Behind the Scenes of Crime Scene Cleanup

SAN ANTONIO -- Unfortunately, we often have the job of telling you about tragic stories, including murders. But have you ever thought about what happens after police and investigators leave and the remnants of what took place is left behind?

It's 10 a.m. and Todd Roach has received a call from a family that someone has committed suicide in the bathroom of their home. Within an hour, Roach is there to access the situation and clean up.

"We do want to try and remove as much of the traumatic event as we can,” said Todd Roach.

Roach is the owner of Bio-One. He is one of a handful of companies in San Antonio that cleans up crime scenes.

"Where we are outside right now is the safe zone. So anything outside the premises is safe for us. Once we walk in, we will be in the warm zone,” explained Roach.

Roach and I suit up, a full body suit, two layers of gloves. The first layer is duct-taped around the wrist to ensure no skin is exposed, and protective booties are placed around our feet. A mask and glasses protect our faces. Now it’s time to move into the home and see the job ahead of us. 

"So the obvious things you are looking for is red or brown fluid, dry stains and markings, things of that nature,” Roach told us.

We were in a mock scene Roach set up to show you how gruesome it can be.

"Primary extent of what we will be working on is toward the tub itself. We can see some spotting, some different splashing. We have some foot prints here, looks like some absorption of towels,” said Roach.

Roach and his employees go in after police and investigators have given the scene an all clear. He says they usually work in teams of two, and it can take anywhere from 4 to 10 hours. Roach used to work in IT and says he wanted something that felt more rewarding. 

He showed us pictures from various crime scenes here in Texas, including some of an undiscovered death in a bathroom,a gunshot wound in a foyer of a home, and a homicide in a parking lot.

"Compartmentalization is the best thing that I can tell you. The first thing I like to do is immediately separate myself from what I am looking at or what I smell,” said Roach.

After nearly 4 hours, Roach has completely cleaned the bathroom. It is now safe and clean for use. Everything collected is placed in large trash bags. The bags are then tightly sealed and will be placed into bio-hazard containers. Another job complete and a small piece of someone's home and life put back together.