Described by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as “one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity,” the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala., took the lives of four girls and forever changed the course of history. Within a few hours of the vicious attack, there were FBI bomb experts on the ground who started what would become a four-decade-long quest for justice. By the mid-‘90s, the FBI had secretly re-opened their investigation into the bombing. Special Agents Bill Fleming and Ben Herren, and former U.S. attorney and Senator Doug Jones, speak with former agent Kristy Kottis about their work to uncover new evidence that could finally bring justice for the four young girls killed in this unthinkable act of racial hatred.

In 2014, a suburban police detective learns of a Seattle filmmaker who convinces teenage girls to engage in prostitution with fraudulent promises that they'll cash in when he makes a movie on the subject. After the suspect goes on the run, the detective and an FBI special agent team up to uncover a multi-state sex-trafficking operation. Special Agent Ingrid Arbuthnot-Stohl and Natalie D’Amico speak with agent Kristy Kottis about how they collaborated to take down a conman who victimized and exploited unsuspecting young women. When the CIA’s most valuable Russian assets start disappearing one by one, the Agency starts hunting for the mole who's been betraying them since 1985. As the mole hunters zero in on a trusted colleague, the FBI takes over the investigation in hopes of catching the culprit before more damage is done. Former FBI Special Agent Barry Colvert, former CIA Officer Sandy Grimes, and former FBI Supervisory Special Agent Dell Spry recount to fellow agent Cindy Coppola the agonizing search for the deadliest traitor in American history.

When a massive bomb planted in a Ryder van explodes below the North Tower of the World Trade Center in 1993, the FBI sets out on a desperate international manhunt for the man who built the bomb. After a family doctor well-known for performing abortions is gunned down in his suburban Buffalo home in 1998, all clues point to an anti-abortion extremist as the sniper.

After a tip from an informant, FBI agents work to track down priceless works of art stolen from Denmark’s national museum. In 2015, the FBI uncovered a deep and widespread criminal conspiracy among members of FIFA - including wire fraud, racketeering, and money laundering.

In February of 2011, Somali pirates seize the SY QUEST, a yacht with four Americans on board. A joint operation involving the FBI and the U.S. Navy races to the scene to try and save the hostages. When the incident suddenly turns deadly, the FBI works with its international partners in Africa to identify and track down the pirates’ lead negotiator. What ensues is a wild cross-continent manhunt for the mastermind behind the piracy plot. A former associate of Whitey Bulger with a violent history is scheduled to be released from prison, and the FBI suspects he’s intent on resuming his criminal activity. In an elaborate undercover operation, the bureau’s Boston office soon learns that the ex-con is actively seeking employment as a hitman, willing to serve the highest bidder. Agents must formulate a plan to catch the criminal before he can carry out his deadly business.

An early-morning explosion at a federal building in downtown Oklahoma City kills and injures hundreds. FBI investigators quickly determine that the building has been bombed. The Bureau coordinates a complex rescue mission to save survivors of the blast. At the same time, agents comb through the wreckage, searching for clues about the bomber. The FBI learns Timothy McVeigh hopes to instigate a civil war in America with his bombing of the Federal building in Oklahoma City. His arrest will set in motion a nationwide hunt that will take investigators from Oklahoma across the country, questioning collaborators, uncovering evidence and unveiling the history of a young man disillusioned with the government.

An ATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) raid on the compound of an armed self-proclaimed religious group in Waco, Texas, turns deadly after a terrifying shootout leaves four federal agents dead and more than a dozen wounded. The FBI’s tactical and negotiation teams steps in. But as both sides dig in, concerns grow about the intentions of the group’s leader, David Koresh, and the welfare of the children inside. After a 51-day standoff (known as the longest siege in U.S. history) the FBI must decide on the safest next steps to take down Koresh. Rick Shirley, Charlie Rasner and Jim McGee tell their heart-wrenching stories to FBI veteran Special Agent Kristy Kottis about what happened during this historic siege and the deadly blaze that ensued.

After two U.S. embassies in Africa were bombed in 1998 leaving 224 dead and thousands injured, three FBI agents suspect an injured bystander may be one of the terrorists behind the bombing. The discovery of a bomb factory linked to the attacks leads them to not only expose the extensive influence of the terrorist organization known as Al Qaeda, but also reveals their first major assault on the West. Those agents, John Anticev (a retired member of New York’s Joint Terrorism Task Force who helped thwart attacks on the Holland Tunnel and the United Nation, who was also involved with major investigations around the world over the course of his 28 years with the FBI), Abigail Perkins (a lawyer before joining the FBI in 1995, who put her legal training to use in a broad range of Bureau investigations into terrorist acts, from the African embassy bombings to the attacks on 9/11), and Stephen Gaudin (a retired Special Agent on the Joint Terrorism Task Force who participated in investigations in the Middle East and Africa, and was directly involved with the hunt and capture of several al-Qaeda operatives) sit down with FBI veteran Special Agent Kristy Kottis, on a new episode of FBI TRUE, Tuesday, Dec. 19.

