The man is arrested in February 2011, and subsequent evidence on his hard drive reveals that Marie, not previously known to the local investigative team, was raped by him.

In August, he learned of the case of Marie and contacted her lawyer, discovering that Ken Armstrong of The Marshall Project was already working on a similar story.

The article also provided the basis of Miller and Armstrong's full-length book A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America (2018).

Throughout 2015, he had been reporting on the failure of law enforcement to trace rapists, including the case of Darren Sharper, a football player who raped nine women.

Miller had discovered that a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) database to identify serial murderers and rapists was mostly unused in the cases of rape, as most police departments fail to upload sexual assault reports.

[6][8] Miller called the woman's lawyer and discovered she was in contact with Ken Armstrong of The Marshall Project, who had been working on an article about the case for several months.

[9] As the two reporters and two primary editors were all male, the team ensured that they consulted various women, some with knowledge of the case and some without, particularly in regards to how graphic or detailed to make the description of Marie's rape.

[9] As part of their research, Armstrong and Miller made public records requests to police departments and prosecuting attorney's offices in Washington and Colorado.

They received thousands of pages of documents, including investigative reports, case reviews, crime scene photographs, and footage of surveillance, and O'Leary after his arrest.

[3][9] Armstrong and Miller also interviewed two of Marie's foster parents and her friend, her public defender and civil suit attorney.

The pair spoke to various police officers, including Detectives Stacy Galbraith and Edna Hendershot who investigated the Colorado cases.

[2] In Lynnwood, Washington, an 18-year-old woman, referred to as "Marie," reported to police about being bound, gagged and raped at knifepoint by a stranger.

Galbraith began collaboration with Westminster Detective Edna Hendershot, who had investigated two cases in which women aged 59 and 65 were raped in similar ways.

They also discovered a burglary where a masked man had attempted to tie up a 46-year-old woman, who jumped out of her window to escape and was badly injured.

However, two of Marie's former foster parents began to disbelieve her due to her seemingly calm demeanour, and one reported doubts to the police.

She asked to take a polygraph test—though such tests do not provide reliable evidence—but declined when Rittgarn threatened jail and loss of housing if she failed it.

In February 2011, a report was unearthed of a suspicious vehicle registered to army veteran Marc Patrick O'Leary, who lived in Lakewood, Colorado, and whose description matched the attacker.

An external report by Sergeant Gregg Rinta, who worked for the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office as a sex crimes supervisor, condemned the handling of Marie's case.

It described the officers' behaviour as "bullying" and highlighted threats of jail and housing assistance removal as "coercive, cruel, and unbelievably unprofessional."

Jennifer Gentile Long, CEO of AEquitas: The Prosecutors' Resource on Violence Against Women, commented that the article presented an "extraordinary learning opportunity for both criminal justice professionals and ordinary citizens alike".

[12] Journalist Pamela Colloff referenced the article as an example of good reporting on criminal justice, as it is told from the perspective of a survivor.

[23][24][3] Armstrong and Miller adapted their article and additional research into a 304-page book, A False Report: A True Story of Rape in America.

[25][26] The book expands upon details of the case like O'Leary's perspective and subjects such as victim blaming and social media harassment.

[28] The book received mostly positive critical reviews, with Hamilton Cain of Star Tribune calling it an "instant true-crime classic".

[28][29] However, though Rosita Boland of The Irish Times enjoyed the early sections of the book, she found it to have a "curiously flat style overall, without any distinctive voice".

[35][36][37] On Rotten Tomatoes, the series has a rating of 98%, based on 82 reviews, with the summary: "Heartbreaking and powerful, Unbelievable transcends familiar true-crime beats by shifting its gaze to survivors of abuse, telling their stories with grace and gravity.