Every season of Cold Case Files ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best seasons of Cold Case Files!

Halloween in a small town is cancelled indefinitely when a young girl is kidnapped and killed on her way home from a costume party.

Little Girl Lost

The death of an elderly couple, Edward "Ed" and Wilhelmina "Minnie" Maurin Ed in Washington state on Christmas Eve 1985.

Killings on Christmas Eve

The case of a gruesome stabbing death of a bullied teenager remains unsolved for 27 years.

She Never Came Home

A killer authors a book about his con-man past that becomes the key to solving a 29-year-old cold case of two high school sweethearts--and three other cold case murders--leading police to believe he could be the Zodiac Killer.

Sweethearts, Silenced

College student Brad Perry shows up to work his graveyard shift at the gas station and is never seen alive again.

The Night Shift

The longest running cold case of a law enforcement officer in the United States was the murder of Sheriff's Lt. Joe Clark.

Officer Down

When 18-year-old Shannon Siders' body is found in the woods, everyone in the small town of Newaygo, Michigan, becomes a suspect--but no one is convicted of the crime.

Circle of Friends

Ten years after a 17-year-old girl is found strangled in the woods in small-town Kentucky, detectives uncover a terrible family secret.

A Family Secret

One family faces two unsolved murders of loved ones and authorities finally uncover the missing clue that leads to solve the case 13 years after the murders occurred.

A Family Cursed

Two decades after a close-knit family's loving aunt is stabbed in her home, detectives return to the crime scene and discover a pivotal clue hidden in plain view.

A Killer Slips Away

When 31-year-old real estate appraiser Mike Williams mysteriously vanishes while duck hunting in the Florida swamps in December of 2000, authorities suspect he accidentally drowned. For sixteen years Mike’s disappearance remains a mystery. The case heats up when police receive a distress call from the victim’s wife in 2016. Featuring interviews with detectives and the victim’s mother as well as rare footage of the crime scene and recorded audio confessions with the accused, the episode explores how the disappearance unfolded into a sinister plot to cash in on millions of dollars of life insurance.

The Voice in the Lake

When 36-year-old computer programmer Lisa Valdez fails to show up for work, her apartment manager finds her brutally murdered in her tiny studio. Her body is riddled with stab wounds, the walls are covered in blood. Evidence shows the killer cut off her long, dark hair, taking it as an apparent trophy. Detectives ask, could she be the victim of a brutal serial killer? Or was Lisa murdered by someone she knew? Clues left on an answering machine point to a co-worker who was known to have feelings for Lisa, but two bloody fingerprints left on a toilet seat clear him as a suspect, and the case goes cold for thirteen years. Things heat up when a detective gets a hit during a search of the state's DNA database, leading to an unsuspected person from Lisa's past.

Devil at the Door

When Sherry Leighty goes missing in 1999, her family is left wondering how a dedicated mother of three could vanish without a trace. A decade later, the cold case heats up when Sherry's sister launches a social media campaign to help solve her sister's mysterious disappearance. An online tip unearths the killer truth and a sinister family secret. Featuring an interview with Shelly Leighty, who never gave up on solving her sister's case, along with rare home video of Sherry and her family.

Missing in Altoona

Twenty-six years after a schoolteacher's murder, cold-case detectives get a break when a relative of the killer uploads DNA to a public genealogy website.

The School Teacher

The Heartland Killer

The Devil in Disguise

Love and Hate

On a bitter morning in 1980, radio intern Helene Pruszynski is found brutalized in a snowy field. After 37 years of fruitless leads, investigators tap into a public genealogy website that leads them across the country to the killer they've been hunting.

Ice Cold in Denver

Easter Sunday of 1992, the body of missing woman Lisa Ziegert is found in a field. The investigation yields hundreds of leads but no true suspect. After more than two decades on ice, the case is revived when DNA phenotyping puts a face to the killer.

Murder by Moonlight

Just after the last day of school in 1984, 15-year-old Reesa Trexler is found murdered in her grandparents' home. For decades, a stalled investigation only fuels the town rumor mill, pointing an accusing finger at Reesa's 13-year-old sister, Jodie.

Suspicious Minds

When a beloved schoolteacher is found murdered in her Neptune, New Jersey apartment in the fall of 2009, suspicion is cast on her soon to be ex-husband. Long after the case goes cold, a detective embarks on a mission to help the man clear his name and track down the real killers.

