How Forensics Caught A Predator | Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace | Forensic Files

[DRAMATIC MUSIC] NANCY GRACE: Greeley, Colorado, 2001, a seven-year-old little girl is kidnapped in broad daylight
while walking to school with her brother. I just thought somebody grabbed me from behind,
and they put me in their car. NANCY GRACE: Investigators learned the little girl has been raped.
It was hard to believe that someone would target someone as innocent as this little girl.
NANCY GRACE: Greeley police worked feverishly to find her attacker, but, sadly, the case goes cold.
ROBERT CASH: No more leads or fewer suspects, and then it becomes cold. I think it probably went cold within the first year.
NANCY GRACE: Police have one hope, that a revolutionary new DNA technique might just help find
this violent child predator. I'm Nancy Grace. This is "Bloodline Detectives." [THEME MUSIC]
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC] 2001, Greeley, Colorado, a rural farming community one hour north of Denver.
NOVAR GARCIA: Today, the community is about-- I believe we're about 110,000 people.
Income levels go from very poor to-- we have very wealthy people in this community.
The area this occurred was a lower-income area, and there were a lot of Spanish-speaking
folks that lived in-- in that area of town. NANCY GRACE: September 18, 2001, Greeley PD gets a 911
call that shocks even them. DUFF KNOT: Well, the call came in that a-- a young child had told some workers that his sister
had been kidnapped. They were walking to school to Jefferson Elementary, which was very close to where
this kidnapping happened. The brother said they were walking down the street, and a car pulled up behind them.
Someone got out, grabbed his sister, and took her in the car. It was only me and my older brother,
and we were walking together. My mom had walked us a few blocks, but then she walked back home.
And me and my brother walked the rest of the way. I just remember that my brother and I were walking,
and we came to an alley where I saw a vehicle parked with the driver door open. There was nobody there.
We walked. When we were, like, halfway through the alley, I just felt somebody grab me from behind,
and they put me in their car. DUFF KNOT: The brother was smart enough to shout and scream,
and some workers, some construction workers, in the area helped him out, got him to a phone,
got a hold of the police department, and that's kind of where the investigation started.
The first officer was on scene inside of two minutes, and I was there with another detective shortly after that.
NOVAR GARCIA: I was called to assist with the investigation, because I believe he didn't speak English well enough
to communicate much to the officer that originally picked him up. BRAD GOLDSCHMIDT: We got a description
of what she was wearing-- she had on, I believe, a dress and a jacket over the dress--
and the direction of the vehicle and a vague description of the vehicle that was used by the suspect.
And that-- that all came from-- from the little brother. It was a tan-colored car that left
eastbound through the alley. I absolutely thought, if we don't find her really quick,
when we do find her, she won't be alive anymore. That's the biggest fear for sure.
CLAY BUCKINGHAM: She was scared to death, and he pushed her down on the floorboard, drove off with her.
She's all by herself now. Her brothers left on the street, and he takes her to a location
that I think that he probably knew about already. And then he committed a horrible act.
He sexually assaulted her. Put duct tape around her, wrapped her up in duct tape,
and-- and then he threw her out of the car, and he left. So a horrible thing happened that day
to just a great little girl, and it changed her life forever. NANCY GRACE: Police in Greeley are scrambling
to find a kidnapped little girl and chase down a child predator when they get another phone call--
this time from the National Guard post in Greeley. BRAD GOLDSCHMIDT: The suspect took her to an area
nearby the Air National Guard station. And it had to be a place he knew, because if you don't know where you're going,
you would never even have found this place. ROBERT CASH: For him to simply let her go was--
was a bit baffling to us. Many other cases don't end as well as this, regarding that.
NAYLEY TORRES: The first thing that I did, I tried to go the opposite direction from the way my attacker had gone,
and I tried to look for another adult. BRAD GOLDSCHMIDT: She walked back to 8th Street, which
was about 100 to 150 yards from where the assault occurred, and the guardsman said that he saw this little girl
walking on 8th Street, which immediately drew his attention to her. And she was walking very fast, looked very afraid,
and kept looking over her shoulder. NAYLEY TORRES: There was actually a soldier who saw me
from across the street, and he was the one that directed me to their gate doors.
And they were the ones who helped me. NOVAR GARCIA: I was with the victim's brother and her mother
at the time we received a call from the National Guard outfit that they had been contacted by a seven-year-old girl who was
determined to be the victim. BRAD GOLDSCHMIDT: I just really thought that I'm glad to see
