Cold Case Research Articles

Finding the missing and unknown: Novel educational approaches to warming up cold cases

In recent years, students in police academies and higher education institutions around the world have worked together to analyse cold cases including long-term missing persons cases in collaboration with investigators and prosecutors. In 2020, three European organisations, the Police Expert Network on Missing Persons (PEN-MP), AMBER Alert Europe and Locate International, succeeded in connecting these educational organisations enabling them to work collectively on cases and conduct cold case analyses (CCA) across international borders. The International Cold Case Analysis Project (ICCAP) learning objectives were to 1) collect the necessary information about the victim, 2) reconstruct the crime, and 3) investigate trace control.In a learning objective-based evaluation using Computer-Assisted Web Interviewing, 76 participating students from the German and International ICCAP teams were asked to complete a pre- and post-review questionnaire to self-assess their personal competence development. Participants reported significant increases in competence in all evaluated areas, thus demonstrating that authentic and relevant collaborations can enrich the learning environment, promote the use of professional skills, and provide significant knowledge exchange opportunities between academia and industry.Drawing on case studies of cold case missing persons' investigations and unidentified found remains, this article shares how university academics, students and community volunteers can work together nationally and internationally to find out what has happened to missing people and how we can more effectively identify the previously unidentified. In so doing, we share the expertise required to progress these cold cases and provide recommendations to support other institutions and organisations in adopting this innovative approach.

Evaluation of coupled wind / wave model simulations of offshore winds in the Mid-Atlantic Bight using lidar-equipped buoys.

Abstract From 2014 to 2017, two Department of Energy buoys equipped with Doppler lidar were deployed off the U.S. East Coast to provide long term measurements of hub-height wind speed in the marine environment. We performed simulations of selected cases from the deployment using a 5-km configuration of the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, to see if simulated hub height speeds could produce closer agreement with the observations than existing reanalysis products. For each case we performed two additional simulations: one in which marine surface roughness height was one-way coupled to forecast wave parameters from a standalone WaveWatch III (WW3) simulation, and another in which WRF and WW3 were two-way coupled using the Coupled-Ocean-Atmosphere-Wave-Sediment-Transport (COAWST) framework. It was found that all the 5-km WRF simulations improved 90-m wind speed statistics for the tropical cyclone case of 08 May 2015 and the cold frontal case of 25 Mar 2016, but not the nor-easter of 18 Jan 2016. The impact of wave coupling on buoy-level (4 m) wind speed was modest and case dependent, but when present, the impact was typically seen at 90 m as well, being as large as 10% in stable conditions. One-way wave coupling consistently reduced wind speeds, improving biases for 25 Mar 2016 but worsening them for 08 May 2015. Two-way wave coupling mitigated these negative biases, improved wave field representation and statistics, and mostly improved 4-m wind field correlation coefficients, at least at the VA buoy, largely due to greater self-consistency between wind and wave fields.

Who Killed Jane Stanford? : A Gilded Age Tale of Murder, Deceit, Spirits, and the Birth of a University by Richard White