A Lesson in Homicide

In August 1972, the body of Jody Loomis is found in the woods. 34 years later, the killer's DNA is recovered from Jody's old clothing but it isn't matched until 2018, when genetic genealogy helps point to one suspect--whose guilt must be proven in court.

Woman in the Woods

On February 2, 2010, two masked gunmen commit a violent robbery and shoot Michael Temple Jr., rendering him a quadriplegic for five years before his death. In this unusual cold case, DNA from a knife is used to create a sketch of the killer.

Eyes of a Killer

13 days after Pam Pitts disappears in 1988 her charred body is found at a popular hangout spot in the Arizona desert. When a second victim is discovered in a mineshaft, detectives suspect the killer may have known them both, but the truth is decades away.

Dark Angel

In late 1983, the bodies of five people abducted from a local fast food restaurant are found brutally murdered in an oil field. The main suspect is long believed to be a well-connected local man, until new evidence reveals the true killers.

Friday Night Ghosts

When 23-year-old Tonya McKinley is found brutally murdered on New Years Day 1985, a little boy is left motherless. A family must wait 35 years for advancements in forensic science to finally catch a killer using familial DNA.

The Clock Strikes Murder

In March 1984, Jack Kennedy discovers his daughters brutally murdered. Their mother and niece spend their lives keeping the case alive. DNA leads nowhere. Thirty years later, an informant gives up a name. But the family's ordeal is far from over.

Sisters In Death

The murder of Tiffany Johnston rocks the town of Bethany, Oklahoma. DNA points to her killer over a decade later.

One Tough Mother

Written in Blood

Cold Ashes

Queen of the Ozarks

In December 1985, when human bones are discovered in the woods, it puts an end to the search for missing teen David Reed. David's skull fractures point to murder; but it will be decades before investigators can find his killer.

The Bone Keeper

When Gary Parks is killed in a fire-ruled arson, the investigation into his death shifts to homicide.

A is for Arson

Just two years into their marriage, Chuck and Cheryl Hall are torn apart when Cheryl is murdered. Though Cheryl's family is certain they know her killer, the law isn't as sure. After several decades, a DNA match erases all doubt.

Til Death Do Us Part

Janie Landers disappeared in 1979 from the home for the impaired and later on, her body was found. It took years before the suspect was found and the horrors in the facility are uncovered.

The Lost Patient

A woman's promise to bring her missing aunt back home unexpectedly took a lifetime.

Missing and Murdered

In early 1984, three-year-old Vanessa Bennett becomes the lone survivor of her family's brutal murder. Initial investigators suspect a serial killer is at large, but decades pass before DNA narrows the suspect pool to one man.

Lone Survivor

After a young mother's death in 1988 goes unsolved, her older sister promises to solve the crime, no matter how long it takes, so she sets about on a quest for answers to determine who killed the victim in her own home and why.

Killer in the Storm

Landlord Bruce Blackwood disappears without a trace in March 2006. Though there is no body, the NYPD is sure this is a homicide and they, along with Bruce's brother Ed, spend the next 9 years searching for answers and a killer.

Gone in a New York Minute

In September 1974 in Ohio, 15-year-old Lori Nesson disappeared while walking home from a high school football game after-party. Her naked body is found in a ditch the next day yet is ruled undetermined natural causes. The search for her killer finally begins when the cause of death is changed to homicide 40 years later.

Murder in the Midwest

A fire in January 2007 in Canton, OH, claims the life of WWII vet Bennie Angelo; a closer look at the crime scene reveals Bennie was dead before the fire, bumping an arson case up to homicide.

Death of a Hero?

When a 30-year-old mother fails to report for duty in Virginia, the Army lists her as AWOL. Her family immediately suspect foul play. They embark on a 13-year quest for answers before an eyewitness blows the case wide open.

Vanished in Virginia

When 13-year-old Jennifer Bastian is abducted and murdered in August of 1986, residents of Tacoma panic. This is the second young girl killed in five months. Convinced a predator is loose, police embark on a 32-year inquiry.

Taken in Tacoma

In 1977, Florida nurse Deborah Clark, 23, is found brutally slain in her home; detectives unearth an affair, a jilted wife, and a web of money and power, but no true suspect. It will take 40 years and advanced DNA testing to expose her killer.

