Identifying a Jane Doe After 20 Years | Bloodline Detectives with Nancy Grace | Forensic Files

[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC] NANCY GRACE: May 2003, Mammoth Lakes in California's Sierra Nevada mountains, a hiker's dog strays off the path
and digs up a human skull. It wasn't until the next day that they were really able to identify the scattered remains of a human,
and also along with that, clothing, jewelry, and other things that indicated it probably was a woman.
NANCY GRACE: Detectives try everything. But they cannot identify the female victim.
This is the beginning of a near 20-year investigation, where cutting-edge science may blow open
a seemingly impossible case. Throughout the years, there had been a number of possible leads that were presented.
They were all looked into, and, one way or another, they were eliminated as likely candidates
as far as being a suspect. NANCY GRACE: When cold case detectives have exhausted
all leads, they turn to new groundbreaking technology, investigative genetic genealogy.
There's always some kind of trace left behind. And we, as law enforcement officers,
need to find those traces. Sometimes it's really hard to find them. But if we look hard enough, they're there.
This is the incredible story of the Mammoth Lakes Jane Doe, a case where Bloodline Detectives.
use groundbreaking science to try and solve the mystery of her life and her violent death.
I'm Nancy Grace. This is "Bloodline Detectives." [THEME MUSIC] NANCY GRACE: 2003, Mammoth Lakes,
California in the Sierra Nevada mountains, a local hiker is walking in an area known as the Shady Rest Park.
It was just about three weeks after the Shady Rest Park had reopened after being closed
for five months for the winter. A man was walking his dog along one of the hiking trails,
and he came across something very disturbing. It looked like human remains, a skull.
And so he called police, and they came out and started looking around. The evening turned to nighttime.
It wasn't until the next day that they were really able to identify the scattered remains of a human.
They essentially set up a perimeter, or a crime scene, and started canvassing-- you know, just
kind of checking the area-- and ultimately came upon what they believed to be a shallow grave.
Within that shallow grave, they found a black jacket, a pair of shoes, bra, and a pair of jeans.
[CHILLING MUSIC] ALAN DUKE: There are very specific items that could help tell the story of who this person was.
There was a winter coat you couldn't buy just anywhere unless you found it maybe in a thrift store.
There was a watch, which is probably the most intriguing thing to me-- a Jaclyn Smith watch.
And these are really not expensive watches, but apparently they're very durable because it
was still ticking. It had been there for months and months, through a very cold winter and was still ticking.
The watch was set to daylight standard time, which, in 2002, began on October 27.
So whoever was wearing that watch obviously set it to that time for the winter. And that meant that this occurred sometime
in that five-month period. NANCY GRACE: A week after the discovery, the skeletal remains are examined by a coroner.
This preliminary autopsy confirms the victim is a young woman. So the pathologist determined that she
most likely died from blunt force trauma to the head. She had significant trauma to the front of her face,
and she had significant trauma to the back of her head causing her to fall backwards, and then secondary blow
to the back of her head. They determined an approximate time of death and then that coincided with the time frame of the watch,
so they had an approximate. And they ultimately determined that she was an Asian female,
and they died approximately six to eight months prior to discovery. Through further examination, they had her approximate height
and that she had very likely carried a child to full term. NANCY GRACE: Forensic anthropologists initially
theorized the victim's Asian but cannot come to a definitive conclusion. It's a start, but investigators need to learn
a lot more about this victim. Police sent part of the remains to the University of California at Santa Barbara,
and their science department said, we think we see a knife wound. But even then, they couldn't be sure.
Was that the product of a violent encounter? Or was that the product of the animals scavenging?
The police started to believe that they could get a good feeling as to the appearance of a skull,
that they would use literally pencil erasers, and they would glue them to the various points on the skull
and have skin then implanted above those pencil erasers to the depths that they thought that the skin was.
And then with the use of clay as skin, they could get a clay model of the victim using the skull.
Investigators firmly believe the answer to Jane Doe's identity lies right there in Mammoth Lakes.
They appeal to people in the community for any information. BRIAN MADERA: A tip came in from the Visitor Center.
They stated that they had seen a man with a female, which then led the officers to go down that investigation.
During those interactions, the Forest Service employee believed that the male person was being very
inappropriate with the female. CHRIS CALLINAN: They separated at one point, and the Forest Service employee kind of
engaged them in conversation. And the female conveyed that they were otherwise afraid of the person who they were with.
