Her case ran cold until detectives spent nearly a year reviewing evidence, conducting forensic testing, and interview multiple witnesses in several states including the suspect. March 25, 2020 FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA21) - Fort Wayne Police homicide detectives made an arrest in a cold case stemming from a 2002 stabbing that left a 17-year-old girl de...

Sheriff Rick Wells did the honor in presenting the award to Kaczmarek. March 26, 2020 Manatee When Renee Kaczmarek left her position at the Manatee County jail two years ago to serve as a property and evidence processor for the sheriff's office, she didn't realize the surprises her new job would throw her way. After all, what could one possibly see...

The Justice Department's internal watchdog found flaws in the ways that the FBI keeps track of its firearms, ammunition, nonlethal weaponry, and explosives, including those seized as evidence March 24, 2020 The FBI has "strong physical controls over its weapons, munitions, and explosives," DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz found. But a report ...

The only items to be released will be those items deemed in need of urgent release March 22, 2020 CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston Police Department Evidence Office will temporarily restrict the release of property during the novel coronavirus pandemic. The only items to be released will be those items deemed in need of urgent release, poli...

  Daniel Wells was arrested on Wednesday and charged with sexual battery and the murder of 23-year-old Tonya McKinley, who was found dead on New Year's Day 35 years ago. March 20, 2020 The DNA evidence found on a discarded cigarette has allowed authorities in Florida to arrest the suspected killer in a decades-old cold case. Daniel Wells was a...

"Investigating a cold homicide case is extremely difficult but investigating a decades-old case with no body means an extraordinary amount of legwork, patience and tenacity," March 20, 2020 NEWAYGO COUNTY, Mich. — Nearly 37 years after a 25-year-old White Cloud man disappeared, a man has been charged with his murder. Roy Snell, 55, was charged with...

DNA sample obtained from the scene of the crime through an open-source genealogy database and identified several different people believed to be distant cousins of the suspect. March 22, 2020 PENSACOLA, Fla. – Tonya Ethridge McKinley was 23 years old and had an 18-month-old son waiting for her at home when she was killed in the early-morning hours ...

Prosecutors dropped charges; the suspect was recently sentenced to 25 years for a separate crime. March 19, 2020 SARASOTA — An antiquated policy led a Sarasota County Sheriff's Office lieutenant to destroy DNA evidence in two unsolved felony cases in the mid-2000s to make room in evidence storage, Sheriff Tom Knight said in a candid admission Wedne...

The Cold Case Team had a confirmation with a match from the victim's DNA and crime-scene evidence. March 17, 2020 CHINO HILLS – A long-ago mystery into the death of a pregnant female dumped onto the roadway in 2001 came to the fore during the collaboration of Homicide Cold Case Detectives and agents from the FBI Forensic Genetic Genealogy Team. Fir...

70% of Orange County's deputies hadn't booked evidence on time March 15, 2020 Once a law enforcement officer collects evidence of a crime, he or she faces a deadline to get the material back to the station to have it recorded, or "booked," and secured. The reason is simple: The longer a weapon, drugs, video or other evidence sits in a patrol car or...

"He's a ghost in the investigation,"​ March 13, 2020 A single mother's cold case murder in Ohio has been solved with an arrest after nearly 29 years. Rachael Johnson was 23 when she was raped, beaten, stabbed and set on fire on March 30, 1991. Her daughter was three at the time. On Thursday, Akron police charged Daniel Rees, 57, with the murder. Po...

Enter Headline here March 11, 2020 LAFAYETTE, Ga. — State agents have arrested a woman accused of taking money from the police department during her time as LaFayette City Court clerk. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation says on Tuesday, March 10, Jan Bridges was arrested for theft of fiduciary - theft over $500. Back in October 2019, LaFayette Pol...

State audit revealed cash seized from two drug suspects was missing from the police department's evidence room March 9,2020 CANTON — The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation has opened a criminal investigation into the Canton Police Department after a state audit revealed cash seized from two drug suspects was missing from the police department's...

She's also accused of theft for allegedly taking contraband being held as evidence from the locker that was valued over $500. March 6, 2020 FAYETTE COUNTY, IL — A former Vandalia Police Department employee has been charged in Fayette County Court with official misconduct and theft. According to court records, 29-year old Cheyenne Haxton is free on ...

In the past, evidence was stored using physical methods. March 10, 2020 WINDSOR -- The Amherstburg Detachment of the Windsor Police Service is piloting a new digital evidence management software. Windsor police say over time they've seen a constant increase of evidence submitted in digital form. This can included cell phone pictures to home securit...

