Four days later, her body was found in an irrigation ditch. Amanda was taken from her car and drowned, a murder that had no apparent motive. It's a crime that's haunted the Arkansas Craighead County police department and Amanda's family since it happened.

Provided with little information about the victim or the crime, psychic profiler Carla Baron and medium John J. Oliver are taken to the scene by paranormal investigator Patrick Burns. The team has been put together especially for Court TV's new psychic cold case investigative series, Haunting Evidence, which tries to jump-start cold cases by offering new leads for the police to follow.

On a rainy day, the team drives down Highway 18, the same lonely stretch of highway Amanda drove the last night of her life. They stop at the exact location where Amanda's car was found abandoned, and Baron and Oliver begin to get impressions of what might have happened to Amanda.

The two separate as Baron travels to the irrigation ditch to view the scene and Oliver and Burns visit Amanda's parents to get a sense of who she was. Later that evening, the team arrives at the irrigation ditch on another stormy night. With Burns monitoring Ghost Hunter-style equipment, Baron and Oliver toss out their impressions and develop a picture of what they believe happened to Amanda that fateful night. Better yet, they uncover possible clues that might actually lead to Amanda's killer.

Supernatural sleuths

Court TV has embraced its inner psychic these days, due to the success of Psychic Detectives, which chronicles police cases where a psychic was brought in. Haunting Evidence seems like a natural progression from Detectives, adding in more than a little Unsolved Mysteries into the mix.

Whether or not you believe in psychics and their work with the police, it's hard not to see the value of Haunting Evidence. Regardless of the clues Baron and Oliver come up with, police are reopening cases and looking at the evidence with fresh eyes. Beyond that, it puts the case back in the public eye, with viewers encouraged to contact police if they have any new information, along the lines of America's Most Wanted.

Baron, Oliver and Burns are a bit of an odd mix, but it seems to work. Baron is edgier and more emotional, while Oliver operates more internally. At first, Burns appears out of place, because there doesn't seem to be a need for a good ghostbuster. However, it turns out Burns is the bridge between the psychic profiler and the medium, asking pointed questions and guiding them to the meat of the story.

It is strange that Baron is sent off to the irrigation ditch (which she returns to later that evening), while Oliver meets with the family. One of the best moments is when Amanda's parents hold back the flood of emotion they must be feeling while Oliver retraces how he believes the young woman died. He's sensitive to their feelings and gentle in his presentation of his beliefs.

As for the big finale at the irrigation ditch, with lightning flickering through the skies, there couldn't be a more dramatic setting. Both Baron and Oliver have powerful moments of revelation, and they give Amanda a voice. Her story is one that deserves to be heard. While there's no doubt there's some manipulation in the way the story is presented, as is only natural for reality TV, the victims and their families are what charge this series with a powerful emotion and make it well worth while seeing.