Explore every episode of the podcast America's Crime Lab

Nearly 50 years after Carla Walker’s murder, Fort Worth detectives decide to reopen the case. In Part 2, host Elin Lantz Lesser and producer Catherine Fenollosa trace how a persistent cold case investigator begins to reexamine the original evidence, and why a single swab becomes central to the new forensic effort.

With help from Paul Holes and the scientists at Othram, the DNA evidence starts to speak for itself.

America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters.

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Carla Walker’s brazen abduction after her high school Valentine’s dance shocked Fort Worth. The case went cold for decades. In Part 1, host Elin Lantz Lesser and producer Catherine Fenollosa walk through the early investigation, and why suspicion turned toward Carla’s boyfriend.

This cold case is where our story begins. Using forensic genealogy and DNA evidence, detectives and scientists from Othram begin to reexamine what was left behind.

America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Introducing the new podcast America’s Crime Lab. Each week, we meet weary detectives and family members as we run through an unsolved case that wrecked a community and seemingly hit a dead end… until, in a last-ditch effort, the evidence is mailed to Othram.

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In Part 3 of our Carla Walker investigation, a decades-old DNA sample is reexamined at Othram’s lab, leading to a breakthrough. Host Elin Lantz Lesser and producer Catherine Fenollosa walk us through the science behind the profile, the chain of custody, and the unexpected match that emerges from the database.

After 46 years, this cold case finally has a viable lead.

America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the final chapter of Carla Walker’s story, detectives sit down with their prime suspect. What follows is a slow, tense interrogation, and a long-delayed confession.

Host Elin Lantz Lesser and producer Catherine Fenollosa bring together the science, the interrogation, and the moment this cold case finally turns.

America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Emergency crews responding to a boat fire discovered human remains, but the case quickly went cold. For decades, investigators had no answers. Using advanced forensic DNA, Othram scientists were able to identify the victim and reveal the truth behind the fire, finally giving a family long-delayed closure.

America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1959, nine-year-old Candy Rogers went missing while selling mints in Spokane, Washington. The city mounted one of the largest missing persons searches in state history, yet the case remained unsolved for more than 60 years. This episode traces the start of a mystery investigators called the “Mount Everest” of cold cases, one that DNA would eventually help crack.

America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The search for nine-year-old Candy Rogers haunted Spokane for generations. Could the killer’s family hold the final clue to solving the case? And just how far would detectives need to dig for the truth?

After decades with no answers, forensic DNA revealed her killer and solved one of America’s most enduring missing persons cases. In part two, we follow how modern science cracked a 62-year unsolved case, delivering justice and closure to one of the nation’s most haunting cold cases.

America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Young gay men begin disappearing from downtown Indianapolis. One by one, missing persons fliers go up, and rumors spread about a serial killer. Families are frustrated by a lackluster investigation. And then a killing field is discovered in a shocking location.

America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nearly thirty years after gay men go missing from nightclubs in Indianapolis, one man’s call to the new coroner in town sets off an investigation into what happened at Fox Hollow. Now, there’s a desperate push to excavate the remains of dozens of suspected murder victims whose bodies were burned and crushed beyond recognition.

America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The brutal murders of four University of Idaho students in Moscow stunned the college town and launched a nationwide search for answers. Detectives uncovered a crucial piece of DNA evidence at the crime scene. But with the clock ticking, would it be enough to identify the killer and solve one of the most shocking campus crimes in recent history?

America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered in their Moscow home, investigators faced a nightmare. DNA evidence from the crime scene pointed nowhere, leaving the case cold. Detectives turned to a surviving roommate’s eyewitness account and cutting-edge forensic DNA technology to generate new leads in real time. Could this breakthrough uncover the truth about one of the most shocking college murders in recent history?

America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Weeks after the violent murders of four University of Idaho students, investigators followed a trail of DNA evidence from Moscow to Pennsylvania. A midnight police stakeout tied a graduate student to the brutal stabbings. Now the question remains: will the victims’ families finally see justice in court?

America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Atlanta, the brutal rape and double homicide of siblings left detectives with plenty of evidence but no suspect. For years, the case went cold. Then, a violent crime in Michigan revealed new DNA leads that could finally identify the killer, and deliver long-awaited justice for the Sumpter family while their mother is still alive to see it.

America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Illinois, a DIY home renovation uncovered a human skull hidden inside a wall. When the case went cold, the remains sat for decades on a museum office shelf, forgotten and unidentified. Years later, a staffer’s rediscovery gave investigators a second chance. Using forensic DNA technology, they finally uncovered the identity of Esther Granger, and the mystery of how her skull ended up in a family home.

America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A little girl is kidnapped from her grandmother’s yard. Her family searches for decades, hoping to find her. 62 years later, detectives call with information. But it’s not what anyone expected. 

America’s Crime Lab is a true crime podcast about how science solves cold cases, missing persons, and other unsolved cases. Hosted by journalist and clinical psychologist Elin Lantz Lesser, and powered by Othram’s forensic DNA lab, the show connects the science to the story, revealing what really happens in the lab and why it matters.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.