The primary astrophysical origin of elements heavier than iron, 
created through the rapid-neutron capture (r-) process, is a fundamental 
question in astrophysics that remains unresolved. Stars enhanced in r-process 
elements can provide valuable clues since they have preserved the chemical 
signatures of the mysterious r-process astrophysical events. I will discuss 
how ground-based and space-based telescopes can be used to characterize the 
signatures of r-process elements in such stars. These methods include determining 
abundances for key elements like gold, uranium, and thorium. I will show some 
of the recent progress made, including determining gold abundance in only the 
6th star thus far and using uranium to determine the ages of the stars. I will 
also discuss some of the ongoing efforts, including deriving thorium abundance 
for the largest sample of r-process enhanced stars thus far and its potential 
implications on determining whether binary-neutron star mergers could possibly 
be the primary astrophysical origin of r-process elements.