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Thank you. The Minds of Madness podcast. Listener discretion is advised. You've probably heard the phrase. The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. But sometimes, the absence of evidence is exactly what reveals something is wrong.

For years, governments around the world have used radiation detectors to scan shipping containers for hidden nuclear material,

but they're not just looking for spikes in radiation, they're also looking for sudden drops.

Because when normal background radiation suddenly disappears, it can mean something is blocking it or hiding what's underneath.

And sometimes, murder scenes work the same way, because in a lived-in home, it's expected

for people to leave traces of themselves everywhere.

Hair, skin cells, DNA, tiny remnants of everyday life that settle into drains, grout, furniture, carpets, even walls.

So when all of that suddenly disappears, it can suggest something else entirely.

And that's exactly what investigators encountered in New Jersey in 2004.

When police entered an apartment where they believed

a brutal murder and dismemberment had taken place. But after searching the apartment again and again,

they found almost nothing. No blood in the drains, no DNA in the grout. Then came the detail that really bothered them. Not even the

family's own trace DNA remained on many of the surfaces they touched every day. The apartment

...