this little girl alive. When I first saw her, another officer had arrived right before me, and when I got out of the car,
he was holding her and trying to comfort her. She was crying, wanting to see your mom and brother.
And I was just happy to-- that she's still alive. The first thing that the victim asked was, how's my brother?
And when she was kidnapped off the street, she yelled at her brother, run away, because she
didn't want him taken, too. So I mean, this little girl is just really amazing. I saw some minor injuries on her.
She had some scrapes on her knees, on her arms, some mud on her face. But because she wasn't seriously injured,
I told the officer who got there first to just drive her right to the hospital, and I'd have our--
our female detective meet them there, and they can start the process of-- of, ultimately, what would be a sex-assault investigation.
ROBERT CASH: She did have a piece of duct tape that was still around her neck. We believe that that was one of the pieces
that was over her mouth. She was able to give a fairly decent initial statement as far as what had happened.
Was then, soon thereafter, taken to the hospital for examination. She was interviewed by a doctor through an interpreter,
and my interview with her came later with another detective. NANCY GRACE: The terrified seven-year-old little girl
rushed to the hospital. She's reunited with her family, and before police tried to speak with, her
she's examined by a medical team. Meanwhile, word of the abduction is spreading fast
through the town of Greeley, and police want to calm down a scared community. NOVAR GARCIA: At the time, I believe
this was prior to the internet, everybody read the newspaper. Lots of people were aware that this had happened
and where it happened, and they knew the victim was a seven-year-old female. So I'm sure many parents were extra careful about allowing
their kids to walk to school or where they were when they weren't home. DUFF KNOT: We'd never had a stranger abduction
on a child like this, at least in my time here, and it hit home to everybody at the police department.
It became a passionate issue for everybody to-- to catch the suspect. NANCY GRACE: A little girl traumatized
by a brutal sex attack. The community in a state of panic. It's up to law enforcement to apprehend a violent child
rapist before he strikes again. That's next on "Bloodline Detectives." [DRAMATIC MUSIC]
NANCY GRACE: Greeley, Colorado, 2001, a seven-year-old little girl kidnapped and raped,
but she's still alive. Her attacker let her go. Now it's up to police to try and interview
a precious little girl. NOVAR GARCIA: She was very open with us and telling us the story, and for seven years old,
she was incredible in how well she-- she shared the entire incident. NAYLEY TORRES: The police-- was they were really--
they were really kind. It was-- it was a little bit hard because, at the time, there was a language barrier, but they made--
they made it as easy as they could. NOVAR GARCIA: She told us that she was walking
to school with her brother. When they approached the alley, the suspect jumped out
of a car, grabbed her around-- around her arms, and he put one hand over her mouth.
He ran back to the car. And she told me that he fell down as they were getting back to the car,
and she hit her mouth on the ground. And it was a dirt alley. So she said she got some dirt in her mouth,
and she said that her-- her mouth bled a little bit. And she said the suspect put her in the car,
later on the passenger seat that was already in the reclined position, and put a jacket
or something over her head. So she couldn't see where they were going. She gave me a description of the car, even
though she couldn't see it. She told me that she could hear the gears shifting. She saw gear shift.
It was hard to believe that someone would target someone as innocent as this little girl.
NANCY GRACE: The seven-year-old girl tells police, during the attack, she does an incredible thing.
She gives her attacker a fake name. NOVAR GARCIA: She told me that she thought the suspect was Hispanic, but she said he
didn't speak Spanish very well. He tried to talk to her in Spanish once he realized
that she didn't speak English, and the only thing she really understood was that he was asking her for her name.
And she told me that she knew she didn't want to give him her real name, so she made up a name.
NAYLEY TORRES: I remember thinking, what's happening? It's not-- it's not good what's happening.
And obviously it was a stranger, so I didn't want him to have any of my information.
NANCY GRACE: This is one courageous little girl. She fights through the trauma of a horrible sex attack
and still gives police the kind of detail many adults would never be able to remember,
including a description of her attacker. BRAD GOLDSCHMIDT: Later that day, I arranged for a sketch artist to come to the police department
so that we could try to get a sketch of what the suspect looked like. And it was in that interview that she
described him in great detail, drew a pretty good description. In that interview, she mentioned the suspect
had a snake tattoo on his right forearm, and she drew a very-- a very descriptive drawing of it with the tattoo artist.
So I was convinced that whoever this person was had a snake tattoo on his arm based