They'd been violent with them in the past. And so that incident itself, and then coupled
with the recent discovery of the remains, caused that Forest Service employee to come forward
and give that description, saying, hey, I don't know if this is associated, but this had occurred in approximately around
that same time period. Some of the posters that were put out by the Mammoth Lakes
police department at the time, there was a thought that there was a connection. And so at the time, that was the best lead the town had.
Can an argument hold the key to unlocking this case? Can forensic science crack it wide open?
We find out next on "Bloodline Detectives." NANCY GRACE: 2003, Mammoth Lakes, California.
On May 25, the skeletal remains of an unidentified woman are discovered. Investigators create an image based on the skull,
but they cannot identify her. Detectives turn to isotope testing, a relatively new
technique that could shed more light on the victim's background. This was a slow cold case, whether it
was because the police department and, you know, the California Department of Justice investigators had a lot of other things to do,
but occasionally, apparently some detective would pick up the file and say, why don't we try this new test?
You know, new levels of DNA testing that have solved so many cold cases just in recent years.
So they did more DNA testing. When it comes to human beings, we can tell the diet of that human being.
People who have a high corn diet will have a lot of carbon-13 and carbon-12 in their bodies
because the corn absorbs those kinds of elements, particularly from the Mexico, Mesoamerica, Middle America.
Here the body that was being examined had a lot of carbon-12 in it. And, therefore, it was an indication
that this was a Mexican woman not an Asian woman. NANCY GRACE: The fact that the lady victim is
of Mexican descent is significant, but her identity is still unknown. Parabon NanoLabs becomes involved
in conducting phenotyping, a test that aims to predict physical appearance and ancestry.
CHRIS CALLINAN: One thing that we felt could be a benefit to the case was the Parabon phenotyping generating
what would likely be a potential image of what the decedent had looked like. They'd done it in 2003 via a pinning method, using clay.
At the time, it was kind of cutting edge, so to speak. Obviously technology had advanced,
and so that clay model was kind of rudimentary. So we wanted to kind of see if we could generate more
of like a real life-like image that we could utilize, and then coupled with the isotope testing to a region,
whether they had originated from or where they had spent the last remaining portions of their life.
So based upon the DNA sample that was provided to Parabon, they were able to ascertain her hair color, eye color, skin
complexion, again, the region where she most likely had originated from, ultimately generating what
appeared to be a 25-year-old Hispanic female or Native American female. It appeared to be a very--
very real image. I mean, it was, you know, you could look at that, and you could--
you could definitely-- you know, it was a person as opposed to, like, the clay which was
just a face, very rudimentary. For years, detectives firmly believed the remains of the skeletal victim
are that of an Asian woman. The phenotyping test says otherwise, and it is a definitive test.
It allows detectives to narrow down their search for potential leads. Investigators in November 2020, then
reach out to the Hispanic community in Mammoth Lakes, asking those members to think back
to people they knew in 2003. When we finally did have our big town meeting, it was very, very well attended.
And there was a lot of concern voices within the community about their perceptions.
NANCY GRACE: Two witnesses come forward, telling detectives they believe the mammoth lakes
Jane Doe is actually their missing cousin, Isabel Sanchez Bernal. They agree to appear on camera as long as their identities
are protected. (INTERPRETED) My cousin is Isabel Sanchez Bernal, who's been missing since 2002.
My partner introduced me to the detectives. I told him about my cousin, and I asked him how I could find out if the missing
woman was indeed her. Sergeant Madera showed me the evidence and everything-- how it happened, when it happened,
and where the body was found. And because Isabel went missing around the same time,
I just thought it had to be her. (INTERPRETED) Before she went missing, Isabel came with us to the United States
to look for better opportunities. She hoped to help her parents and provide a better
life for her young son. Isabel was so happy. Whenever you spoke to Isabel, she'd
always talked about her son and how much she loved them. Her family was everything to her.
NANCY GRACE: The new witnesses say they had concerns about Isabel's boyfriend at the time.
VICTIM'S COUSIN 1 (INTERPRETED): We didn't have much contact with Isabel whenever her boyfriend,
Diego, was around. We sometimes had a bit of friction between us because we could see that he didn't treat Isabel very well,
and he kept his distance from us and our family. Getting to know Diego was a bit difficult
because he was very reserved, a very mysterious man. It's like he didn't like to spend
time socializing with people. Isabel didn't have many friends. The only one she went out with was him,
and they went everywhere together. And I mean everywhere. It was alleged that they were involved in several arguments
almost on a daily basis. There was even some rumors that she was trying to break up with him.
