Forensic Files

Innocence Lost (4x5)

:

Five-year-old Melissa Brannen disappeared from a Christmas party in 1989. The fibers on her clothes were the only means for police to determine her abductor. Police grew suspicious of Cal Hughes who was washing his clothes at 1am when they came to his home. They searched his car and found several fibers similar to the clothes Melissa had worn to the party. However, there was no way to test the fibers until an investigator's wife remembered seeing Melissa's outfit in a catalog. The same outfit was taken from another customer and tested. The fibers matched and Cal Hughes was convicted of abduction with intent to harm.