upon what she had told us. NOVAR GARCIA: She said he had long-- long hair like a woman.
He had ugly teeth. He smelled of cigarettes. He was wearing a-- a big jacket that was zipped all the way up.
And this made me think a little bit, because she also told me she saw a tattoo on his right forearm.
And when I asked her how she was able to see that, she told me that his right sleeve was actually
pulled up a little bit. I couldn't understand why a suspect would allow that to be seen if he's
trying to conceal his identity. DUFF KNOT: There was some confusion on that whether it was a snake or a dragon,
but it wrapped around his arm. So we were able to focus on that long hair, and the suspect did speak some Spanish.
It gave us a lot of information really quickly to try to-- to try to identify a suspect.
Anything she told me, I knew she was telling the truth. NANCY GRACE: Imagine you're a parent,
and your little girl has been viciously assaulted. So many times, in cases like these,
a parent suffers not only for the welfare of their child, but because they blame themselves for what happened.
NOVAR GARCIA: She was a concerned mother, and she felt like she was responsible.
And this wouldn't have happened if she would have been walking the children's school.
But it wasn't more than a three- or four-block walk. It wasn't anything unheard of for second- and third-graders
to walk that distance. I felt very strongly for the brother, because I thought in his mind, for the rest of his life, as--
as the older brother, you know, your job is to protect your little sister. And even though there was nothing he could have done,
I thought that he might have been psychologically damaged because something horrific happened to his sister,
and he didn't stop it. NAYLEY TORRES: After the fact, it was-- it was hard. I was angry.
I was really angry. I was really hurt, but I knew that my family was there to support me.
It was a relief to be home, but it was scary. It was really hard going back outside.
NANCY GRACE: A child rapist still on the loose, a brave child victim showing incredible courage,
and a community looking to police for answers before a child predator can strike again.
That's next on "Bloodline Detectives." [DRAMATIC MUSIC] NANCY GRACE: Greeley, Colorado, 2001, police investigating
the abduction and brutal sex assault of a seven-year-old little girl. Incredibly, this child fights through the trauma,
giving important details to police about her rapist. Police begin to build a case.
BRAD GOLDSCHMIDT: When I got to the air National Guard station, she still has some duct tape around her neck.
So, you know, I knew she'd been duct-taped and tied up in some fashion. So the duct tape, of course, was collected
in case there are some-- any type of trace evidence or fingerprints on it. And everything she had on was collected as evidence.
All of her clothing. And then, because it was-- I believe they saw blood in her underwear,
they did a sex-assault examination on her. At the scene, in searching around the area,
we came across an area with duct tape and assumed that was where it occurred. The victim later verified that's where the assault took place.
CLAY BUCKINGHAM: Tire tracks are always important because a tire track is an impression in a substrate
such as dirt, which leaves a pattern design of a potential tire. And there's the possibility, if you can get a tire,
you can make exemplars of that tire and then compare those to the tire tracks from the scene.
I spent quite a bit of time at the first scene in the alley doing photography, and then we did
what we call plaster casting or dental stone casting of those tire tracks. It's a casting material like plaster.
And you mix it up, and you pour it into the tire track, and it dries. And then you lift it out.
It gives you a good impression of that tire track. So I did that at that scene, and then I
did the same thing down on-- off of the Fern Avenue scene. BRAD GOLDSCHMIDT: There wasn't a cop
in Greeley that did not want to see an arrest made in this case. [TENSE MUSIC] NOVAR GARCIA: We had one-- one call that led us
to a suspect that we focused some attention on, and there were lots of-- lots of odd things about this suspect that made
me think he was our guy. DUFF KNOT: My role was chasing suspects at the time. We had a couple-- a couple pretty good
suspects that we focused on right away. During our neighborhood canvas, we had developed information
from the neighborhood that there was a guy there that was inappropriate with kids and had all of a sudden cut
all his hair off. He had drawn a tattoo on his arm and that he switched cars out daily.
So we kind of-- we focused on him right away, trying to either eliminate him as a suspect
right away so we could move on or focus on him at that time. So we spent a lot--
probably two or three days looking at him. We ended up interviewing him. We ended up pulling DNA from him, and he was not a match.
It was not him. We probably had 40 to 50 different leads of different suspects at the time.
[TENSE MUSIC] CLAY BUCKINGHAM: It was probably months later, the photographs and the dental stone castings I did from the alley
and the ones I did from the Fern Avenue scene were compared to each other by a--