VICTIM'S COUSIN 1 (INTERPRETED): She made a mistake when she got involved with Diego.
But otherwise, Isabel really seemed happy with her life in Mammoth Lakes. But then suddenly, the day came when
Isabel was never seen again. Isabel told another cousin that she was going out on a walk with Diego and to get his hair cut.
But then later that night, Diego came back to our house without Isabel, and he said he hadn't
heard from her all that day. VICTIM'S COUSIN 2 (INTERPRETED): I was in the living room,
and Diego was asking me if I'd seen Isabel. I found it strange because he was the last person to see her,
but he didn't seem to know where she was. Diego supposedly went to look for Isabel
and then said that Isabel had moved away and gone to a friend's house. But I knew Isabel didn't have many friends.
So the next day, I just went to work. When I got home from work, I found a note on the stairs
from Isabel. The note states, "This is Isabel. I just want to let you know that I left with someone else.
Please do not come looking for me. I'll be OK." They were really surprised and didn't really believe
the letter was actually from her or that she had gone somewhere rather than something
had just happened to her. VICTIM'S COUSIN 2 (INTERPRETED): A short time later, me and my family were visiting my uncle's house.
We saw on the television that the remains of a woman had been found in the Shady campsite in Mammoth Lake.
We talked about it with my uncle, and he even told us he thought that maybe it was Isabel.
But because of what was said in the note and that the woman's remains were said to be of an Asian woman, we really weren't sure.
I talked about it with my friends who told me to go to the police. But because in Mexico some of the police are corrupt,
and also Diego lived in our neighborhood, how could we report this? When she went over the entire story with us, at the end,
we looked at each other, and we knew we had it. We knew this was it. And so because of that, we moved forward
in collecting DNA from our informant to be sent off to the Department of Justice.
NANCY GRACE: The DNA result is not what detectives are expecting. This woman, as it turned out, was not a DNA match.
She wasn't biologically related. She called herself a cousin of this woman, but it wasn't a biological relationship.
It was more a closeness, a community closeness. Is the Mammoth Lakes Jane Doe the missing woman
named Isabel Sanchez Bernal? That answer on "Bloodline Detectives." [SOMBER MUSIC]
NANCY GRACE: Almost 20 years pass since a hiker discovers skeletal remains of a woman
near Mammoth Lakes, California. It's now 2020. Police finally get a tip. The body may be that of Isabel Sanchez
Bernal, a woman originally from Mexico who's been missing since 2003. Now investigators need a family member to make a DNA match.
CHRIS CALLINAN: So once we got the statement, or she gave us the circumstances surrounding her disappearance,
we then tried to figure out the familial match and learned that her mother, father, all of her blood
relatives had since passed, and the only remaining person that anybody was aware of was a brother
who resided down in Mexico. NANCY GRACE: In early 2021, detectives began tracing the whereabouts of the brother in Mexico
to obtain his DNA sample. And I told them that we needed to positively identify the victim as his sister.
My request that I told him, I advised them that FBI would probably be contacting him for a DNA test.
NANCY GRACE: That brother in Mexico cooperates with the FBI. He gives a DNA sample.
Detectives then contact Othram Labs in Texas to prepare for testing between the victim's remains
and DNA from the brother. But to do so, Othram must obtain a brand new sample for analysis.
We were called from the detectives at Mammoth Lake PD, and they asked if we would work this case.
They said that they had heard that we could work with bones that were difficult to extract DNA from.
They were just fragments of bones left, so not much DNA left. It's really sad. I mean, clearly this woman was buried in that shallow grave.
But initially, when fragments of skull and other skeletal remains were found, no one knew what had happened.
And Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing is absolutely necessary to start to bring answers.
As word began to spread of Othram's ability to take even the most challenging bones and produce profiles,
some of these skeletal fragments were sent to us. And as we received them, they went
through our typical process, chain of custody, specialized skeletal remains room.
And we were able to, from these little fragments, pull together enough DNA to do something with it.
And so we called back the investigator and said, in fact, I do think we have enough DNA to make a difference here.
To be successful, forensic science is often the sum of many parts, and that is the case here.
The team at Othram Labs successfully creates a good quality DNA sample. It builds on the successful phenotype
test produced by Parabon NanoLabs back in 2020. Before Othram continues with kinship testing,
they subjected to biogeographical testing to reconfirm Parabon's prediction. DAVID MITTELMAN: Some folks use anthropological techniques.
Anthropological techniques can give you some insight, but they're based on very few markers.