Reviewed by: Who Killed Jane Stanford? : A Gilded Age Tale of Murder, Deceit, Spirits, and the Birth of a University by Richard White George Robb (bio) Who Killed Jane Stanford? : A Gilded Age Tale of Murder, Deceit, Spirits, and the Birth of a University. By Richard White. (New York: W.W. Norton, 2022. Pp. xviii, 362. $35.00 cloth; $16.05 ebook) In 1885, railroad tycoon and robber baron Leland Stanford and his wife Jane founded Stanford University in California as a memorial to their dead son Leland Jr. Twenty years later, Jane died in Hawaii under mysterious circumstances, almost certainly murdered by strychnine poisoning. Once her body was returned to San Francisco for burial, the local authorities quickly quashed the poisoning verdict, ruling Jane’s death the result of natural causes. In this well-researched and entertaining book, Stanford University historian Richard White sets out to solve the mystery of Jane Stanford’s death. Who Killed Jane Stanford? reads like a classic Agatha Christie “whodunnit,” in which the murder victim is revealed to have been a thoroughly unlikeable person whose every associate, from Stanford University president David Starr Jordan to her Chinese servant Ah Wing, wanted her dead. While many people had a motive to kill Jane Stanford, Richard White must determine which suspects also had the means and opportunity. White is well-placed to undertake this investigation, having twice taught a course about the case at Stanford and being thoroughly acquainted with the university’s archives. Nonetheless, it is no easy task to work a cold case more than a century later, especially when much of the original evidence no longer survives. [End Page 203] The victim, Jane Stanford, was a wealthy and powerful woman, having gained control of her husband’s vast fortune upon his death in 1893. While the press extolled Mrs. Stanford as a pious philanthropist, she was also a bully who tyrannized everyone she had authority over. She micromanaged all aspects of university affairs, from faculty hires to the cost of doorstops in campus buildings. An ardent spiritualist, Jane claimed that she consulted her dead husband and son on all important decisions, or as White pithily states, “ghosts ran the university” (p. 67). Jane kept Stanford University on a very tight leash, as the initial endowment was quite meager. The university would only acquire the bulk of the Stanford fortune upon her death. Stanford University benefited from Jane’s death, but so did some of her relatives and employees that she left bequests. Jane’s killer was persistent, poisoning her twice before she died. The first attempt took place in San Francisco on January 14, 1905, when rat poison containing strychnine was added to a bottle of Poland Spring Water on Jane’s bedside table. The second, successful, poisoning took place six weeks later in Hawaii on February 28. On that occasion, Jane ingested pure strychnine that had been mixed into bicarbonate of soda, which she took for indigestion. In unravelling the mystery surrounding Jane Stanford’s death, White reveals much about the social and cultural life of Gilded Age America and the operations of police departments and civic authorities. Ironically, in Hawaii, a thinly populated American overseas territory with few modern scientific facilities, local officials conducted a thorough and highly professional investigation. The conclusion of the Honolulu coroner’s jury that Stanford had been poisoned “with felonious intent by some person or persons unknown” is undoubtedly true (p. 211). Whereas in San Francisco, the largest and most sophisticated city in the western United States, the authorities made a mess of things, replacing the Hawaiian homicide verdict with the preposterous finding that Stanford had suffered a heart attack after a bout of over-eating. As White argues, a cover-up was underway, motivated by a desire quickly to secure Stanford’s vast fortune for the university and the [End Page 204] state of California. A long, drawn-out murder investigation could delay settling the estate. Likewise, a finding of suicide, as some contemporaries suggested, might lead to Mrs. Stanford being declared insane, thus casting doubt on the validity of her will. In exploring the various issues raised by Jane Stanford’s murder, the book...

Methods to Improve Molecular Diagnosis in Genomic Cold Cases in Pediatric Neurology.

During the last decade, genetic testing has emerged as an important etiological diagnostic tool for Mendelian diseases, including pediatric neurological conditions. A genetic diagnosis has a considerable impact on disease management and treatment; however, many cases remain undiagnosed after applying standard diagnostic sequencing techniques. This review discusses various methods to improve the molecular diagnostic rates in these genomic cold cases. We discuss extended analysis methods to consider, non-Mendelian inheritance models, mosaicism, dual/multiple diagnoses, periodic re-analysis, artificial intelligence tools, and deep phenotyping, in addition to integrating various omics methods to improve variant prioritization. Last, novel genomic technologies, including long-read sequencing, artificial long-read sequencing, and optical genome mapping are discussed. In conclusion, a more comprehensive molecular analysis and a timely re-analysis of unsolved cases are imperative to improve diagnostic rates. In addition, our current understanding of the human genome is still limited due to restrictions in technologies. Novel technologies are now available that improve upon some of these limitations and can capture all human genomic variation more accurately. Last, we recommend a more routine implementation of high molecular weight DNA extraction methods that is coherent with the ability to use and/or optimally benefit from these novel genomic methods.

