Ep 15. The Telltale Marks

Forensic Files II season 3 episode 15, "The Telltale Marks," follows the investigation into the murder of a young woman named Mandy Stavik. Mandy was out for a run near her home in Washington state when she was abducted, raped, and drowned in a nearby river. The crime went unsolved for nearly 30 years until new forensic techniques were able to link DNA evidence to a suspect.

The episode begins with Mandy's mother, Mary Stavik, recounting the day of her daughter's disappearance and the subsequent search efforts. The community was in shock and everyone came together to look for Mandy. Mary describes the horror of finding her daughter's body in the river and the devastation that followed.

The investigation into Mandy's murder began with the discovery of a pair of men's underwear near where her body was found. The underwear contained semen, but police were unable to make a DNA match at the time. They collected genetic material from hundreds of men in the area, but none of the samples matched the DNA found on the underwear.

Years went by without any leads in the case, until in 2009, a new forensic technique called genetic genealogy was used to solve a different cold case. Genetic genealogy compares DNA evidence found at a crime scene to public DNA databases, looking for matches to relatives of the suspect. Using this technique, investigators were able to identify a man named Timothy Bass as a potential suspect in Mandy's murder.

Investigators then obtained a sample of Bass's DNA and were able to match it to the semen found on the underwear near Mandy's body. Bass was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

The episode goes into detail about the forensic evidence gathered during the investigation and how it led to Bass's conviction. This included bite mark analysis, which matched Bass's teeth to bite marks on Mandy's body, and the discovery of telltale marks on Bass's boots that were consistent with the marks found at the scene where Mandy was abducted.

"The Telltale Marks" is a gripping episode that highlights the power of new forensic techniques in solving cold cases. It also offers a glimpse into the devastating impact that violent crimes can have on communities and families.