Junior sleuths hard at work at McHenry County College

It wasn't a major criminal investigation like most of the fifth- and sixth-graders might have wanted. But the young students in the Introduction to Forensics and Biometics class learned to uncover facts in the case of the missing doughnuts.

The "crime scene" was a classroom at McHenry County College during the Kids and College summer program Wednesday in Crystal Lake. The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) program had more than 100 students in grades one through nine learning about crime scene investigations, including animation and robotics.

The Tech Campers compared fingerprints, bite marks in doughnuts, and hair samples under a microscope among five suspects.

"It's just a tiny piece of hair," said camper Abbi Getty of Lake in the Hills as she looked up from the microscope. "No one would think it has all these different designs in it."

The CSI students spent the week collecting and studying evidence after a box of doughnuts disappeared. The suspects in the case were program teachers and counselors. The junior sleuths present their findings and expose the thief Thursday.