On March 12, 2009, four people were killed in a house in the small town of Conover. They were part of the area's close-knit Southeast Asian community, and the deaths touched off a nationwide manhunt for the suspect.
When the father of the family, Brian Tzeo, told investigators that some opium was missing from the house, many people dismissed the crime as a drug deal gone bad. But that's not the whole story.
Reporters Monte Mitchell and Richard Gould spent two months unraveling the case and the relationship between the suspect, Chiew Chan Saevang, and the family.
They also studied the history and culture of the Mien and Hmong communities, and their journeys to the United States.
What they found was a complex tale of merging and clashing cultures, of families and hard times, and of the uncertain role still held -- even today -- by opium.
Explore the story through photographs, video, interactive maps and Monte Mitchell's introduction to the series.
