Helen H. Richardson, Denver Post file
John and Patsy Ramsey, the parents of JonBenet Ramsey, meet with a small selected group of the local Colorado media after four months of silence in Boulder on May 1, 1997.
Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty is forming a cold case unit to investigate unsolved homicides and missing persons cases, which would include the 1996 slaying of JonBenet Ramsey.
“There are over 30 other names on this list, and the impact on the families and the community is extremely significant,” Dougherty said. “And that’s what drives us.”
Boulder County has more than 30 cold cases, including four John Doe cases, which have unidentified victims who were believed to have been murdered. Some go back decades, while others are more recent, such as the 2013 missing person case of Tiannah Marie Annibal. Colorado has a total of 1,500 cold cases.
A cold case is defined as a homicide or missing person case that remains unsolved for one year after the event was initially reported to law enforcement, and for which the applicable statute of limitations hasn’t expired. There are no limitations for first-degree murder.
Chief Trial Deputy Fred Johnson and senior investigator Gary Thatcher, both of whom have experience with cold cases, will be assigned to the cold case unit in addition to their current responsibilities, Dougherty said, so additional staff won’t be hired. Both Johnson and Thatcher have also been invited to join the statewide cold case review team, which looks at cold cases from agencies across Colorado and gives advice on how to pursue them.
Read the full story at DailyCamera.com.
Source : Denver Post