March 10, 2020 INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — An arrest has been made in a 20-year-old murder case in Indianapolis. William Swain is charged in the October 2000 murder of 39-year-old Arthur McPhaul. Swain faces felony charges of murder, criminal deviate conduct resulting in a serious bodily injury and criminal confinement. In October of 2000, police were ca...

Pensacola Police Headquarters is currently on lockdown March 10, 2020 PENSACOLA, Fla. (WKRG) – Pensacola Public Information Officer Mike Wood said three officers were working in an evidence room when one officer became lightheaded. He said the officers may have been exposed to fentanyl. All three officers were taken to the hospital, and the lobby o...

The Bartlesville police officer was packaging methamphetamine found during a Friday traffic stop when he became unresponsive. March 10, 2020 An Oklahoma police officer was administered a life-saving overdose drug after he was exposed to fentanyl last week, authorities said. The Bartlesville police officer was packaging methamphetamine found during ...

Detectives would like to identify women in pictures discovered after DNA led to charges in a pair of murders. March 5,2019 Police in Burbank said the women seen in a cache of photographs discovered during a search of an accused serial killer's home could be important clues in the man's upcoming murder trial."I don't know who they are," said Burbank...

After that review we have identified a few additional deputies who were not in compliance with our policy, Enter Article DATE HERE During a Friday briefing of various department topics such as jail reorganization and coronavirus monitoring, Sheriff Don Barnes updated reporters, saying the department was almost half way through reviewing more t...

DNA technology linked Ewing to both the Arapahoe and Jefferson county cases, March 4, 2020 DENVER – The man suspected of killing four people and sexually assaulting a young girl in 1984, who was extradited back to Colorado from Nevada in recent days, was advised of the multiple felony charges he faces in his Arapahoe County case Monday. Alex Christ...

As of August 2019, over 1,500 kits were still in the possession of State Police Enter Article DATE HERE ALBANY — Hundreds of rape kits are sitting untested in New York State Police crime laboratories as standards are being skirted, a situation that's left law enforcement officials also questioning whether the labs can keep up with new pre-tria...

a citizen complained that a deputy was showing the gruesome images at a Norwalk bar, February 28, 2020 In an attempt to keep the matter under wraps, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department quietly ordered deputies to delete any photos of the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash scene after a citizen complained that a deputy was showing the gruesome ima...

  "The potential is they did not have all the paperwork on their case when they went through the criminal justice process," March 1, 2020 COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) - Colorado Springs Police admit there are around 150 felony criminal cases that could be tainted by missing evidence. On Friday, the department revealed the results of an inter...

The investigation is still ongoing, CBI says. We're working on getting more details. February 27, 2020 ROCKY FORD, Colo. (KRDO) -- A police officer in Rocky Ford is facing a felony charge after an investigation by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation found that he may have stolen marijuana that was seized during an active police investigation and t...

None of the meth was checked into evidence February 28, 2020 A former Gwinnett County deputy, who was part of a federal drug task force, was sentenced Monday to 10 years in prison for stealing drugs while on the job and trafficking it back onto the streets, authorities said. Antione Riggins, 41, of Loganville, pleaded guilty late last year to drug ...

Tried to encourage someone to destroy a mobile phone with message evidence February 18, 2020 Robert Veighey, 57, tried to encourage someone to destroy a mobile phone with message evidence belonging to a woman accused of assault in an attempt to assist her avoiding prosecution. India Lockyer, 26, admitted the assault. Sentence on both at Aberdeen Sh...

Charges that included 16 counts of breaking and entering and one count of trafficking opium or heroin February 18,  A former Haywood County Sheriff's Deputy charged in 2018 with several felonies related to the theft of evidence, including narcotics, will be spending at least the next seven years behind bars. Kevin Smathers pleaded guilty to al...

The new positions will bring the number of evidence room employees to seven, which will allow the department to staff the room seven days a week, rather than only Monday through Friday. February 17, 2020 Equipment to revamp the Santa Fe Police Department's outdated evidence room is expected to cost about $467,000, and another $400,000 is needed to ...

Enter Headline here February 16, 2020 A youth advocate is facing charges in two cold case rapes in New Mexico and California after DNA testing was conducted last month on a backlogged rape kit from 1997. The rape kit was collected by Albuquerque police after a 17-year-old girl reported being raped by an acquaintance at a party in April 1997, accord...

DNA profiles from the victim's body, stockings, slip, and dress were retained and tested Enter Article DATE HERE FREEHOLD– A 1991 Asbury Park murder has been solved after new DNA evidence testing provided a crucial break in the case, announced Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni. On the morning of March 27, 1991, the Asbury P...

