The Girl Next Door
In 2003, the body of an unidentified teenage girl was found stuffed in a bag behind a restaurant. In hopes to identify her, a forensic sculptor created a reconstruction of her face, based on her skull. Authorities then received a call from a woman who had seen a flyer with the girl's face on it and feared she was her missing daughter. "48 Hours" correspondent Harold Dow reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 7/4/2009. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays and stream on demand on Paramount+.
- Duration
- 39m
- Broadcast on
- 30 Sep 2026
- Audio Format
- other
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(upbeat music) She was five foot one, 110 pounds. She had a butterfly clip in the back of her hair. She had beautiful gold hoop earrings. No drugs, no alcohol, inner system. If you put that all together, it tells you that this is the girl that was living next door. This girl could be from Louisiana. This girl could be from New York. This girl can be from Rhode Island. We have no idea where to even start. Unfortunately, we're gonna have to dig up her body to find out who she is. I'm Sergeant Scott Tudeck. I'm a detective with the Alameda County Sheriff's Office. I can vividly recall pulling in here that night. It was late at night. They found a bag behind the local restaurant here in Kestra Valley. And on the sad part about it too is outside of being discarded like a piece of trash behind a tree. She had a rag stuff down her throat. She died of asphyxiation. So it's just a horrific, horrific ending. We have to figure out who this little girl is to go forward with the homicide investigation. (rain pattering) One, two, three, up. We're hopeful that the new pathologist that looks at her little body can tell us something that maybe we missed. I have to. Okay, hold on a minute. This was a living, breathing person. She does have a story to tell us. And she's trying very hard tonight to tell us what she can. (upbeat music) There are a million clues inside a skull. It just takes the right person to bring them out. Facial reconstruction is kind of a last ditch effort. We were desperate to find out who killed this young girl. I knew we would. I just didn't know how. But it just proves that you really shouldn't give up. The girl next door, tonight's 48 hours mystery. I think it haunts me a lot. I think it haunts everybody that's worked on this case.
Transcription truncated.
In 2003, the body of an unidentified teenage girl was found stuffed in a bag behind a restaurant. In hopes to identify her, a forensic sculptor created a reconstruction of her face, based on her skull. Authorities then received a call from a woman who had seen a flyer with the girl's face on it and feared she was her missing daughter. "48 Hours" correspondent Harold Dow reports. This classic "48 Hours" episode last aired on 7/4/2009. Watch all-new episodes of “48 Hours” on Saturdays and stream on demand on Paramount+.