"48 HOURS" TO LAUNCH "COLD CASE" A SHORT-RUN SERIES FOCUSING ON LONG-UNSOLVED MURDERS

"48 HOURS: COLD CASE: WHO KILLED AMY GELLERT?" TO BE BROADCAST MARCH 14, 2015

The team at 48 HOURS will launch a new, short-run series focusing on long-unsolved murders, on 48 HOURS: COLD CASE: "Who Killed Amy Gellert?" to be broadcast March 14, 2015 (10:00 PM ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Each broadcast of 48 HOURS: COLD CASE will go in-depth into a hard-to-close case and present new reporting and existing evidence to a nationwide audience. The first focuses on a still unsolved 1994 home invasion turned deadly in Cocoa Beach, Florida. The goal is to do at least three similar broadcasts each television season, beginning in fall 2015.

"There's a long history of cases being solved, reopened or overturned because of the reporting of our team on 48 HOURS," said Senior Executive Producer Susan Zirinsky. "We believe that our original reporting on these unsolved cases may lead to someone in the audience coming forward with new information that could lead to closure for the families involved."

The first broadcast in the new franchise focuses on the horrific murder of Amy Gellert, who was just 21 when she interrupted an intruder holding her parents hostage in their Florida home. Startled by the headlights of Gellert's car outside, the masked man brutally stabbed Gellert's mother, Charlotte (Bunny)
Lehton, and stepfather, Robert Lehton. The man fled, where he encountered Gellert in the driveway. She never made it inside.

Gellert's parents survived, she didn't. The killer was never caught, though multiple suspects have emerged in the more than two decades since that fateful night.

Correspondent Erin Moriarty and 48 HOURS take viewers inside the investigation, which is ongoing, as detectives go through each clue looking for something that leads to a motive and a viable suspect to bring to justice for Gellert's family. Moriarty rides along with detectives as they talk with possible suspects and eliminate possibilities.

"Our audience is savvy and it's quite possible they'll spot something investigators haven't considered, or perhaps they know someone involved," Zirinsky said.

In addition to the broadcast, the 48 HOURS team will use its extensive reach through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to share evidence, interviews and more leading up to the broadcast, during and after.

48 HOURS: COLD CASE joins 48 HOURS: LIVE TO TELL as a short-run series from the award-winning team at 48 HOURS. 48 HOURS has been television's #1 non-sports broadcast on Saturday nights for seven consecutive seasons. The broadcast has been credited with leading to wrongly convicted people being exonerated and cold cases reopened and solved.

48 HOURS: COLD CASE: "Who Killed Amy Gellert" is produced by Lisa Freed. Alicia Tejada is the field producer. Gregory F. McLaughlin is the producer editor. Phil Tangel is the editor. Judy Tygard is the senior producer. Susan Zirinsky is the senior executive producer.

Chat with members of the 48 HOURS team during the broadcast on Twitter and Facebook. Follow 48 HOURS on Instagram. Listen to 48HOURS podcasts at Play.it.