When Special Agent Bomb Tech Bill Forsyth is called to an unattended backpack during a live concert at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, he finds himself face to face with a 40-pound pipe bomb, which explodes after he quickly moves the crowd away from the scene. After several more bombings in the Atlanta area – and in Birmingham, Ala. – the FBI ultimately realizes the suspect is a deranged political extremist serial bomber and hardened survivalist. When the suspect flees into the Appalachian Mountains, one of the biggest manhunts in U.S. history ensues as the agents feel the pressure to find the bomber before other people die. Forsyth (FBI Special Agent Bomb Tech), Ron Tunkel (a retired Special Agent, criminal profiler with the ATF), Chris Swecker (a 24-year FBI veteran who retired as assistant director with responsibility over all FBI criminal investigations), and Frank Brostrom (a Special Agent Bomb Technician) sit down with FBI veteran Special Agent Kristy Kottis, on a never-before-seen episode of FBI TRUE.

In October 2011, 14-year-old Chyenne Kircher disappears from her small-town Illinois home and a runaway note is found. When the FBI joins forces with police to help find her, they discover a winding trail that leads from Chyenne’s own home to a shocking YouTube video that suggests horrific foul play. As investigators turn their attention to Chyenne’s family, they suddenly find themselves face-to-face with the prime suspect in her disappearance. Casey Folks (a 29-year veteran of the Jo Daviess County Sheriff’s Office who investigates everything from fraud to crimes against children to murder), Wayne Jackowski (an accountant-turned-agent stationed at the FBI’s Rockford, Ill., office for 10 years investigating financial crimes, bank robberies, human trafficking and murder) and Kim Castro (a second-generation agent who spent her first decade in the Bureau working international terrorism before joining the Violent Crimes Against Children Task Force for the FBI’s Chicago office) dive deep with fellow agent Kristy Kottis about their work on this emotional case.

When Eric O’Neill, an FBI investigative specialist goes undercover in 2001 to unearth information on Robert Hanssen, who would be revealed as the most damaging spy in FBI history having sold information to the Russians for decades, O’Neill’s undercover assignment in 2001 soon becomes dangerous with life and death stakes. O’Neill had to win Hanssen’s trust to find out the extent of the damage done and help the FBI catch him in the act so they could bring him to justice for his years of espionage and betrayal. O’Neill opens up to Kristy Kottis about his first-hand experience undercover with Hanssen while Richard Garcia (an FBI Special Agent for 25 years who went undercover with a Colombian drug cartel and a legendary section chief at FBI Headquarters) and Debra Smith (42-year FBI veteran who worked Russian organized crime, overseas espionage and was the head of the Russian Counterintelligence Squad in Washington D.C.) share their perspective on the importance of taking this spy down.

When a U.S. Deputy Marshal is shot and killed in 1992 while staking out wanted fugitive Randy Weaver on a remote mountaintop in Northern Idaho, the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) is called in to arrest the perpetrators. With Weaver and his family holed up inside their cabin, an 11-day armed standoff ensues – with deadly consequences. Former members of the Hostage Rescue Team, Charlie Rasner (an FBI Special Agent who worked domestic terrorism and civil rights cases before joining the HRT where he was awarded the FBI’s Shield of Bravery), Jim McGee (who received the Medal of Valor for Exceptional Heroism as a member of the HRT) and Dale Monroe (a former Marine Corps pilot and retired FBI Special Agent who was also awarded the Shield of Bravery) sit down with fellow agent Kristy Kottis to go on the record for the very first time about the tragic siege.

After a Deputy Sheriff is murdered in 2005 by a Latino gang (Varrio Hawaiian Gardens), the FBI leads a task force made up of over 40 federal, state, and local enforcement agencies in Operation Knockout, the biggest anti-gang operation in U.S. history. The street gang was known for drug dealing, extortion, and hate-motivated attacks against African Americans, and by the early 2000s they had been terrorizing the California city of Hawaiian Gardens for decades. Michael S. Lowe (prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s offices in Eastern Pennsylvania and Central District of California in Los Angeles for 25 years), Gary Sloan (homicide investigator with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for 11 years and worked as a gang detective) and former Special Agent Maureen O’Connell (25-year veteran who worked white color crimes, violent street gangs and major narcotics) sit down with Kristy Kottis to recall their work as part of the biggest anti-gang operation in U.S. history.  On May 1, 2010, a T-shirt vendor in Times Square notices a man lighting a truck on fire, and it soon becomes clear the vehicle contains a massive bomb. Panic sets in as tourists flee the area and the NYPD bomb squad gets called in. When the bomb is rendered inert the manhunt begins. The FBI soon determines that the elusive bomber has ties to the Pakistani Taliban, and embarks on a high-speed, high-stakes hunt to catch the bomber before he can flee the country or strike again. Peter Licata (one of the FBI’s top bomb experts who dealt with more than 300 Improvised Explosive Devices on missions to Iraq and led the Weapons of Mass Destruction Squad for New York City in 2010), former Supervisory Special Agent for the New York Domestic Terrorism Squad Greg Ehrie (recruited from the U.S. Air Force to join the FBI working organized crime and intelligence cases) and Richard Frankel (got his start in the FBI investigating the infamous Gambino crime family, moved into national security after the 9/11 attacks, and by 2009 was responsible for domestic terrorist threats for the Bureau’s New York field office) dive deep with Kristy Kottis into the hunt to find the terrorist behind this attack.

