All Cases Summary

See a full listing of more than 30 unsolved homicide, missing person or questionable death cases in the Ohio Valley. Read More

Richard "Spike" Sterling

If anyone has any information about the 1979 disappearance of Richard "Spike" Sterling of Rayland, OH, would you please contact us anonymously at tips@ovcoldcases.com

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.