This week’s episode of CSI: Miami starts the CSI crossover shows that will continue on throughout the week, to include all three of the CSI franchises. The three part series kicks off in Miami when a distressed mother comes into CSI headquarters and Horatio takes on the case of finding her missing daughter, Ashley. The young woman’s car is found on the side of the highway and a tip from a couple who found her purse and illegally used her credit card. This sends the investigative team’s search to the Everglades, where they find a severed arm and leg.

The arm is identified to be that of Ashley, but the leg surprisingly belongs to another young woman. Forensic find a high level of salt and radioactive debris on the leg which help them determine the young girl came from the Las Vegas area.

Upon contacting the CSI unit in Las Vegas they confirm the leg belonged to a girl missing they are investigating the disappearance of. This brings in Ray Langston to work with the Miami team and he quickly figures out what type of blade was used to dismember both victims and who they should be looking for.

The investigation uncovers that both girls were seduced into prostitution with the promise of becoming a model. Both women came from the Las Vegas area, but were dumped in Miami. The evidence leads them to a pimp in Las Vegas and a restaurant owner in Miami. In the end it was DNA evidence that revealed the pimp was the killer of Ashley and a virus strain from the Middle East was the clue they needed to prove the other young lady was dismembered by the restaurant owner from Miami.

As it turns out, these men worked for a huge organized crime family but neither man were willing to give up their contact to this organized crime unit. The two CSI units do succeed in bringing in two killers, yet the people who controlled everything are still a mystery.

This was a very interesting episode of CSI: Miami that really sets a great foundation for the unique crossover trilogy. The storyline left a lot of unsettled matters and introduced new mysteries that beg to be solved, yet it still brought home a sound conclusion to the pivotal crimes in this first segment.