels from her home

in San Luis Potosi,
more than 300 miles,

to the US consulate
in Monterey, Mexico.

This was the safest
location to obtain the swab.

- Where we have DNA from
the medical examiner,

we have a private lab,
Sorenson Forensics,

that we had employed,
that they we're gonna do

the comparison for us.

And we get it all
to Sorenson lab

and within, it was five
days, which is very fast

for this process to take,

we get an answer that
would confirm that, yes,

the DNA that we'd
obtained from her sister

and niece, it was
a familial match.

- [Narrator] Authorities
now had scientific proof

of who the victim was;
Lina Reyes-Geddes.

Now they have to focus
on who the killer was,

and that brings them
back to the rope

that was used to tie Lina up.

The rope that was
used in the murder

is packaged and sent
to a CSI investigator.

- Well, there's a woman,
her name's Francine Bardole,

she works for West
Jordan Police Department,

she's a CSI investigator.

They have something
called the M-Vac system,

it's an evidence
collection method.

So she tells me
about about M-Vac,

and that maybe we could M-Vac
this evidence, like the rope.

- So, basically, the
way the M-Vac works

is just like a carpet cleaner.

So, if you think of a
medical-grade carpet cleaner,

where it sprays a solution
and vacuums at the same time.

So, it creates like a
little mini hurricane down

on the surface, where
the turbulence between

the spray and the
vacuum pressure create
enough turbulence

that whatever DNA
material is down there,

it can be collected up
into a sterile bottle,

and then that bottle
and all the liquid

are separated through
a filtration process,

and ultimately the
filter and the DNA

is what's sent to the
lab, and they process it

much the same way that
they would a swab.

- [Narrator] The M-Vac
process turns out

to be more reliable than a swab.

- So, when comparing
a M-Vac to a swab,

a lot of times it's
kind of night and day,

because, usually,
when the swab is used,

there's so much DNA material
there that it's visible;

a blood spatter, a semen
stain, something like that.

Where there's so much DNA there

that swabbing works just fine.

Where you start getting
into the applications

where we highly
suggest the M-Vac

is a really applicable tool,
is more in the touch DNA,

or trace DNA, or degraded DNA,

places where the swab
physically can't get

into the nooks and
crannies, where the solution

and the vacuum pressure
of the M-Vac can.

- [Narrator] Eventually,
investigators get

some promising news
back from the lab.

- We know from the
initial quant of the rope

we had 117 nanograms
of DNA from the rope.

And from that
quant, we knew that

of that 117 nanograms
91% of it was male DNA.

So we were like, wow.

Like, we've gone from
zero to a lot of male DNA

on this rope, so we are
very excited about that.

- [Narrator] Around
the same time,

now that they have
a definite name,

investigators are looking into

the family connections of Lina.

Early reports back
from the lab indicate

that the DNA belongs to a male,

so they focus on the
males in Lina's life.

But there's a problem,
there are two DNA samples

on the rope.

Is one of them the
killer or both?

- Well, the M-Vac's gonna
collect whatever DNA is there,

just like the
swab, but the M-Vac

is just gonna collect more.

The fact that there
were a DNA profile,

and even multiple DNA profiles,

that's just one cog
in the wheel, you now?

All DNA is, is information
that the detectives

can then use to further the case

and further the investigations.

- The problem that
it presented to us

was now we have an unknown
male DNA profile on the rope.

We don't know who that is.

- [Narrator] Investigators
finally get a break in a case

that's been cold for decades,

but the case isn't solved
until they figure out

who the two sets of
male DNA belong to.

(suspenseful music)

(suspenseful music)

(brooding music)

It took 20 years to identify
the body of Lina Reyes-Geddes,

who was murdered
in Utah in 1998.

It's taken another four
years for investigators

to get a suspect.

They are closer than ever.

- So, investigators at all
levels have to be super careful

about depositing their DNA.

You know, it goes all
the way back to when DNA

was first coming on to
the forensics market,

and the forensics scene,
where they started finding

a certain profile
all over the country,

and they realize
that it was the lady

at the packing plant
that was packing

the swabs without using
gloves or whatever,

but her DNA was showing up
at all these crime scenes.

Well, every investigator,
anybody that ever
handles evidence

or is even anywhere
close to evidence,

especially as sensitive
as as the DNA is now,

even having a conversation
over the top of evidence,

you can be contaminating
that evidence

with your breath.

So to handle evidence without
gloves or without a mask,

nowadays you just can't do it,

because your DNA's
gonna end up there.

So, the last thing
we as a company,

as M-Vac Systems, ever want
is to have our DNA show up

at a crime scene.

- [Narrator] Eventually, the
lab is able to rule out one

of the DNA samples.

It was from a knot expert
that previously worked

on the case.

