Cold Solve People Cases Information Crime Interesting Methods

In general, the older a crime is, the more difficult it becomes to solve, because witnesses become "forgetful" (not able to remember something well) or "pass away" (die) and "evidence" (proof; objects that show what happened) "rots" (decomposes; becomes ruined) over time. However people have "turned to" (begun to use) "innovative" (new) methods to solve cold cases.

For example, in 1979 a woman named Susan Schwarz was murdered near Seattle, Washington, but there was no "clear" (easily understood) evidence and the murder was considered a cold case for more than 30 years. But then some "detectives" (investigators who work for the police) distributed "playing cards" (sets of 52 cards with different shapes and numbers, used to play games) to "prisoners" (people who are kept in jail). The cards had the names, photographs, and other information about the "victims" (the people who are hurt by crimes) in cold cases, as well as the promise of a "reward" (money given in return for something) for any "tips" (clues; leads) that would help police solve the crime. A prisoner saw a card with Susan's information and told the detectives who had committed the crime.

Another interesting way to solve cold cases is to use the Doe Network, a website that uses "crowdsourcing" (using the Internet to have many people working together on a task) to gather details about cold cases. When enough people participate, the resulting clues can help detectives "piece together" (put things together in a certain way to make connections and provide meaning) the details of the crime. The U.S. Department of Justice has recognized the Doe Network for its efforts, specifically because the information on that site has been "instrumental" (very important and useful) in solving 66 cold cases.