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The Worst Episodes of Cold Case Files

Every episode of Cold Case Files ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Cold Case Files!

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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

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  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Cold Case Files Season 3 Episode 2 - Gone in a New York Minute
    6.2/10(40 votes)

    #1 - Gone in a New York Minute

    S3:E2

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 23 - A is for Arson
    6.3/10(43 votes)

    #2 - A is for Arson

    S2:E23

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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. Cold Case Files Season 3 Episode 3 - Murder in the Midwest
    6.3/10(36 votes)

    #3 - Murder in the Midwest

    S3:E3

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Cold Case Files Season 3 Episode 4 - Death of a Hero?
    6.4/10(37 votes)

    #4 - Death of a Hero?

    S3:E4

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. Cold Case Files Season 3 Episode 5 - Vanished in Virginia
    6.4/10(38 votes)

    #5 - Vanished in Virginia

    S3:E5

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 24 - Til Death Do Us Part
    6.5/10(43 votes)

    #6 - Til Death Do Us Part

    S2:E24

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  7. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 22 - The Bone Keeper
    6.6/10(46 votes)

    #7 - The Bone Keeper

    S2:E22

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 25 - The Lost Patient
    6.6/10(39 votes)

    #8 - The Lost Patient

    S2:E25

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 26 - Missing and Murdered
    6.6/10(35 votes)

    #9 - Missing and Murdered

    S2:E26

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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 13 - Eyes of a Killer
    6.7/10(53 votes)

    #10 - Eyes of a Killer

    S2:E13

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 15 - Friday Night Ghosts
    6.7/10(46 votes)

    #11 - Friday Night Ghosts

    S2:E15

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 17 - Sisters In Death
    6.7/10(46 votes)

    #12 - Sisters In Death

    S2:E17

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 27 - Lone Survivor
    6.7/10(33 votes)

    #13 - Lone Survivor

    S2:E27

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 16 - The Clock Strikes Murder
    6.8/10(49 votes)

    #14 - The Clock Strikes Murder

    S2:E16

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 19 - Written in Blood
    6.8/10(45 votes)

    #15 - Written in Blood

    S2:E19

    In July of 1970, the brutal murder of single mom Loretta Jones leaves four-year-old Heidi Jones motherless. Nearly 40 years later, Heidi vows to solve her mother's cold case and calls on an old high school friend to help her find justice for Loretta.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 20 - Cold Ashes
    6.8/10(48 votes)

    #16 - Cold Ashes

    S2:E20

    When a deadly house fire claims the life of a family in rural Oklahoma, investigators suspect foul play and it sends a mother on a decades-long crusade to find out what happened to her missing teenage daughter and best friend.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 21 - Queen of the Ozarks
    6.8/10(48 votes)

    #17 - Queen of the Ozarks

    S2:E21

    In June 1985, a 20-year-old "Sucker Day" Festival Queen is found brutalized. The small community of Nixa, Missouri, is certain her blood is on the hands of a local wealthy businessman, but after 25 years DNA reveals the true killer.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. Cold Case Files Season 4 Episode 14 - No Known Enemies
    6.8/10(5 votes)

    #18 - No Known Enemies

    S4:E14

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. Cold Case Files Season 4 Episode 15 - Contracted to Kill
    6.8/10(5 votes)

    #19 - Contracted to Kill

    S4:E15

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 2 - Devil at the Door
    6.9/10(68 votes)

    #20 - Devil at the Door

    S2:E2

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 3 - Missing in Altoona
    6.9/10(71 votes)

    #21 - Missing in Altoona

    S2:E3

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  22. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 9 - Murder by Moonlight
    6.9/10(57 votes)

    #22 - Murder by Moonlight

    S2:E9

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 14 - Dark Angel
    6.9/10(50 votes)

    #23 - Dark Angel

    S2:E14

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. Cold Case Files Season 2 Episode 18 - One Tough Mother
    6.9/10(50 votes)

    #24 - One Tough Mother

    S2:E18

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

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. Cold Case Files Season 4 Episode 1 - Money Moguls and Murder
    6.9/10(15 votes)

    #25 - Money Moguls and Murder

    S4:E1

    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.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Gone in a New York Minute" is the worst rated episode of "Cold Case Files". It scored 6.2/10 based on 40 votes. Directed by Unknown and written by Unknown, it aired on 8/27/2022. This episode scored 0.1 points lower than the second lowest rated, "A is for Arson".