It may be tens of markers that you're looking at. And they're generally trained on complete skeletons
or complete skulls. And so in a lot of these forensic cases, you just don't have the precision
with that amount of information to really know who someone is. And you'll either end up sometimes misassigning,
if you overinterpret the results, the ancestry. And so the solution to that problem
is to use more information. And in doing that, we came to the conclusion that this person likely was from Mexico.
And so this cleared up some ambiguity in the initial analysis of who she might have been
or where she was from. KRISTEN MITTELMAN: Based on the detailed biogeographical analysis that we were able to do using these hundreds
and hundreds of thousands of markers on this profile, they were able to find a possible match
as to who this victim might be in the area. And when they did that, they asked if we would be willing to do the kinship
analysis between this possible family member and the DNA that was found at the crime scene.
And this kinship technique allows us to very quickly, and very securely, measure the relatedness between two people.
And this becomes another data point. That one thing on its own-- that one test on its own--
doesn't guarantee an identity. But that plus the genealogical work, plus the STR work, all
of this together tells us that this is a person that is a contributor of that DNA.
The analysis showed that this, indeed, was her brother. And we were able to conclusively say that this
was Isabel Bernal Sanchez. NANCY GRACE: The match confirms the remains are, in fact,
those of Isabel Sanchez Bernal. Detectives now must break the news to Isabel's family.
I called him a day before just to let him know, hey, we have some information that we want
to share with you, the family. You guys are more than welcome to come in. And we invited the family.
The next day they showed up. Once they arrived, we told him, you know, we had positively identified the Jane Doe as Isabel Bernal.
And that's when-- that's when we started looking into more into Diego, now that we
had a positive identification. (INTERPRETED) When I found out what happened, I had a lot of mixed feelings because I
wanted to keep in mind that my cousin was still alive. And when I found out that she was dead,
everything came crashing down. It was like time had gone backwards. We'll never understand why.
NANCY GRACE: Attention now focuses on the last person to see Isabel Sanchez Bernal alive--
her then boyfriend, Diego Hernandez Antonio. CHRIS CALLINAN: So as the years had gone by--
nobody had still heard from Isabel-- there was these rumors or conversations amongst the community members.
There had been several incidents where friends of Diego's had said, you know, hey, I think
I saw Isabel at a local store. Diego laughed and said, that's not possible. The friend said, I don't-- what do
you mean that's not possible? I think I saw her. And he just responded that's-- no, you didn't.
You couldn't have seen her. That's impossible. And that friend said that he found
that statement strange, as though why are you telling me that's impossible? I think I did see her.
He was part of a band. And so after various different band events, they would be drinking, and they would--
the Isabel thing would come up. You know, hey, whatever happened to Isabel? You know, that's just so strange that she left.
At that point, it was reported that there were several incidents where he would become emotional.
He would make statements to the effect that, you know, what's done is done. And, again, they reported that as strange
because they found that that was a weird statement to make. If she ran off with a guy, why are
you sounding as though it's a-- it's a foregone conclusion, and you know, she's otherwise never to be seen again?
Once we get this information, we then start to understand that Diego possibly does have something to do with Isabel's disappearance.
At that point, we start investigating Diego. His last girlfriend that he had, who reported a few months--
even a few months later, before this whole investigation started unraveling, that she had been involved in a very abusive
relationship with Diego. So that's what we started finding out about Diego. We started to kind of follow him around, kind of set boundaries
and where he was living, where he was going, what time he was working, who he was working with.
We started formulating a plan that we were-- the only way to be able to talk to him without him either running away
from town, either to a different state or back to Mexico, is would be by placing him under arrest.
They followed him. He worked at Vons as a stocking employee. And they decided that they were going
to try and find a good cause to arrest him and start questioning him. So they got what's known as a Ramey warrant.
Before any charges are brought, they had a warrant to detain him and question him.
When it came time to arrest him, I was asked to assist because I speak Spanish fluently,
and there being so many individuals who only speak Spanish involved in this case.
I was asked to assist in the case. And to my surprise, when it came time to arrest him,
I was asked to put the handcuffs on. He asked what this was all about. And I recalled replying something to the effect of,
you know what this is about. And he kind of stopped talking. So maybe he thought he got away, but I think it was
still in the back of his mind. I think it was going to be in the back of his mind
for the rest of his life. Mammoth Lakes detectives prepare to question Diego Hernandez Antonio two decades
after Isabel's disappearance. We find out what happens next on "Bloodline Detectives."
