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‘CSI: Miami’: One Storyline Was Based on True Events

Some shows like “Law & Order” or “CSI” often take stories from headline news and spin them into riveting episodes. But, one “CSI: Miami” episode was drastically close to home for star Eva LaRue, who played Natalia Boa Vista from 2005 to 2012.

The episode “Darkroom” was based on the murders done by killer William Richard Bradford. He lured women in with promises of modeling and took photos of them. He was convicted of the murder of his 15-year-old neighbor, Tracey Campbell, and a bartender named Shari Miller in 1984. In 2006, a compilation of his photos was released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Police believed he had other victims, and that the photos depicted his victims at the times of their deaths.

Eva LaRue’s sister, Nika, was the third photograph in the set. Although she was kidnapped and raped, she survived. The “CSI: Miami” episode follows Natalia as she searches for her kidnapped sister Anya. The team finds a series of photographs of missing women, which links the episode to the real case. The killer, Gavin LaPorte, was using his photo studio to lure women in, then he would rape and kill them. He had victims scattered all over the country, judging by how many photos he took. As for the real case, it’s still unknown if Bradford killed any of the women in his photos.

According to an interview with LaRue from 2008, she and her sister were reluctant to let “CSI: Miami” write an episode based on Nika’s ordeal. They felt it would be exploitative of the victims. “It’s publicity for publicity’s sake, and it’s gross,” she said of her initial reaction. But, the show agreed to run a PSA at the end of the episode for information on the victims.

“[Nika] said if there’s good that comes out of it, we’re helping in some way, yes,” said LaRue. “If we’re doing it just to do it, then no.”

‘CSI: Miami’ Fans Were Left Devastated After One Horatio Scene

In the “CSI: Miami” episode “Rampage,” so many things happened to Horatio Caine at once; first, his wife Marisol finished her cancer treatments. Then, they celebrated their wedding ceremony. Then, a drug syndicate sniper gunned her down.

David Caruso spoke about that scene to CBS News in 2006, saying, “When you have these sequences floating around — once you begin the grind on the sequence — in other words, you begin to work it in your head, begin to scope the moments in your head, they’re tough to put down […] The other side of it was Alana [de la Garza] was so fantastic in the scenes that I literally had to allow her to set the tone and, as I say, react and support her. She was amazing.”