A recent breakthrough in a decades-old Missouri murder case is helping drive a new statewide effort to solve unsolved crimes. Missouri Attorney General Catherine Hanaway says the Cold Case Playing Cards program already produced results during a trial run in Jefferson County. Hanaway joined federal, state and local law enforcement officials in Jefferson City Wednesday to announce Missouri’s participation in the national Cold Case Playing Cards program.
In the program, each card in a 52-card playing decks contains a cold case, features a victim’s photograph, a brief summary of the circumstances, and anonymous tip-line information.
“Each one of the cards features a different unsolved case here in Missouri. And the hope is that if you get these playing cards in the hands of criminals, that they may know who some of the perpetrators and some of these crimes are and will be willing to come forward,” Hanaway told Missourinet.
Hanaway says the concept already helped solve a murder case during a recent trial run.
“It was a few years ago that we did it the first time and we’ve actually had some pretty good luck solving some of these cold case murders. We just about two weeks ago completed a trial with a guilty verdict on a 25-year-old murder in Jefferson County, Missouri,” she said.
Hanaway announced Missouri’s participation in the program Wednesday alongside the FBI, Missouri State Highway Patrol, Department of Corrections, St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department and Columbia Police Department.