NANCY GRACE: Mammoth Lakes, California, 2021. 18 long years have passed since the discovery of a woman's
remains in a shallow grave. Thanks to investigative genetic genealogy, she's finally identified.
Her name? Isabel Sanchez Bernal. She came to America from Mexico in search of a better life.
Now police prepare to question the last person to see Isabel alive-- her boyfriend, Diego Hernandez Antonio.
Once he was arrested, he was transported to the Mono County Jail, where I was waiting,
along with investigator-- DEA investigators and also homicide investigators from the Riverside County Sheriff's Office.
We had planted a few confidential informants inside the jail. Once inside the jail we placed Diego inside the jail
with these confidential informants. These confidential informants then began speaking to him,
kind of asking him questions, see what kind of information he would be willing to give up.
He played like he didn't know anything why he was there. He played like he was very confused
of the whole situation. He was very disconnected. He was-- at first, he was, I don't know.
I don't know who that is. I showed him pictures of Isabel and pictures of the gravesite,
and immediately he disconnected. I don't know who that is. I've never seen that person in my life.
[SPEAKING SPANISH] [SPEAKING SPANISH] [SPEAKING SPANISH] No. [SPEAKING SPANISH] [SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH] Initially he acted like, Isabel? Isabel? Doesn't ring a bell, essentially.
Like, he didn't know her. He wanted to distance himself. After more questioning, he acknowledged
that he knew who she was. And he started telling a series of changing, evolving scenarios of what happened.
[SPEAKING SPANISH] [SPEAKING SPANISH] [SPEAKING SPANISH] [SPEAKING SPANISH] [SPEAKING SPANISH]
I knew that his story was false. It wasn't-- it wasn't true. There was more to the story that he was telling us.
I thought it was ridiculous because this hike is not an easy hike. It's a very strenuous hike and.
Just to go build a rope swing, especially in the mountains, where you know, I'm sure back in the day,
in 2002, 2003, his apartment was filled with trees where they could have built this rope swing.
So the fact that they actually travel all the way up, built this rope swing on the top of the hill,
and then him pushing her so hard to the point where she fell backwards and hit her head, I just--
I just thought the whole story was ridiculous. [SPEAKING SPANISH] You know what-- do you know what is going to save you?
[SPEAKING SPANISH] The truth, being remorseful-- do you know you haven't cried once?
[SPEAKING SPANISH] You haven't cried once. [SPEAKING SPANISH] Not once. [SPEAKING SPANISH]
We just showed you the skull. [SPEAKING SPANISH] No. No, no, no. [SPEAKING SPANISH]
We just showed you where your girlfriend is for the first time in 18 years. [SPEAKING SPANISH]
And you haven't even so much as even once-- [SPEAKING SPANISH] [SPEAKING SPANISH]
[SPEAKING SPANISH] He's a sociopath. He's narcissistic. He's very manipulative. He likes to control people.
He likes to control the mind. He was able to live with it for almost 20 years. I'm sure he has that type of personality, where he could--
he probably could have killed other people, and we wouldn't know about it. NANCY GRACE: Could the couple at the visitor center
be Diego Hernandez Antonio and Isabel Sanchez Bernal? If it is them, what is Diego's motive for murder?
I don't think there was a specific motive to kill her. I think there was a specific motive to control
her, to dominate her. And he did that through-- through violence. We saw it years after the killing,
that he was doing that to other women. And he hadn't changed. So I don't know that he woke up in the morning and said,
I need to kill her. A man and a woman can get very heated if one of them has a particularly violent temper and strength.
But it's not that hard to cause really fatal injuries to somebody if you are enraged.
The thing that I would like to know about that, though, is were those really knife wounds?
Was there a blow to the head and knife wounds? We don't know that and probably never will know that.
I don't think Diego will ever tell us what really happened. While Diego Hernandez Antonio sits in jail,
investigators watch and listen. That's next on "Bloodline Detectives." NANCY GRACE: Mammoth Lakes, California, 2021.
Investigators have arrested a suspect in the 18-year-old murder of Isabel Sanchez Bernal.
It's her ex-boyfriend, Diego Hernandez Antonio. The evidence is strong. While Diego sits in jail, detectives hope he'll break.