In 1999, three women went missing in Yosemite National Park, launching the largest search and rescue operation in California history. Two of the women are found in a burned car, and the third is only found when the killer sends a taunting note to the FBI. After a fourth woman is found beheaded near the park, the Bureau believes a serial killer may be on the loose and assigns an FBI profiler who uncovers the murderer’s darkest inner secrets. The FBI has shared key recordings and details from the operation led by 30-year FBI veteran/profiler Jeff Rinek. Rinek sits down with agent Kristy Kottis to discuss the pressure he felt working on this case. For three weeks in October 2002, citizens of the Washington, D.C., area are terrorized by an unknown sniper who seems to choose their victims at random. As the FBI investigators hunt for the murderer and law enforcement is inundated by a series of false leads, the investigation stalls and the killings continue. Will a series of cryptic clues left by the shooter help authorities end the killing spree? We follow three FBI agents, Melissa Thomas (a retired FBI Special Agent who worked for the counterterrorism squad in Washington, D.C., and the behavioral analysis department at Quantico), Whit Darnell (a retired Special Agent who worked on the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team) and Keith Runk (a retired SWAT commander and assistant commander of the special operations division of the Maryland State Police). Agents Thomas, Darnell and Runk sit down with fellow agent Kristy Kottis to share the impact that this case had on all their lives.

“Hunting Whitey Bulger” - Notorious Boston mobster Whitey Bulger, accused of 19 murders, has been on the run for 15 years. He went on the lam after being tipped off by a corrupt FBI agent. The Bureau brings in two hard-charging agents from outside the city to track down Bulger. Will their new approach lead to the capture of the FBI’s Most Wanted fugitive? “Gangs of Newburgh” - Newburgh NY is a small town with a big problem. Gang warfare has made it the most violent city in the state. Tapping into U.S. military surge strategy, FBI agent James Gagliano hatches a plan to dismantle the rival gangs in one day full of gangster shock and awe."

When two bombs cut a swath of death and destruction through the crowd of runners and spectators at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, the FBI steps up to lead a massive manhunt for the perpetrators. As the nation watches transfixed, the Bureau and its law enforcement partners work against time to find the bombers before they can strike again. When the suspects finally emerge, they lead authorities on a high-stakes chase through the streets of greater Boston. Riveting details are disclosed by two FBI agents and a local police sergeant who knew that time was their enemy: Rick DesLauriers (who retired as Special Agent in charge of the Boston field office and previously worked as director of the counterintelligence division at FBI headquarters), Nancy Aguilar (a retired Special Agent of the FBI who worked extraterritorial threats) and John MacLellan (a retired police sergeant who served as a patrol officer in Watertown, Mass., for 30 years). The agents and MacLellan sit down with Cindy Coppola to talk about the intensity of the bombing and putting their lives on the line.

In one of the most infamous serial killer cases in American history, the FBI works with local law enforcement in California to try and apprehend the so-called “Golden State Killer.” In a case that spans four decades, authorities resort to an unprecedented use of familial DNA data to finally track down the man responsible for 13 murders and 51 sexual assaults. Julia Cowley from the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit was the lead agent/profiler on this case and worked side by side with Larry Pool, the Orange County Sheriff’s investigator who was assigned this case in 1998. Cowley and Pool sit down with fellow agent Kristy Kottis to discuss the impact of the new science of every future case.

A manhunt ensues after a homemade bomb explodes in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, injuring 30 people. The FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team heads to the remote wilderness of Idaho to track down a kidnapper and the 16-year-old girl he abducted.

In 2013, Jimmy Lee Dykes shoots and kills a rural Alabama school bus driver and takes a five-year-old boy hostage in a carefully constructed bunker. The FBI discovers that the bunker is lined with explosives and Dykes is heavily armed. After a six day standoff, Dykes sets a deadline for the following day to broadcast his grievances on TV news, or he will kill the boy and himself. The FBI Hostage Rescue Team works with brilliant FBI profiler Molly Amman to extract a five-year-old boy from a bunker built by a heavily armed captor named Jimmy Lee Dykes. The profiler must convince FBI director Robert Muller that negotiations with the erratic Dykes are doomed to fail.