Special Coverage 2008 Fall Movie PreviewThe Must ListBox Office ChallengeSound Bites
''CSI'''s creator faces a real-life crime scene | 1011911674__csi_l
CRIME SCENE Willows (Helgenberger) and Grissom (Petersen) weren't handy when ''CSI'' creator Zuiker encountered a robbery victim
CSI: Tony Esparza/CBS
By Liane Bonin
Liane Bonin
Liane Bonin is a senior writer for EW.com

What kind of crime scene rattles ''CSI'' creator Anthony Zuiker? A real one. In early December, he and wife Jennifer stumbled upon hotel worker Gretchen Howard on a deserted highway near their Las Vegas home. The woman was unconscious at the wheel of her battered car. After calling 911, Zuiker noticed a spread of the victim's ID cards next to the vehicle and surmised that Howard had been robbed and left for dead.

She is now recovering from internal injuries. There are no suspects. (Too bad William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger aren't on the case.) So will the incident ever turn up on ''CSI''? ''It wouldn't seem like the stakes were high enough,'' Zuiker admits. ''But they're way high when you're there.''


Sign up for EW.com's What to Watch Newsletter!

What to watch on TV. Hear what's on tap for the night ahead and get witty, morning after recaps of top shows (sent weekday mornings).
Posted Jan 31, 2002 | Order Article Reprints