Listening to those jail calls, we found out that he-- he was accepting whatever the jail or whatever
the court system was offering. He pleads to murder, and then he's sentenced to I believe is 11 years
in prison with an actual deportation after that. NANCY GRACE: The case is finally closed April 2022,
when Diego Hernandez Antonio is convicted, not of murder, but of a lesser charge--
voluntary manslaughter. He's sentenced to just 11 years behind bars. Some family members and people close to the case
think this sentence is much too lenient. 11 years? It's like, if you kill somebody, take their life,
and then hide their body, and lie about it-- if it were my sister, daughter, cousin,
it would be a punch in my stomach. 11 years? Is that what her life was, you know?
It just doesn't seem that that's justice for Isabel. VICTIM'S COUSIN 1 (INTERPRETED): It didn't seem fair to me
that he got 11 years because he'd gone on with his normal life all this time. He took the life of a person who had
dreams, who came to this country for a better life. I don't know why he did it. And the truth is that it doesn't seem fair to me.
He was given that sentence, but after 11 years, he'll be free and go on with his life.
But my cousin won't get that chance. She's going to rest in peace, and we know what happened to her, which was
the only thing we ever wanted to know, that it was actually her. VICTIM'S COUSIN 2 (INTERPRETED): Isabel's son
was cut off from having a better life and a better future. But as I say, nothing is going to change it.
They did give him that short sentence. Well, if they feel that's what he deserved, well that's fine.
We don't want to have that feeling of resentment, of anger, of hatred because it's not healthy for us.
So we leave it to God. And the only thing we know is that God forgives. We have to get through this and survive.
[BITTERSWEET MUSIC] I think for some family members more than others, they'll never forget about Isabel,
especially she still has a brother who's alive in Mexico. He'll never forget about her, I don't think.
Isabel's son, who remains in Mexico, will never forget about what exactly happened to his mom.
It's just difficult, I think, something like this. How can you forget something of this magnitude
as a family member? And this was one of those cases where I started with the Mammoth Lakes police department,
and this was a big case at the time. And I feel so grateful to just be sought out
and be a part of this because I know that it means a lot to this community. NANCY GRACE: The Mammoth Lakes community
is also indebted to scientists who gave the victim her name-- Isabel Sanchez Bernal.
We develop a very close relationship with the investigators we work with, and they're very passionate about the case.
We're very passionate about our role, and so we do develop kind of a close relationship.
It's exciting to do that. We enjoy working the cases. But it's even more enjoyable to work a case when there's
a team of other folks that are equally passionate and fired up about following up on leads and getting
to that eventual answer. You know, making sure that everyone has access to the best
technology for their case, and it's important to us that the folks at the most remote parts of the US
that may not have their own laboratory or access to a laboratory get the same service
that you would get at a state lab or at a federal agency. And so we work really hard to make sure
that we can evenly distribute this technology to everyone for everyone's benefit.
Is there such a thing as justice? Yes and no. It's not perfect. It's hard to really achieve.
It's subjective to how you measure it. There's no justice for Isabel's son, who grew up without a mom.
There is no justice for Isabel, in that she suffered, and she lost her life. Was justice done in this case?
Not completely. It's imperfect. NANCY GRACE: For 18 years, Isabel Sanchez Bernal
remained a Jane Doe without a name, without an identity, without a family to love and to be loved by.
The amazing teamwork between two countries, two incredible forensic laboratories, and two
investigative agencies finally made her someone who was recognized with a place in her community.
I'm Nancy Grace. Thanks for joining us here on "Bloodline Detectives." [DRAMATIC NOTES]
[THEME MUSIC]

In 2003, a man walking in the Sierra Nevada mountains finds a human skull. In nearby Mammoth Lakes, a family is reeling after a young mother mysteriously skips town. It’ll take revolutionary science to piece this puzzle.

Now in its fourth 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

The episode details the nearly 20-year investigation into Isabel Sanchez Bernal's murder and her boyfriend's eventual arrest and sentencing.

Key points

Discovery of Remains. In May 2003, a hiker discovers skeletal remains in Mammoth Lakes, leading to a long investigation.
Family Connection. Cousins come forward believing the remains belong to their missing relative, Isabel Sanchez Bernal.
Forensic Breakthrough. Investigators use groundbreaking DNA technology to identify the victim, revealing her true identity.
Diego's Arrest. Diego Hernandez Antonio is arrested as the prime suspect in Isabel's disappearance.
Isabel's Identity Revealed. After 18 years, Isabel Sanchez Bernal is finally identified thanks to investigative genetic genealogy.
The Sentencing Controversy. Diego is sentenced to just 11 years for voluntary manslaughter, sparking outrage.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

There's always some kind of trace left behind.

Detectives discussing the importance of finding evidence.

1:19WatchMay 26, 2024

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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