There are several ways to find a cold case on my blog:
1: the tab “cold case database” in the green menu bar sends you to my database. There you can find a case by the victim’s or the wrongfully convicted person’s last name. There are more than 210 cases listed there.
2: you can find a cold case by entering a keyword in the search box in the upper right hand corner of your screen.
3: use the category drop down menu in the left margin to search by category or,
4: use the archives in the left margin to find information.
If the case you are looking for is not in my database it means that I have not discussed it (yet) on my blog. For more information about my blog I refer you to the “about” tab.
What is a cold case?
A cold case involves an investigation where despite tremendous efforts of the authorities (often assisted by the media and civilians) no new leads are available. There is no new information. All existing avenues have been explored and exhausted. The case is not closed (there is no statute of limitation on murder) but isn’t looked at on a daily basis until new evidence/leads emerge or, new technology makes it possible to test well-preserved evidence for biological materials such as DNA.
Why do these cases need my attention?
Many cold cases have no web presence or a very limited one. With the Internet as a primary source for information gathering it is crucial that those developing new technologies can find these old cold cases.
Many things have changed in the past decades. Old but properly preserved evidence can be tested for DNA and it has already made a huge difference. Cross-referenced databases of the missing and the unidentified has provided us with answers as well.
To complicate matters, not every newspaper has online archives. If they do, often not all editions are online or they are hidden behind a pay wall. Many newspapers are not available on microfilm in public libraries. That is why I started my own database on my blog. You can find more than 250 cold cases there. It is free to the public so please use it as a resource.
Thank you for reading,
Alice
