The 1999 Murder of Hae Min Lee Has Been the Subject of Podcasts and Documentaries — What Happened?
The 18-year-old's body was discovered six weeks after she was reported missing.
Published Sept. 19 2025, 3:07 p.m. ET
Anyone who consumes true crime knows that one of the most popular podcasts in the genre is Serial. The This American Life spinoff premiered in 2014 and was co-created by producer Sarah Koenig. It all began when immigration and civil rights attorney Rabia Chaudry reached out to Koenig about an unsolved murder that happened in Baltimore in 1999.
Koenig had previously written about a defense attorney who was disbarred in 2001. The story ran in the Baltimore Sun.
That defense attorney, who later died, represented a friend of Chaudry's. This friend was the person accused of murder in 1999. The victim was his ex-girlfriend, Hae Min Lee.
At the time of the murder, Lee and Adnan Syed were seniors at Woodlawn High School in Baltimore County. Lee, 18, disappeared in January 1999. Her body was discovered six weeks later.
Who killed her? Here is the latest information on the case.
Who killed Hae Min Lee?
As of September 2025, Lee's murder remains unsolved. Not only was Serial the story of a cold case, but it was also the story of Syed, who was later convicted of Lee's murder. On Jan. 13, 1999, Lee's family reported her missing after she failed to pick up her cousin from elementary school.
Lee was last seen by several students at Woodlawn High School as she was leaving around 2:15 p.m.
Six weeks later, on Feb. 9, 1999, Lee's body was discovered in a shallow grave in Leakin Park, a place that later became known as a dumping ground for bodies. Lee's cause of death, which was ruled a homicide, was strangulation.
Less than a week later, police received an anonymous tip suggesting they look into Lee's ex-boyfriend. The couple had broken up towards the end of 1998, which led prosecutors to allege Syed was angry about the demise of their relationship.
Syed was arrested two weeks after police were told they should investigate him. His first trial ended in a mistrial, but the second resulted in a conviction.
The 19-year-old was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years. His complicated journey through the judicial process was laid out in Serial and revisited in the HBO docuseries The Case Against Adnan Syed. If Syed was convicted, why is Lee's murder still unsolved? Here's why.
Where is Adnan Syed now?
According to The New York Times, in March 2022 agreed to conduct new DNA testing due to "advances in genetic profiling." This was made possible by a recent Maryland law that "gave prosecutors the discretion to modify the sentences of offenders who were under 18 at the time of their crimes and had served at least 20 years in prison," per the outlet.
Lee's skirt, pantyhose, jacket, and shoes were tested using a forensic mesthod called touch DNA, reported CBS News. While there were "multiple contributors" found on these objects, Syed's DNA was not.
Syed's conviction was vacated in September 2022. According to Time Magazine, Syed works at Georgetown’s Prisons and Justice Initiative, which "offers education and job training for incarcerated individuals and those re-entering the workforce."
He is also an advocate for the wrongfully accused.