Police have to find out who
this final DNA belongs to.

There's a person who's
been previously interviewed

on Lina Geddes disappearance,
but not her murder.

Could it have been
him this whole time?

(tense music)

Edward Geddes was born in 1935
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

He met Lina in
1996 in New Mexico,

and they were quickly married.

It turns out that Edward had
previously been interviewed

by Youngstown police
shortly after Lina

went missing in 1998.

- I have not told
you this before

because it didn't come to mind.

She got up pretty
early that morning.

I can tell you what
underpants and bra she had on.

It was white cotton
with pictures of apples,

and maybe bananas on it, okay?

Little pictures like this,
the size of a nickel.

- So, in the interview he
talks about that morning,

he'd taken her to the
Pittsburgh Airport,

dropped her off, that she was
gonna fly to Laredo, Texas,

and then take a bus into Mexico.

That was his story.

- [Narrator] Geddes
claims that Lina paid cash

for everything.

- [Detective] Did she
pay for the ticket?

How did she pay for-

- She was gonna pay cash for
the ticket at the airport.

- [Narrator] That's why they
couldn't find any records

of this trip.

He later claims that Lina was
packing a blue sleeping bag

as a gift for when she
saw her family in Mexico.

- She has packed a sleeping bag,

and I had rolled that son of
a bitch up tight. (chuckles)

That's an (speaks faintly)
to carry it with her,

but it was gonna be a
present for (speaks faintly).

- It's interesting that
the comment that he makes

in that regard to that sleeping
bag is he's talking about,

"Yeah, I helped her
take (indistinct).

I took that sleeping bag"
and this is, I'm quoting him,

he said, "I wrapped
that son of a uptight."

I find that just that statement

really, like, hit
us like, wow, like.

And the sleeping bag
that he's describing,

he describes the sleeping bag
that she was found in, right.

- [Narrator] Further
investigation into Edward's life

reveal a disturbed man.

A TV news reporter, in 1998,

was investigating
Lina's disappearance

and heard from people
that knew Edward.

- She had people come forward
that he was a sexual deviant,

he was manipulative,
controlling, abusive.

A neighbor had seen him
hauling out something

to his vehicle that looked
like it may have been

a body wrapped in carpet.

All these things, and
she was like, "Wow."

- [Narrator] The news
station, however,

never ran the story and
suspicions about Edward faded,

But now, they had
to find Edward,

which would prove
easier than expected.

He died by suicide in
2001 in Reno, Nevada.

(determined music)

With one DNA sample
retrieved from the rope

with the M-Vac system,
now they had to verify

that it was Edward's.

- We're getting DNA from family
members of Edward Geddes,

and all this takes time.

We've now collected two...

There's two of the three
samples that we've collected

for family members.

There's a third we're waiting on

that wouldn't give
it to us by consent.

- [Narrator] Authorities
struggle to get a search warrant

for the third DNA sample,
but they eventually

do get the sample.

- Now we know the
only DNA on that rope

was that of Edward Geddes.

And given the totality of
everything that we know

about Edward and
this whole situation,

we feel very confident,
and then had,

if Edward Geddes were
still alive today,

we would pursue, you
know, murder charges

of murder against him.

- It leaves an empty feeling
when the murderer dies

before you can get to them.

You desperately want
justice for the family.

They want to know why it
happened to their loved one,

but unfortunately it's
an answer we can't give.

- [Narrator] Investigators
can only speculate

as to why Edward placed the
body of his wife in Utah.

Possibly, because he had
no ties to the state.

- You look at these
circumstances,

she was clearly tied
up with that rope,

clearly after death and
after multiple layers

of plastic and duct tape.

And the quantity of DNA
on that rope lends to,

you know, the theory
is that he was the one

that was tying those
knots, handling that rope.

- [Narrator] The case of who
murdered Lina Reyes-Geddes

is now solved and
will be taken out of

the cold case room
24 years later.

- I mean, certainly
not what you call,

I guess, any justice
in that regard,

but it's the best we're
gonna get in this life.

- Well, I've met with a
lot of victims' families,

as well as detectives and
crime scene investigators,

lab personnel, that they're
so emotionally invested,

as well as just doing their
job, but at the same time,

being able to help
them help the victim

and the victim's families,
just, it's so fulfilling,

it's impossible to describe.

- That was amazing,
that was incredible,

something I've never
experienced before,

and it made all the
hard times worth it.

All the frustrations,
all the dead-ends,

all the, no, no, no, no, no,

all the times you strike
out, made it all worth it.

And it gives you, let's
keep doing this, you know?

It's, you have to try and
you have to give every ounce

of justice that we
can in this world

to the victims of the family
and to the perpetrators.

And I feel, to this point,
it does, it feels amazing.

(suspenseful music)