an expert that does that type of comparisons from the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, and the results of those comparisons,
the best they could tell was that both patterns from both scenes were-- were similar.
So they couldn't say they were exactly the same, but they could say that they were similar.
It didn't take us anywhere. We-- we took the impressions to different tire shops to try to see if they could
determine what to make and-- of the tire. But, as I recall, it didn't amount to anything.
NANCY GRACE: Police consider a possibility. Most sex assaults on children are committed by someone
they know-- a friend of the family, a relative. Even though this brave little seven-year-old girl
says she did not recognize her attacker, investigators must chase down those leads.
DUFF KNOT: Probably about 95% of the sex assaults we have on children are usually family involved.
Either family involved or a friend-- friend of the families, a neighbor, a boyfriend,
something like that. It's very rare that it's a stranger. ROBERT CASH: The initial feeling was
that it needed to be somebody who was close to the family. Just given the time frame, just given
the spontaneous nature of this, it seemed to be planned to me. BRAD GOLDSCHMIDT: We thought it's possible.
So we certainly looked at the family and eventually eliminated them all as suspects.
NANCY GRACE: Greeley police leave no stone unturned to apprehend a violent sex predator.
They throw more resources at the investigations, but still, their leads dry up. We put a lot of resources into it.
We spent a lot of time and effort on the case. Certainly did we-- we knew that it was a small child
that was involved as a victim. Does that give us a little more strength or effort in the case?
Maybe so. We want work a little bit harder on it, maybe. We did take all of our resources,
all of our detectives and a lot of other people, and they worked on this case for a long time.
ROBERT CASH: So there's a-- a national database that is run by the FBI which is called ViCAP,
and it's a database of cases that include suspect descriptions, MOs or motives by suspects in different cases.
This case was memorialized and brought to ViCAP early on by detectives. NANCY GRACE: Police submit the DNA evidence gathered
from the victim's clothes into the national police DNA database. It's called CODIS.
At the same time, they apply for a John Doe warrant. We were able to get what we call a single-source DNA
profile of our suspect from the evidence collected during the sex assault, and that gave us a single-source profile
of an individual person. And so when I wrote the John Doe warrant, I wrote the warrant for that DNA profile.
A profile-- it's a set of numbers and letters, and that gives us what that specific DNA profile is.
So the actual description of the person for the John Doe person on the warrant is the profile itself,
and so the arrest warrant was for the person that has that profile. BRAD GOLDSCHMIDT: It's just important to have something
in the system so that if this suspect got contacted for anything, and his DNA was run,
there would be an arrest warrant. We would be immediately-- be able to go out and arrest whoever it was
who matched that DNA profile. So if he was ever contacted anywhere, and a DNA profile was submitted to CODIS,
we would have had a match there, too. So-- but it was important to have an arrest warrant
for who this person was. Even though we didn't know his name, we knew what his DNA was.
It is so frustrating for investigators. They believe a DNA match is within their grasp,
but they come up empty. And the case goes cold. Oh, boy, we worked it hard for months.
And we-- you know, whenever a tip came in, we would-- followed it up immediately.
We worked it really hard for months. Several months. ROBERT CASH: No more leads or fewer suspects,
and then it becomes cold. I think it probably went cold within the first year. Officers and detectives would stay in touch with--
with the victim and her family. NAYLEY TORRES: The police kept in touch for quite a few years after.
Yeah. I was-- I was hopeful that they would find my attacker. DUFF KNOT: We had a really good DNA profile,
and in 2001, DNA wasn't as good as it is now. So a lot of the felons that went to prison
didn't have to automatically give DNA at the time, so you didn't have a huge DNA registry.
What you had to do at the time was, basically, anyone you talk to, any witnesses, you'd had to get consent to get their DNA
and then compare it to the victim's DNA. Now there's such a big DNA database that it
cross-references everything. So if the DNA is in that database, it'll show a match right away.
Back when I started, you had to have a confession or, you know, the murder weapon or a witness.
Now DNA-- DNA tells a big story, and it's really hard to prove otherwise. NANCY GRACE: Greeley detectives are running out of options.
A DNA sample is the one piece of evidence keeping this case alive, but cops are unsure how to use it.
But then investigators learn about a revolutionary new technique solving cold cases all over the world.
Can that same forensic science work here? We find out next on "Bloodline Detectives."
[DRAMATIC MUSIC] NANCY GRACE: Greeley, Colorado, 2018, police reopened their investigation
into the kidnap and sex assault of a seven-year-old little girl back in 2001. Investigators have a DNA sample from the victim,
