Help a Cold Case Blog Become Useful Resource?

[Stacy Horn]

Hello everyone. I just posted in another thread, but I wanted to say again that I'm a writer and I am new to Websleuths.

I've written a book about the NYPD's Cold Case Squad (The Restless Sleep: Inside New York City's Cold Case Squad). Although I use New York's squad as an example, I am extremely supportive of the work that all the cold case squads around the country do.

I've also created a blog. It's more than PR for my book (although it is also that). I am gathering people, information and links, and I would really like to see it evolve into a genuinely useful resource for both law enforcement and for the friends and families of homicide victims whose cases have gone cold.

If anyone here could take a look when you have a minute and make suggestions for how I could make it better in any way, I'd greatly appreciate it.

www.therestlesssleep.com

I have a growing list of Cold Case Squads around the country, for instance. And maybe there's a squad that someone here knows about that is not on my list. The blog is very New York-centric right now, but I would like to see it evolve into a site that is useful nationwide (and worldwide, who knows?).

Thank you either way.

[mysteriew]

I'm not sure I understand the purpose of the blog. To discuss the cold case squads or the cold cases?

[Stacy Horn]

Hi!

Ultimately, I want it to become a place where the families and friends of murder victims can go to find out what to do when a case goes cold. I would also like it to become a place where law enforcement can find each other and information that might help them. I have a growing list of who to call, guidelines for how to approach law enforcement, links to books and people and useful information.

Hopefully a community will evolve where people help each other and share information and expertise. Right now people can communicate to each other via the comments section of the blog. I also have email for detectives and criminalists at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Soon there were be email to an archivist at the Municipal Archives -- this person is good at advising where to find information that might be needed, court records, etc. The older the case, the harder it can be to find stuff sometimes, and he's very good at finding things. (The email right now goes to me and I will forward it.) I will add a bulletin board if it makes sense to.

I've emailed and talked to Cold Case experts all over the country and have a growing list of people who have agreed to help and advise.

It's brand new. I've been putting up posts that I thought might be interesting, historical information, etc., while it grows (again, while it hopefully grows). People can discuss whatever they like. You put a group of people together and conversations go in many directions. If they want to discuss cold case squads one day, they can. If they want to discuss a specific case, they can do that too.

At times I feel out of my league, but I saw a need and I've got help.

[mysteriew]

Maleng is trying to secure county funding to give four deputy prosecutors four years to examine evidence in unsolved slayings, with an eye to seeing which ones have the potential of being solved with science. If Maleng is successful, his office would be the first in the country to have a team of lawyers focused on prosecuting old crimes.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002509254_mdop21m.html

[mysteriew]

Hi!

Ultimately, I want it to become a place where the families and friends of murder victims can go to find out what to do when a case goes cold. I would also like it to become a place where law enforcement can find each other and information that might help them. I have a growing list of who to call, guidelines for how to approach law enforcement, links to books and people and useful information.

Hopefully a community will evolve where people help each other and share information and expertise. Right now people can communicate to each other via the comments section of the blog. I also have email for detectives and criminalists at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Soon there were be email to an archivist at the Municipal Archives -- this person is good at advising where to find information that might be needed, court records, etc. The older the case, the harder it can be to find stuff sometimes, and he's very good at finding things. (The email right now goes to me and I will forward it.) I will add a bulletin board if it makes sense to.

I've emailed and talked to Cold Case experts all over the country and have a growing list of people who have agreed to help and advise.

It's brand new. I've been putting up posts that I thought might be interesting, historical information, etc., while it grows (again, while it hopefully grows). People can discuss whatever they like. You put a group of people together and conversations go in many directions. If they want to discuss cold case squads one day, they can. If they want to discuss a specific case, they can do that too.

At times I feel out of my league, but I saw a need and I've got help.

Any thoughts of giving out info on what to do if the LE has determined your case as accidental, suicide, or undetermined and you suspect it may have actually been a murder?

[Stacy Horn]

Mysteriew, I can't believe you asked me that. Just this morning I put together a list of issues I want to address and that's one of them. A month or two ago, a family in that position emailed me. They were already getting a lot of help and I thought telling their story on my blog might actually undermine the efforts that were being made on their behalf, but it made me aware of the problem and I want to bring it up.

AND, I read about those prosecutors! I should definitely post about them, thank you.