The cell tower records that placed a convicted man near a park — and the alibi witness who never testified

She was on her way home.

Hae Min Lee, 18, a senior at Woodlawn High School, left school on January 13, 1999, and was never seen again.

Her body was found on February 9, 1999, in Leakin Park.

She was buried in a shallow grave.

The cause of death was manual strangulation.

Her ex-boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was arrested on February 28, 1999, and charged with her murder.

At trial, the prosecution introduced cell phone records from Syed's phone.

Incoming calls, prosecutors argued, placed him near Leakin Park at the time of the burial.

The defense argued the cell tower data was unreliable.

A potential alibi witness, Asia McClain, never testified.

The jury heard the cell records.

The jury heard the alibi witness was missing.

What the jury did not hear, for years, was the argument that the cell tower data itself might be flawed.

A viral podcast later raised that question.

It is a claim raised by the defense and later by the podcast.

Whether the data was actually unreliable is not established by the record.

No physical evidence — no DNA, no fingerprints — linked Syed to the crime scene, according to the case record.

The investigation was later criticized for failing to pursue other leads.

A potential sighting at a convenience store.

An anonymous tip about another suspect.

Neither resolved.

The trial began in October 1999.

The prosecution's case relied on Jay Wilds' testimony.

Wilds, a former acquaintance, testified that Syed showed him Lee's body in the trunk of a car and asked for help burying her.

His testimony placed Syed at the scene.

It provided a timeline.

The cell records were meant to confirm that timeline.

Incoming calls, the prosecution said, put Syed near the park.

The defense said the towers could not do that.

The jury heard both arguments.

They heard Wilds.

They did not hear Asia McClain.

What would she have said?

What difference would it have made?

That would require evidence.

The record does not provide it.

THE DISAPPEARANCE

She was last seen leaving Woodlawn High School on January 13, 1999.

Eighteen years old. A senior. A student who did not come home that afternoon.

Police began investigating immediately, interviewing classmates and teachers.

They asked who knew her. They asked who had seen her last.

Detectives learned she had an ex-boyfriend named Adnan Syed.

They learned he had called her the night she disappeared.

They focused on him.

There were other leads. A potential sighting of Lee at a convenience store was not pursued.

An anonymous tip about another suspect was not followed.

The identity of that potential alternative suspect is not in the record.