The FBI Files

It's a model's job to rivet the public's attention. But in 1984, some aspiring models began attracting publicity in a terrible new way.

When three people were found murdered in their home, it appeared like a burglary gone awry. But a crime this horrific deserved a closer look.

He was a predator, abducting girls and young women from their own front yards in broad daylight. He was a sadist: phoning one victim's family, taunting them, boosting then dashing their hope.

A mother and child are kidnapped a bystander is murdered. Violence such as this shattered a quiet Texas neighborhood and exposed a drug cartel that flourished where it was least expected.

She appeared on the highway in the spring, a young woman, her life cut short, her past and her identity a mystery. Only by finding out who she was could we ever hope to find her killer.

In the 1970's and '80s, people went to Alaska looking for a fresh start, to reinvent themselves, or to disappear for a while. Some of those disappearances weren't by choice.

On Mississippi's Gulf Coast, a Judge and his politician wife are murdered in their home. The killer left few clues. It looked like a professional hit, and the investigation led nowhere.

In a city awash in narcotics the drug lords have all the power. Corruption in New Orleans grew, eating away at public safety and threatening to destroy the city.

The small community of Noel, Missouri was shocked when their bank was robbed and the bank president went missing. When clues began to surface the facts were worse than anyone could have guessed.

They swept through six states like a plague, thrill killers acting without rhyme or reason. They targeted adults and young girls, kidnapping, and murdering.

A woman and her infant son vanish. The husband is frantic. The clues are scarce, but hopes linger, even as the hours and days tick by without a word. Was she on the run, or the victim of foul play?

Willow Springs, Illinois, seemed like any other quiet community. But it was really one of the most corrupt places in the nation. This tiny village was in the hip pocket of organized crime.

In Miami, a gang of robbers targeted banks and armored cars. They carried assault weapons and weren't afraid to use them. They struck sometimes twice a day. For awhile, they seemed unstoppable.

Beginning in 1990, Europe found itself in the clutches of a serial killer. He became an international outlaw, hopping from country to country to evade capture and to kill again.

When a sniper in Utah started targeting African-American men for death, authorities launched a massive investigation. With scant clues and no witnesses they found the odds stacked against them.

When a family was murdered in Arkansas, it seemed like an isolated event. But soon the crime was revealed to be part of a widening circle of violence that defined a new age of domestic terrorism.

In 1995, our nation's capital was also our nation's murder capital. Even the police weren't safe. While Washington, DC, law enforcement targeted criminals, the criminals targeted law enforcement.

In Buffalo, New York, a sniper targeted African-American men. He held a city hostage, and threatened to ignite a racial powder keg. And it looked like others might be following his bloody example.