Big Data applied to criminal investigations: expectations of professionals of police cooperation in the European Union

ABSTRACT Big Data is seen as an increasingly important tool to support policing activities, define security governance policies and assist criminal investigations. Although significant literature has explored the predictive capabilities of Big Data, there has been less focus on the uses of Big Data in criminal investigations, focused on detection and apprehension that occur after a crime has been committed. This article aims to fill this gap through the lens of expectations of professionals involved in police cooperation in the European Union. Based upon a set of qualitative interviews, our analysis explores these professionals’ expectations for the application of Big Data techniques in criminal investigations by using DNA data held in national criminal DNA databases and, therefore, potentially increasing the interoperability between genetic and non-genetic data. Our results reveal a flexible repertoire of interpretation of the expectations for the uses of Big Data in criminal investigations and its associated potential risks and benefits. The perceived benefits relate to expectations for Big Data’s potential to advance cold cases and strengthen the interoperability of multiple datasets in ways that produce intelligence valuable for criminal investigations. Perceived risks concern the difficulties associated with investigating large sets of data, the potential for enforcing genetic discrimination, and threatening privacy and human rights.

Identification of a decedent in a 103-year-old homicide case using forensic anthropology and genetic genealogy

Anthropologists are often the custodians of long-term unidentified human remains though their positions as curators of university or museum skeletal collections. Various factors decrease the solvability of these legacy cases including the passage of time, the loss of provenience for specific cases, and lack of documentation or case records. While anthropologists can contribute important information toward identification, it is often necessary to explore novel and cross-disciplinary strategies to resolve difficult cold cases. In long cold cases, the postmortem interval, in particular, may be difficult to estimate leading to further challenges in achieving identification. Modern advances in radiocarbon bomb pulse dating, isotope analysis, and actualistic studies have contributed to positive identification of unidentified human remains in some legacy cases, but may not be available to all forensic practitioners and law enforcement from resource-poor agencies. Pooling resources, as well as collaborating with professionals outside of forensic anthropology, is a useful strategy to pursue when anthropological methods are exhausted.The case study presented here demonstrates a collaborative approach between forensic anthropologists, forensic genetic genealogists, and law enforcement in a century-old homicide. The dismembered and mummified parts of a male body were recovered in a remote cave in 1979 and again in 1991. Despite forensic anthropologists creating and updating the biological profile over the decades from recovery to present, no identification was made until the application of forensic genetic genealogy (FGG) to the case in 2019. New interpretations of bone microstructure and trauma analysis are presented for the case, alongside the historical documentation and “proof of life” evidence used by the genealogy team. A review of the FGG methods underscores the challenges in this case (e.g. significant endogamy, multiple aliases used by the victim) and the steps taken toward resolution. Ultimately, a combined anthropology and genealogy approach resulted in a confirmed identity for a man who was murdered in 1916. Key points Forensic scientists should leverage a collaborative, interdisciplinary approach toward human identification. When combined with forensic anthropology methods, forensic genetic genealogy is a valuable tool linking biological and cultural-historical aspects of identity. Forensic anthropologists should review challenging cases in their labs as new methods are introduced and new resources become available.

Cold case: The disappearance of Egypt bee virus, a fourth distinct master strain of deformed wing virus linked to honeybee mortality in 1970’s Egypt

In 1977, a sample of diseased adult honeybees (Apis mellifera) from Egypt was found to contain large amounts of a previously unknown virus, Egypt bee virus, which was subsequently shown to be serologically related to deformed wing virus (DWV). By sequencing the original isolate, we demonstrate that Egypt bee virus is in fact a fourth unique, major variant of DWV (DWV-D): more closely related to DWV-C than to either DWV-A or DWV-B. DWV-A and DWV-B are the most common DWV variants worldwide due to their close relationship and transmission by Varroa destructor. However, we could not find any trace of DWV-D in several hundred RNA sequencing libraries from a worldwide selection of honeybee, varroa and bumblebee samples. This means that DWV-D has either become extinct, been replaced by other DWV variants better adapted to varroa-mediated transmission, or persists only in a narrow geographic or host range, isolated from common bee and beekeeping trade routes.

