Cold Case Files

Cold Case Files is a 1998 - present documentary television series on the A&E Network hosted by Bill Kurtis that documents the investigation of various long unsolved murders (referred to as "cold cases" in detective parlance) through the use of modern forensics, technology (especially recent advances in DNA techniques), and criminal psychology, in addition to recent breakthroughs in the case(s) involving previously silent witnesses. The show has been widely praised by law enforcement agencies for its realism, and the show's investigative reports are commonly used as models for detective training techniques. It has also served as inspiration for a number of popular later police dramas on network television.

Cold Case Files first aired as a sub-series of another A&E crime documentary program, "Investigative Reports", also hosted by Bill Kurtis, which ran from 1991-2004.