New TV show takes a fresh look at the unsolved murder of UNC student Faith Hedgepeth
The tragic and still-unsolved murder of UNC-Chapel Hill student Faith Hedgepeth has been the subject of numerous true crime specials and podcasts, each not only recounting the brutal circumstances of her death, but also hoping to produce new clues or prompt new witnesses to come forward.
Another look at the case, a one-hour special called “Who Killed the Co-Ed? An ID Murder Mystery,” is set to premiere Thursday night (May 28) on Investigation Discovery.
Hedgepeth, a member of the Haliwa-Saponi tribal community in Warren County, was found beaten to death in the off-campus Chapel Hill apartment she shared with her roommate, Karena Rosario, on the morning of Sept. 7, 2012. Rosario and friend Marisol Rangel discovered the body. The night before, Hedgepeth, 19 years old, had gone out to a club with Rosario.
The Chapel Hill Police Department gathered a considerable amount of forensic evidence from the scene, including DNA, a murder weapon and a cryptic note written on a fast food bag. There was even a bizarre voicemail message from Hedgepeth to a friend that appeared to be a pocket dial from the night she was killed. The message was hard to understand, but has been analyzed by experts, some of whom believe it captures moments from the assault.
The police department has performed hundreds of DNA tests and generated a composite image of the killer based on DNA.
Yet the case seems no closer to being solved than it did almost eight years ago.
Advances in technology could change all that.
The episode description for the new Investigation Discovery notes: “with groundbreaking new forensic technologies put to the test, investigators and Faith’s family are confident they will finally find out who killed Faith.”
The new technology they refer to could be the relatively new genealogical DNA process in which researchers at companies such as Parabon NanoLabs work with police departments and use accessible crime scene DNA to trace criminals through their family trees. This is the type of technology that finally cracked famous cold cases like the Golden State Killer.
The episode features interviews with Hedgepeth’s parents and friends and with members of the Chapel Hill Police Department. It also features some fairly gruesome reenactments of thee crime scene.
Watch ‘Who Killed the Co-Ed? An ID Murder Mystery’
“Who Killed the Co-Ed? An ID Murder Mystery” premieres at 9 p.m. Thursday, May 28, on Investigation Discovery.
Locally, you’ll find ID on channels 76 and 138 on Spectrum; channel 260 on AT&T UVerse; channel 339 on Google Fiber; channel 192 on Dish; and channel 285 on DirecTV.
This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 2:54 PM.