Cold Case: Factors That Promote Case Solvability

The killing of one person by another is a topic that attracts a lot of media interest in our society. It is the responsibility of law enforcement officials to find solutions to these offenses, or at least find the perpetrators of such heinous crimes and bring them to justice. Despite the fast rise of forensics and the technology that goes with it, there are still unsolved instances of murders whose investigations have stalled for more than a year without apprehension of a perpetrator or the full appreciation of the circumstances leading to those incidents. Such murders/homicides are often referred to as cold cases. A retrospective study based on article reviews was conducted to explore characteristics that enhance cold case solvability, in order to determine which factors; forensic evidence or investigation technique has a larger impact on the clearance of cold case homicides. Basically, solvability factors refer to information about a case that aid in “clearing and closing” same (Moran & Llc, n.d.). Cold cases and the solution to unsolved homicides have piqued the interest of numerous law enforcement organizations in recent years. However, there has been little to no research done to determine the number of cases in Ghana and the elements that contribute to effective resolutions. Law enforcement and others have been working nonstop to resolve some of these cases. This paper aims to explore the factors that promote cold case solvability, thus factors that influence the selection of cold cases for investigations with a significant degree of solving such. The study found that research literature on cold case solvability was limited, mostly outdated, and largely not supported by scientific and empirical data. Furthermore, it found that available research provided no empirical or scientific proof of specific factors that can improve or influence cold case solvability, except for proposed solvability matrixes. It concluded that there is a need for further research to close the gap in literature related to characteristics and factors of cold cases/unsolved homicides that can help investigators to solve or achieve justiciable closure to cold case homicides.

Psychological contributions to cold case investigations: A systematic review

This article presents a systematic review of the available literature on ‘what works’ in cold case investigations, with a specific focus on psychological evidence-based research. Long-term unsolved and cold cases present their own unique set of challenges, such as lack of hard evidence, recall accuracy, and witness credibility. Therefore, this review provides a collated base of research regarding preventative methods and investigative tools and techniques developed to highlight gaps in the literature and inform best practice in cold case investigations. The review features victim and crime characteristics that may contribute to a case becoming cold and displays contributing factors to cold case clearance. Although promising, at present, psychological research in this field is insufficient to inform evidence-based guidance. Future research should aim to explore the wider psychological and criminal justice-based literature (e.g., memory retrieval and cognitive bias) to investigate what could be applicable to cold case investigations.

Operational psychology and cold case investigations in New Zealand

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the application of psychology to the investigation of cold cases. The paper reviews the development of the discipline of operational psychology and reviews the role of the Behavioural Science Unit in assisting with cold case investigations within New Zealand. Design/methodology/approachThe paper integrates theory, academic principles, and practical investigative experience. FindingsAs a field, operational psychology has a wide application to cold case investigations. The main areas where expertise can be provided, includes, indirect assessment and personality profiles, offender profiling, crime analysis, victimology and equivocal death analysis, and in the interviewing and engagement of offenders. Operational psychology advice should be based upon sound reasoning, evidenced based conclusion, and within the bounds of practitioner competence. Psychologists should seek to educate investigators on probabilities, likelihoods and error rates, and endeavour to indicate the strength of conclusions and statements provided within a report. Originality/valueThe review aims to provide the necessary and relevant impetus for integrating operational, or forensic psychology expertise into cold case investigations. The application of psychological science to police investigations has been subject to numerous academic commentaries, however, there is a dearth of involvement from practitioners practicing in the field.

Crime Script Sequencing: An optimal forensic combination for cold case analysis

Criminal cases go cold when investigative leads or forensic testing does not lead to a successful arrest. In these cases, investigators are often keen to use novel methods to derive fresh ideas or insights. Recently, academics from a range of fields, including Psychology, Criminology, and Forensic Sciences have developed a range of new methods and tests to assist with police investigations. The current paper outlines a novel approach to assisting with police cold case investigations: Crime Script Sequencing. The new method combines two leading temporal methods, Crime Script Analysis and Behaviour Sequence Analysis. A real-world cold case, the bombing of Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 21, is presented and analysed using Crime Script Sequencing to offer readers a guide of how to use the method for other investigations. Impacts, insights, and potential future developments of the method are outlined.