but so far, it has provided no solid clues. Now, bloodline detectives take one last shot
at applying their DNA evidence to an exciting new forensic weapon-- genetic genealogy.
There had been a serial killer in the '70s into the '80s, and through-- genealogy and phenotyping had been done in the case,
and a suspect was found. Given that case really kind of gave me, I guess, the motivation to try to utilize
that in this case knowing that we had a strong DNA sample. I believe that it would actually solve the case.
NAYLEY TORRES: Detective Cash was always in contact. I feel like whenever there was going
to be a new step, a new movement in the case, he would always let me know. ROBERT CASH: She was very surprised
that it was still a case. Her words was-- you know, she thought that this kind of just
had gone by the wayside, that nobody was found or caught, so it was over. NOVAR GARCIA: Robert Cash stayed in contact with me
when he first was assigned this cold case. And he told me he was working that case,
and I said, please solve it. Please solve it. This is the one case that-- that still bothers me almost 20 years after the fact.
After almost 20 years, investigators in Greeley, Colorado, are clinging to the hope
that the same science of genetic genealogy in the Golden State Killer case could help them.
Detective Robert Cash contacts Parabon NanoLabs in Reston, Virginia, the leader in genetic genealogy research.
CAROL ROLNICK: There are certain cases that some of us take because we have expertise in different areas
of genetic genealogy, and I end up doing all of the Hispanic-related cases because I have a background in speaking and reading
and understanding Spanish. So it's a little bit easier for me to handle these cases because I can read some
of these genealogical records that I need to to be able to piece together these families.
We use the DNA to create a composite of this individual, and we can tell the eye color and the hair color
and the skin color and the face shape and lots of different things about this individual
just from their DNA. NANCY GRACE: Police release the composite sketch of the suspect
to local media, but, unfortunately, no one comes forward with even a possible ID.
ROBERT CASH: Typically, the first phase, which is the phenotyping with the composite,
if that generates enough interest, if that generates the leads that you need to--
to resolve the case, it doesn't need to go to the second phase, which is the genealogical aspects.
Thankfully, we decided to take that leap of faith, take it to the second stage, and Carol and her team
were miracle workers as far as what they found. CAROL ROLNICK: So we end up using a different DNA profile
than what is used by law enforcement when they are doing comparisons in CODIS. We are using a SNP profile.
So it's a different way of looking at the DNA, and it's using hundreds of thousands
of markers on the genome. That SNP profile is uploaded into the public DNA databases
that law enforcement is allowed to use and what we get as a result are matches. Actually, it's thousands of matches.
It's not a single match like you would get in the law enforcement CODIS database.
So these are all people who are relatives of our perpetrator and what we're trying to do is put together the pieces
of this puzzle to figure out what individual on this earth could potentially be related to all of these people
at the right genetic distance. And that's really what genetic genealogy is in a nutshell.
[SOFT DRAMATIC MUSIC] Let me walk you through this in a diagram, because I think it's a little easier when
you can see it written out. It starts with the matches, and we had two pretty good matches in this case.
We'll call this guy match number one. And then match number two happened to be a full generation younger.
And as I built out their family trees, I'm looking for an area where their trees converge.
I know that they share some DNA with each other, so in theory, they should have a set of common ancestors.
And I built this up-- his father, his grandfather-- and it turned out that these two individuals were siblings.
They shared a set of parents here. NANCY GRACE: Carol Rolnick and her team make a remarkable breakthrough.
They trace the DNA back to a couple who lived in Mexico in the 19th century. Now they start working forward in time,
hoping it will lead them to a suspect in Greeley, Colorado, in 2001. CAROL ROLNICK: So this was a couple
that was based in Coahuila, in the town of Allende in Coahuila, Mexico, by the name of Maltos,
and both of these top matches descended from this same ancestral couple. So we can theorize then that our perpetrator also
descends from this same ancestral couple. We begin to build their trees, and we see where those matches'
trees are going to lead us. As I built this tree forward in time and enumerated all of the many grandchildren,
great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren, I was actually only able to identify two individuals who
were male, who were of the right age at the time of the crime, and who lived in Greeley, Colorado.
ROBERT CASH: It was astounding, to say the least. They gave us their breakdown from their research.
They did find, after literally reaching into, handwritten at times, databases and lists
