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Adnan Syed

Also known as: Murder of Hae Min Lee, Serial

Active

1999–1999

Region

Baltimore County, Maryland, USA

State

MD

Kind

Single

Status

Convicted

Victims

1

Hae Min Lee, an 18-year-old student at Woodlawn High School, disappeared on January 13, 1999; her body was found in Baltimore's Leakin Park on February 9. Her former boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was convicted of her murder in 2000 and sentenced to life plus 30 years. He has always said he is innocent, and the case drew wide attention through the 2014 podcast Serial. His conviction was vacated in 2022 but reinstated on appeal, and in 2025 prosecutors withdrew their motion to vacate. A judge then reduced his sentence to time served; the murder conviction stands.

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Victims

We remember the people whose lives were taken.

• Hae Min Lee, 18 · January 13, 1999

  A Korean-American student at Woodlawn High School.

Timeline of locations

1. January 13, 1999
   Woodlawn High School (Other)

   Hae Min Lee left school on the afternoon of January 13, 1999, and never arrived to pick up her younger cousin as planned.

2. February 9, 1999
   Leakin Park, Baltimore (Recovery site, approximate area)

   Her body was found in a shallow grave in the park on February 9, 1999. She had been strangled.

3. February 25, 2000
   Baltimore City Circuit Court (Court / trial, approximate area)

   Syed was convicted here in February 2000 after a first trial ended in a mistrial. The same court vacated the conviction in September 2022, and in March 2025 resentenced him to time served after the vacatur motion was withdrawn and the conviction reinstated.

Watch, listen, read

Sources

• Murder of Hae Min Lee (Wikipedia)
• Adnan Syed resentenced in Hae Min Lee murder (CBS News, Mar 6, 2025)
• Prosecutors withdraw motion to vacate Adnan Syed's conviction (NBC News, Feb 26, 2025)
• The Adnan Syed case, a timeline of key events (WJLA, Sep 2024)

Each location also lists its own sources in the data file.