A multidisciplinary approach to locating clandestine gravesites in cold cases: Combining geographic profiling, LiDAR, and near surface geophysics

By nature, clandestine burials are difficult to locate, an issue that can complicate the legal process, and interrupt the natural grief process of the family. The purpose of this paper is to present a three-step process to search for clandestine graves using (1) geographic profiling, (2) light detection and ranging (LiDAR), and (3) near surface geophysics. Each process incrementally decreases the geographic area being searched, while increasing the level of detail provided to investigators. Using two well-known Australian cases and one experimental study, this paper will demonstrate how (1) can highlight potential search areas, (2) can further narrow down the location of potential burial sites within these search areas, and (3) can assist with locating the clandestine grave. Although each technique on its own can successfully locate graves, combining the techniques can provide the most efficient approach to locate those who are missing and buried.

Delivering Justice in Cold Cases: The Critical Role of the DNA Crime Lab in Forensic Genealogy Casework

Delivering Justice in Cold Cases: The Critical Role of the DNA Crime Lab in Forensic Genealogy Casework

Nilpotents Leave No Trace: A Matrix Mystery for Pandemic Times

Reopening a cold case, Inspector Echelon, high-ranking in the Row Operations Center, is searching for a lost linear map, known to be nilpotent. When a partially decomposed matrix is unearthed, he reconstructs its reduced form, finding it singular. But were its origins nilpotent?

Prediction of Exophthalmos by Body Mass Index for Craniofacial Reconstruction: A Meta-Analysis; Consequences for Cold Cases

Prediction of Exophthalmos by Body Mass Index for Craniofacial Reconstruction: A Meta-Analysis; Consequences for Cold Cases

Timeless investigations: cases of disappearance

The work intends to show the complexity of cold cases, unresolved and closed cases that could again be the subject of an investigative procedure thanks to novelties such as testimonies or evidence. In particular, it focuses on cases of disappearance of people, national and international, on the difficulty of research and investigations and the treatment of the psychological aspects that this phenomenon can cause. Analyzing the cases of disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi and Denise Pipitone, we note how the investigative inconsistencies did not lead to the resolution of the case and the time that passed made everything more difficult.

Chilling Effects

Quantum computing has helped to reopen a cold case for circuit designers.

Ghosts, Holes, Rips and Scrapes: Shakespeare in 1619; Bibliography in the Longue Durée. Zachary Lesser. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021. Pp. x+198.

<i>Ghosts, Holes, Rips and Scrapes: Shakespeare in 1619; Bibliography in the Longue Durée</i>. Zachary Lesser. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021. Pp. x+198.

Experimental and CFD analysis of multi nozzle ejector system for aircraft compact heat exchanger applications

ABSTRACT In the present study, analysis of multi-nozzle ejector systems for aircraft compact heat exchanger applications is performed. CFD procedure is validated with experimental data of a single-nozzle ejector. Experimentation is carried out with a multi-nozzle ejector to evaluate the performance of the system at ambient temperature (307 K). Based on the pressure drop data obtained from the experiment, the computational domain for CFD studies is simplified. Further the analysis of air ejector systems at higher operating temperature (813 K) is performed. Primary air inlet temperatures and pressure are varied as parameters. Velocity contour, pressure contour and temperature contours are plotted for cold and hot fluid cases. High pressure zones are observed in the mixing regime of primary and secondary fluid. Improper mixing of primary and secondary fluid is observed. The mass ratio is reduced with increase in primary pressure. Based on the CFD results at high temperature, the performance of the compact heat exchanger is computed using the heat exchanger carpet curve for the different secondary (cold) air flows induced by the ejector.

Genealogy: The Tree Where History Meets Genetics

Although biological relationships are a universal reality for all human beings, the concepts of “family” and “family bond” depend on both the geographic region and the historical moment to which they refer. However, the concept of “family” can be determinant in a large variety of societies, since it can influence the lines of succession, inheritances and social relationships, as well as where and with whom an individual is buried. The relation between a deceased person and other members of a community, other individuals of the same necropolis, or even with those who are buried in the same tomb can be analysed from the genetic point of view, considering different perspectives: archaeological, historical, and forensic. In the present work, the concepts of “family” and “kinship” are discussed, explaining the relevance of genetic analysis, such as nuclear and lineage markers, and their contribution to genealogical research, for example in the heritage of surnames and Y-chromosome, as well as those cases where some discrepancies with historical record are detected, such as cases of adoption. Finally, we explain how genetic genealogical analyses can help to solve some cold cases, through the analysis of biologically related relatives.