After the death of his lovely wife Mary Winchester, John Winchester became obsessed with finding and destroying the demon responsible for Mary's death,. He trained his sons to recognize and defend themselves against paranormal entities. Sam and Dean became resourceful sleuths and competent fighters in order to assist their father in his quest to destroy dangerous creatures and find the demon that had killed Mary.  However, Sam did not like  the lifestyle his father chose for him and eventually a falling-out with his father  occurred .   Sam then left to lead a "normal" life at Stanford University.  Where he had a full scholarship and an apartment just off campus with his girlfriend Jessica.  But as fate would have it  Dean  suddenly appears one night during the autumn of his senior year, bearing the news that their father has gone missing while on a "hunting trip," Sam reluctantly agrees to help Dean look for their father.

        The brothers eventually trace John to Jericho, California, where they find more clues about their father's location and help solve a murder mystery. However, Sam declines his brother's invitation to continue the search and conduct more hunts, opting instead to return to his life with Jessica. Unfortunately, shortly after arriving in his apartment, he finds her pinned to the bedroom ceiling, bleeding from the abdomen. As Sam watches helplessly, she bursts into flames and dies in the same manner as his mother. Dean rescues his brother from the burning apartment, and the bereaved Sam decides to resume the search for the demon who killed his mother and his girlfriend. The Winchester boys then pick up the trail of clues leading to the whereabouts of their missing father.