FRONTLINE: Post Mortem

Popular television shows, such as C.S.I., portray death investigators as high-tech sleuths wielding the most sophisticated tools of 21st century science. But, such investigations are not nearly the normal. An unprecedented collaborative investigation by FRONTLINE's Lowell Bergman, ProPublica and NPR found a very different reality: A dysfunctional system in which there are few standards, little oversight and the mistakes are literally buried.

"There are people out there trying to carry out death investigations and they're trying to do them the best they can, but they don't have the training, they don't have the money, they don't have the infrastructure and they don't have the skill," retired Virginia state Medical Examiner Dr. Marcella Fierro tells FRONTLINE.

You almost won't believe what's being reported. Watch FRONTLINE: Post Mortem on your local PBS television station, or watch the full version online. Here's the trailer -