Of all the cases he's handled, what Danny Messer hated the most were crimes involving children. Innocent killings, pedophilia, child prostitution. This one is not a far second --- kidnapping.
A six-year old boy, Shane McCollough, was taken in his bed in the middle of the night.
As Danny stood infront of the big white table in the lab, he enumerated in his head the evidence he's gathered so far.
Blood on the bed sheets. It was the victim's. DNA from the bloody sheets matched the DNA from the victim's haircomb recovered on the scene.
Glass from the broken window of the boy's room had blood in it. It wasn't the boy's. No matches on CODIS.
Prints on the window ledge. No names on AFIS but it did come back to three unsolved kidnapping cases in different states, about a year apart:
Jason Cook, three years old from Anaheim, California was taken in 2003.
Craig Thomas, four years old from Wichita, Kansas was taken in 2004 .
Jonathan Camden, five years old from Bellgrade, Montana was taken in 2005.
Danny closed his eyes. His mind was racing. There were too many questions in his head.
"Why is he taking these boys and not asking for anything?"
"Why were the boys never found?"
"How did he target his victims?"
"Where is he taking them?"
Danny took his coat. He picks up his kit in a hurry. "Back to the crime scene" he said.