Hae Min Lee and Adnan Syed: 26 years later
It’s hard to believe it’s been more than a quarter of a century since 18-year-old Hae Min Lee disappeared from her high school. You may recall it vividly, or you may be familiar with the well-known podcast Serial and subsequent documentaries about the case.
On 13th January 1999, student Hae Min Lee went missing from her school parking lot. What followed was a bewildering mix of grief, investigation, conviction and years of courtroom drama - a case that has never stopped dividing opinion.
This article steps back from the podcast headlines and revisits the facts: what happened to Hae and how investigators built their case. Join us at Crime+Investigation as we explore where things stand in 2025.
The disappearance
Hae Min Lee was a popular, high-achieving senior at Woodlawn High School. On 13th January 1999, she never showed up for a planned appointment with a guidance counsellor. By the end of the day, she was missing.
When Lee’s family reported her disappearance, authorities launched searches and interviews that would eventually lead to a horrifying discovery: Hae’s body was found in Leakin Park on 9th February 1999. The medical examiner later determined she had died of manual strangulation.
Lee’s family and schoolmates were shocked at what happened. Who would do such a thing to a well-liked and popular student?
The investigation and Adnan Syed’s arrest
Police zeroed in on Hae’s ex-boyfriend, 17-year-old Adnan Syed. The pair had dated briefly while both were seniors.
The prosecution’s theory hinged on testimony from a single key witness: Jay Wilds. Wilds told authorities he helped Syed bury Hae’s body, and he provided a version of events implicating Syed in the abduction and killing.
Cell-tower records and other circumstantial evidence were woven into that account at trial. Syed was arrested in February 1999 and after a mistrial in his first case, was convicted of first-degree murder and related charges in 2000. He was sentenced to life plus 30 years.
Trials, appeals and the fog of new evidence
Over the next two decades, Syed’s legal team pursued appeals on multiple grounds: ineffective assistance of counsel, inconsistent witness statements and new interpretations of cellphone data.
The case resurfaced in the public eye in 2014 due to the Serial podcast. The attention the podcast garnered helped catalyse legal reviews but also inflamed tensions between supporters of Syed and Hae’s family.
Legal rulings swung back and forth: convictions were vacated, then reinstated on procedural grounds and further appeals landed in Maryland’s higher courts.
In February/March 2025, the courts again altered Syed’s legal position. The Baltimore State’s Attorney withdrew an earlier motion to vacate the conviction and instead supported a reduced sentence under Maryland’s Juvenile Restoration Act. This allows resentencing for offences committed as juveniles.
Judge Jennifer Schiffer reduced Syed’s sentence to time served and imposed five years’ probation, meaning Syed, who had been released from custody in 2022 after the earlier vacatur, would not return to prison.
How Hae’s family responded
Hae Min Lee’s loved ones have repeatedly pressed for their voice to be front and centre - and they have not accepted the shifting legal outcomes quietly. In a prepared statement after sentencing discussions, the family criticised earlier prosecutorial moves and reiterated their view that the conviction should stand.
As they put it: 'The State of Maryland just last week acknowledged that it had presented ‘false and misleading’ information to the court in support of Mr. Syed’s release … Absolutely nothing changes the fact that Mr. Syed remains convicted of first-degree premeditated murder due to overwhelming direct and circumstantial evidence.'
The case beyond the courtroom
Beyond convictions and appeals, the Hae Min Lee case has had a cultural afterlife. Serial introduced millions to the gaps and ambiguities of the original investigation and ignited debates about journalism’s power to shape legal narratives.
But even as the podcast focused attention on Syed’s possible wrongful conviction, Hae’s family repeatedly criticised the media spotlight for centring the accused rather than the victim - a grievance echoed in court filings and public statements.
Where do things stand in 2025?
Legally, the immediate crisis for Syed has subsided. He remains free on probation following a resentencing to time served, even though the conviction itself was left intact by prosecutors’ strategic decisions and the courts’ rulings.
Love true crime? Stay in the know with the Crime+Investigation Newsletter! Get exclusive access to new articles, episodes, clips, competitions, and more—delivered weekly and completely free. Don't miss out—sign up today!