Money Moguls and Murder

When beloved mother and sister Janora Stevens is found brutally stabbed in her Tulsa, OK, home, her family is bitterly divided and increasingly suspicious of each other. The case chills until a trail of tell-tale fibers leads cops to her killer.

Death of a Baseball Mom

When 19-year-old Tara Sidarovich goes missing from her Punta Gorda home, Florida police consider her a runaway; then her body turns up in a swamp. Shocking prison recordings will send detectives on a nationwide hunt for her killer.

Good Girl Gone

When night manager Rodney Castlin is gunned down in the lobby of his hotel three weeks before Christmas, detectives scour Georgia for his killer. Two decades pass before an informant's shocking testimony breaks the case wide open.

A Bullet to the Heart

A 2007 cold case resurfaces when a detective reopens the investigation into the brutal killing of Audrey Giannotti, 20, in rural Pennsylvania. Uncovering hidden secrets, he races against time to bring justice to a family desperate for answers.

The Smoking Gun

When Susan Schwarz is found shot to death in her apartment in 1979, police suspect a robbery gone wrong. Thirty-two years pass before a witness reveals a much darker motive that breaks the case wide open and leads to Susan's killer.

Viciously Murdered

A massive search unfolds in Chandler, OK, when two women and a child go missing from a Walmart parking lot in 1992. It will take 23 years and a tip from an unlikely source to piece together a heinous plot of misdirection and murder.

Sooner State Nightmare

When the body of a woman turns up in a field in Huntington Beach, CA in 1968, police simultaneously seek a killer and the identity of the victim herself. It takes 52 years for detectives to solve this dual mystery and expose a vicious predator.

Evil in Huntington Beach

When 34-year-old Freddie Farah is gunned down in his Florida grocery store, police urgently seek his killer. Decades later, Farah's son will have a chance encounter with a cold case detective which brings the case back to life and exposes a killer.

Who Killed My Father

The quiet town of Redding, CA, is rocked by the disappearance of Frank McAlister, a teen with a recent cash windfall who leaves only a blood-stained car behind. 25 years will pass before someone makes a stunning on-air confession.

A Killer Confession

In 2002, Chris Green, 19, is found beaten to death in a ditch in Michigan. The case remains cold for nearly a decade until investigators uncover a suspect whose incriminating statements blow the case wide open.

Blood Red Snow

The 1964 murder of 9-year-old Marise Chiverella leaves the town of Hazelton, PA, in fear; an intense manhunt yields numerous suspects but no killer. Five decades pass before a student moonlighting as a genetic genealogist reignites the case.

Damn His Soul to Hell

When 8-year-old April Tinsley is found dead in a Fort Wayne, IN, ditch the community is shaken. Disturbing letters then appear, penned by her killer. Police scramble to catch April's murderer before he strikes again.

The Evil Among Us

When 81-year-old Helen Gale is found in her burned-out car, investigators in Southfield, MI, wonder who would murder this pillar of the community. It will be eight years before a blown alibi brings them face-to face with her killer.

No Known Enemies

When 37-year-old Lee Rotatori is found dead in her hotel room in 1982, police suspect the work of a professional. It will take four decades to identify her killer and, in the process, reveal a shocking truth.

Contracted to Kill

Dawn Koons, an 18-year-old model with dreams of making it big in California. Her family back in Yonkers had their concerns about her move, fearing that she might be making a mistake. Unfortunately, their worries would soon turn into heartbreak.

A Dawn to Remember

When nine-year-old Campfire Girl, Candy Rogers turns up dead after selling mints door-to-door, Spokane detectives launch a dogged campaign find her killer. What follows is one of the longest cold case investigations in Washington State history.

The Campfire Mint Murder

There are over 100,000 cold cases in America, and only about 1% are ever solved. With recent advancements in technology and the methods used to solve these cases, as well as the unwavering dedication of victims’ families, law enforcement and the public, “Cold Case Files” explores the cases that defied the odds.

Each episode of the Emmy-nominated series examines the twists and turns of one murder case that remained unsolved for years, and the critical element that heated it up, leading to the evidence that finally solved it. Featuring interviews with family members, friends, detectives, and others close to the cases, the refreshed classic series examines all facets of the crime and shines a light on a range of voices and victims.

The Best Seasons of Cold Case Files

The Best Seasons of Cold Case Files

Season 4

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3