and census results in Mexico-- found relatives which would be grandparents to a male
identified as Jaime Zamora. NANCY GRACE: After almost 20 years, police finally have a name--
Jaime Zamora. But will that name finally identify a child rapist? The answer next on "Bloodline Detectives."
[TENSE MUSIC] NANCY GRACE: 2019, police in Greeley, Colorado, finally have the name of a possible suspect
in the 2001 kidnap and rape of a seven-year-old little girl. NAYLEY TORRES: When he first told
us that they had a name to the suspect, I was in complete shock. I-- I felt like I couldn't--
I just-- I was shocked. I didn't know what to say. So many years had passed by that, at a certain time,
I had lost a little bit of hope. Like, I had hoped, but, I mean, it still crossed my mind that maybe this person
was never going to be found. CAROL ROLNICK: Whenever I find someone that fits in the right part of the tree that
is the right possible age that was living nearby, yes, I always want to do a lot more research
on that particular individual. And when I did so, I found that he had died of suicide.
NANCY GRACE: The bloodline detectives are this close to finding Jaime Zamora, the prime suspect in a savage sex attack occurring
almost 20 years before. Suddenly, they are rocked by the news the suspect committed suicide in 2014.
We learned how he died, where he died. We would find the-- the police reports surrounding his death that ultimately
led to his autopsy report, which also provided us a DNA sample. We had a great briefing with the Greeley Police Department,
and the detective was wonderful to talk to. It was up to him to then make that direct comparison using
some DNA from Jaime Zamora directly to the crime-scene DNA to see whether they had that direct match.
We got a phone call from the Greeley Police Department, from the detective, and he let us
know that it was a direct match and that Jaime Zamora was indeed our perpetrator.
NANCY GRACE: Jaime Zamora may be dead, but his DNA lives on. It's a positive match to the DNA from the 2001 rape
and kidnapping of a seven-year-old girl. Finally, police can provide some resolution
for the victim and her family. NAYLEY TORRES: It's been-- it's been quite a journey.
Sometimes I feel like I've overcame it. I'm going to be OK. But then there's times that it just-- it's hard.
It's really hard. I'm just glad that I don't have to-- that I could just put it on the back burner,
that I don't have to continuously have that doubt of-- if it's ever going to come to an end
or if they're ever going to find anybody. I just am glad that-- I'm glad it's over.
NOVAR GARCIA: I think back to the statement that she gave me and how-- how thorough she was in giving me descriptions of everything.
Her courage, you know, ranks up there with any combat vet that charged a machine
gun or anything like that. She-- she was an incredible young lady. NANCY GRACE: The bloodline detectives
reflect that determination, combined with incredible forensic science, could still prove a long-dead suspect was
in fact a brutal child rapist. We did all of the work we could do. The doctors did the correct work in the hospital
with the sex-assault kit to collect the evidence from the victim, and that gave us a DNA profile.
And years later, through genealogy, we were able to solve this case. And so, yeah, that was everything.
Without that, we would never have solved this case. CAROL ROLNICK: We often get asked
that question, how can I help? You know, what can I do? Well, if you've tested your DNA at a commercial DNA testing
company, download your raw DNA and then upload to either GEDmatch or Family Tree DNA
and opt in to law enforcement matching. You just never know when you might be a third cousin
or a second cousin once removed to a perpetrator of a violent crime or to a Jane or John Doe
that was found that's trying to be identified. And the more people that can upload and be compared
to this crime-scene DNA, the more likely we are to solve these cases. NOVAR GARCIA: This is something that does affect victims
for the rest of their life. I was pleased to see that this victim had gone on with her life, and she seemed to have a healthy home life
with a husband and children. And that made me feel good. It's nice-- it's nice being married.
My husband is very supportive. He's very understanding. And, I mean, having kids, it's hard.
I think because of what I went through, now I'm really overprotective of my kids, but I enjoy it.
I enjoy being a mom. I feel like if speaking out is going to help in any way, shape, or form in future cases, in current cases, to get solved
or to come to a conclusion, I think that's why I want to do it. NANCY GRACE: This case is solved, thanks
to the amazing science of genetic genealogy, and the more people whose DNA become available,
the more crimes can be solved. This case is also about courage. That's really what defines this story--
the courage of a very brave seven-year-old little girl, of her family, and of the bloodline detectives,
who never gave up, and the resolution they bring may help a young wife who was once a child
victim, giving her the comfort she needs to achieve her dreams. We can only hope that she will.
I'm Nancy Grace. Thank you for joining us here on "Bloodline Detectives." [EMOTIONAL MUSIC]
[THEME MUSIC]

