RICHMOND, Va. – A new website is bringing attention to cold cases in Virginia.
Sunday was the National Day of Remembrance for Homicide Victims. Now many are hopeful that Virginia’s new cold case website will bring back the public’s attention to those cases that remain unsolved.
The website is a searchable database. It features information, photographs, and contact information for unsolved homicides, unidentified persons and missing person cases that have remained unsolved for at least five years.
State Police are required by law to host the website for Virginia local and state law enforcement agency participation.
The website was initially launched in June with only a limited number of State Police cold cases.
Now, the website has grown to feature 44 unsolved homicides, nine missing persons and seven unidentified persons with 12 reporting agencies.
According to officials, as of today, State Police has trained and provided access to upload cases to the website to 19 local police and sheriff’s offices.
“There really is no such thing as a ‘cold’ case,” said Colonel Gary T. Settle, Virginia State Police Superintendent. “That moniker is misleading because no matter how many years have passed that a homicide, missing person investigation or unidentified person case has gone unresolved, it never truly goes ‘cold.’ Virginia law enforcement agencies continue to pursue unresolved investigations until justice is rendered for the victim and that victim’s family. Unfortunately, some cases simply take longer than others to achieve that end goal of an arrest and closure.”
