The Dayton Police Department is making significant changes to its Cold Case Unit. The unit will now have three full-time detectives, and its work will expand to include sexual assault cases in addition to homicides. Previously, one detective was dedicated to cold case work.
“Victims of violent crime, to include their families and loved ones, are a top priority of our department. We are making these changes in hopes of greatly impacting the way we investigate and hopefully solve cases that for years have gone unsolved,” said Major Brian Johns, commander of investigations and administrative services.
Detectives are in the process of reviewing old homicide and sexual assault case files in order to categorize them based upon available DNA evidence and other credible evidence. To assist with this task, Dayton police are partnering with the University of Dayton, which will provide student interns to help with cataloging of old case files. In addition to the three full-time cold case detectives, retired detectives will assist with re-examination of files in an effort to identify those with increased evidentiary value for higher solvability.
The Dayton Police Department will continue to utilize advancements in technology such as DNA, forensic genealogy, computer forensics, and more, to help solve these homicide and sexual assault cases.DPD will also launch a podcast to highlight unsolved cases in an effort to gain new or additional information and potential leads.
If anyone has any information on an unsolved homicide or sexual assault, please contact the Dayton Police Department Cold Case Unit at 937-333-7109.