Greeley, Colorado, 2001, a 7-year-old girl is kidnapped and sexually assaulted by an unknown assailant on her way to school. The victim grows up living in fear that this predator could be anywhere, at any time. 20 years later he’s finally unmasked thanks to genetic genealogy.

Now in its third season, Bloodline Detectives is the leading true crime series that explores how police departments harness genetic genealogy to solve crimes that were once considered "unsolvable," bringing long-awaited answers to victims' families.

=============== Like, comment and subscribe if you’re ready for more true crime. Your favorite shows like World’s Most Evil Killers, Meet Marry Murder, Forensic Files, Unsolved Mysteries, Murdered At First Sight and Bloodline Detectives are all available to stream 24/7 for free via the FilmRise Streaming Network. You can access The FilmRise Streaming Network through most free App Platforms and Smart TV portals such as Amazon Fire TV, The Roku Channel, Android, iOS and many more.

Brief Summary

Nayley Torres was kidnapped in 2001; DNA evidence led to identifying her attacker, Jaime Zamora, through genetic genealogy in 2019.

Key points

A Little Girl's Abduction. In Greeley, Colorado, a seven-year-old girl is kidnapped in broad daylight while walking to school.
The Community's Panic. As news of the abduction spreads, the community is gripped by fear and concern for their children.
A Brave Survivor. Despite the trauma, the young girl provides police with crucial details about her attacker.
DNA Evidence Submitted. Police submit DNA evidence from the victim's clothes into the national database, hoping for a match.
The Case Goes Cold. Despite extensive efforts, investigators come up empty and the case goes cold.
A Name After 20 Years. Police finally identify a suspect in a 2001 case, shocking the victim's family.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I was just happy to-- that she's still alive.

Officer Goldschmidt expresses relief at finding the girl alive.

7:03WatchMay 17, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

More from True Crime Files

Solve the Crime

Read a real case one clue at a time, then see how your call held up against the investigators.