Speaking At Lions Club

I will be telling the Wheeling Lions Club about my Ohio Valley Cold Case Initiative tomorrow at noon.

Deputizing Social Media Nation

With everyone embracing social media as a way to build their brand, why not think even further out of the box and bring in a public service element?

How cool would it be if your Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin presence or your Blog prompted the one tip that ultimately solves a years-old cold case?

The Interactive Cold Case Map on this blog site is a graphic — if not chilling — visual of more than 30 unsolved murder, suspicious death and missing person cases within a 25-mile radius of a point between Bridgeport, Ohio and Wheeling, W.Va. More will be added as information becomes available.

This unspeakable travesty of justice has prompted us to birth the Ohio Valley Cold Case Initiative. A part of our effort is to create an interstate, multi-jurisdictional Task Force of reputable retired police investigators working with current law enforcement agencies to investigate these cases.

Another part of the initiative is to lobby local, state and national elected officials for funding exclusively for cold case investigation. This has happened in other jurisdictions around the country and we believe our 25-mile circle deserves the same attention. We need you to help get their attention by showing strength in numbers. This blog site currently has 30 followers. You can help grow that to thousands simply by showing an interest. Sign on as a public follower.

Ironically, one of the most talked about victims in the Ohio Valley unknowingly issues a call of duty to all of us from the grave. It has been 34 years since someone raped and murdered Sister Roberta Elam, a 26-year-old postulant nun, in broad daylight on the grounds of the Mount St. Joseph Convent. Inside her personal bible, police found a hand-written note with these words: “So long as I can see, I will keep looking. So long as I can walk, I will keep moving. So long as I can stand, I will keep fighting.”

At the time of her death, Sister Robin had a mother and father, a sister and two brothers. She and all of these victims left behind brokenhearted loved ones who need your help.

If you want to make a difference, raise you mouse and repeat this oath:

I will do everything in my power to give voice to the silenced lips of these victims and help their families find justice.

I will sign on as a follower to the ovcoldcases.com blog.

I will share this post with all of my Facebook friends and/or Linkedin connections and/or retweet it to my Twitter followers.

I will blog about this initiative and add ovcoldcases.com to my Blog Role.

I will encourage my friends, connections and followers to do the same.

Congratulations! You are now an authorized Ohio Valley Cold Case Deputy. The victims’ surviving loved ones thank you. 

Cold Case Map Added

A interactive Cold Case Map has been added to our blog site.

Cold Case Initiative

With more than 30 known unsolved murder, questionable death and missing person cases within a 25-mile radius, it’s obvious the Upper Ohio Valley has a problem that cannot be ignored any longer.

Local law enforcement agencies are aware of the situation but, the truth is, they are over burdened working current crime cases. Limited manpower and financial resources put cold cases on the back burner.

Cold cases are reviewed periodically when a new lead develops but there is nobody getting out of bed every morning to work them. With the exception of some big cities, there are no full-time cold case investigators in Ohio or West Virginia.

The question is: What are we going to do about it?

OVcoldcases.com is working to assemble an interstate, multi-jurisdictional Cold Case Task Force comprised of reputable retired police officers from both sides of the Ohio River volunteering their time to do some legwork exclusively on cold cases. We believe experienced officers from different counties or jurisdictions may see something the original investigators missed. They may have new ideas not thought of before.

The task force will work in harmony with current law enforcement agencies. County prosecutors will be involved to sort out logistics of how the unit will operate. There must be a protocol in place concerning the questioning of suspects, witnesses or informants; the handling evidence and other procedures that would come into play if the case goes to court.

There are other task force units like this around the country and we are looking at some of those as a model to be used here in the Ohio Valley. If all else fails, we will develop a model of our own.

Once the unit is formed, we can lobby local, state and federal elected officials for grant money or other funding exclusively for cold cases. The U.S. Department of Justice has funded cold case squads in other jurisdictions. We will shake every political tree until some cold case money falls out. We are also looking into finding local business leaders interested in creating a reward fund.

Our mission has always been to shine light onto these unsolved cases with a hope of giving voice to the silenced lips of the victims. Experience shows us that there can never be closure for surviving loved ones — but there can be justice.

These victims may be gone but they are not forgotten; and their surviving loved ones are not forgotten.

OVcoldcases.com stands ready as a conduit to feed information from the public to the Cold Case Task Force.  

We can do this.

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New Subscriber

Welcome Charles. Thanks for joining our efforts.

New Subscriber

Welcome to Susan Lewis, the newest subscriber to our efforts.