Samantha Tassler is a missing girl who was found in an alleyway. She was shot in the temple during a police shootout with an armed robber. IAB calls upon SVU to prove that the police didn't kill her in a friendly fire accident. Although it is revealed that the suspect shot her in the crossfire, she was already dead from a pulmonary embolism after starvation and torture.
It was revealed that she was kidnapped and brainwashed by the Foundation of Knowledge Expansion, a cult led by Dr. Garret Lang, but she defied the brainwashing. This led to her being caged in a basement and bitten by cockroaches and emaciated, despite the attempts of member Paula Haggerty to save her life. Haggerty left her with a blanket and stuffed animal in the alley she was found in out of remorse, and the cult lied to its followers and said she was transferred Tassler was identified, and her grieving parents were given back her remains, with Lang being prosecuted and convicted. (SVU: "Perfect")