Seized evidence is stored by Metro in an 83,000-square-foot evidence vault— February 15, 2020 It's the law enforcement equivalent of a prized taxidermy moose hanging on the wall of a hunter's den. Police departments tout their seized hauls of drugs, firearms, cash and other assets on social media after a major bust, displaying photos of what they t...

Committed suicide while serving time in Louisiana on an unrelated charge in 2008 February 15, 2020 North Myrtle Beach police have solved a 24-year-old murder using DNA evidence, naming a man tapped as a possible suspect in the 1999 death of Hae Min Lee by the podcast "Serial," according to WPDE. Ronald Lee Moore, who had also been named in a series...

Enter Headline here February 15, 2020 SALISBURY, Md. – The Salisbury Police Department and the Wicomico County State's Attorney released details on Friday about an investigation into a police department employee, accused of stealing items from the department's evidence facility. The Salisbury Police Department (SPD) recently began an audit of its p...

audit revealed the department's evidence storage room was not adequately maintained, February 15, 2020 ELKO – Carlin Police Chief Dennis Fobes is resigning after an audit revealed the department's evidence storage room was not adequately maintained, throwing an unknown number of pending criminal cases into question. The Carlin City Council is sched...

The backlog of overall evidence that needs to be tested is over 44,000 February 15, 2020 ATLANTA — State officials say a backlog of hundreds of untested rape kits is accumulating at the GBI crime lab once again – and proposed budget cuts could make it worse. The situation spotlights a half-billion dollars in budget cuts proposed by Gov. Brian Kemp ...

Now 75, wheelchair-bound and in shackles, even after 45 years she recognized him, she told the court. February 7, 2020 Editor's note: This article contains graphic descriptions of crime that some readers may find disturbing. For more than four decades, "Diane Doe" has tried to bury memories of the rape she survived as a teenager in her parents' Pal...

prosecutors have found 91 affected cases so far in their ongoing review of 22,000 cases Enter Article DATE HERE An ongoing crisis over widespread evidence problems at the Orange County Sheriff's Department is heading into court Thursday, as a judge decides whether to unseal records about a deputy who was found to have falsely stated in 74 diff...

motion-activated surveillance camera in a bedroom caught officer stuffing a phone charger into his pocket while executing a search warran February 7, 2020 ST. PAUL -- A sergeant with the Ramsey County sheriff's office was convicted of misconduct of a public officer this week and subsequently resigned from his post in law enforcement, his defense at...

The troopers contend evidence was stolen by a KSP sergeant for "personal gain and to benefit his family members." February 1, 2020 The Kentucky State Police deny any wrongdoing in response to a civil lawsuit filed by three current and former Kentucky State Police Post 4 employees, who claim other employees stole evidence and they faced retaliation ...

​Sheriff's investigators referred 15 deputies to prosecutors to consider for criminal prosecution February 4, 2020 he Orange County Sheriff's Department will review about 22,000 cases associated with an evidence booking scandal involving missing items or evidence improperly booked, Sheriff Don Barnes announced Tuesday. Sheriff's deputies and invest...

416 were from victims who didn't want to proceed, 1,669 were identified as false reports, and 751 were from cases that had already gone through the court system where the suspect might have confessed. Enter Article DATE HERE More than 2,500 rape kits from potentially viable cases currently sit unprocessed in police and sheriff evidence rooms a...

We need the BCA to be responsive to some of these kits," said audit committee Enter Article DATE HERE Updated: February 03, 2020 10:10 PM A new audit shows dozens of rape kits on the shelves of the Minneapolis Police Department have gone untested, even months after a backlog was first announced. Over the last two months, MPD said it had sent m...

  Police Department paid for a bio-hazard remediation team from Trauma Services LLC, based in Mansfield, to decontaminate the vehicle, due to the substance's extreme potency. January 28, 2020 ORANGE — A police cruiser was contaminated with fentanyl following an arrest in Orange. A person arrested Monday tried to conceal fentanyl, which ended u...

That inventory also found that a gun held as evidence and checked out by the deputy, Roy Hardt, was not in the department's possession. It was one of 21 guns checked out by deputies from the evidence collection for use on duty. The guns were not attached to active cases, Nichols said. February 1, 2020 The Randolph County Sheriff's Department will r...

City proposes software updates and recruitment in as first steps to solve evidence room problems February 1, 2020 The Santa Fe Police Department and the city manager have begun a series of corrective actions in response to problems in the department's evidence room. It is still unclear how many cases may have been impacted by the department's failu...

Enter Headline here January 29, 2020 FRESNO — Authorities in Fresno announced Wednesday that have filed a murder charge in the rape and killing of a college student 24 years ago. Fresno County District Attorney Lisa Smittcamp announced the charges against Nickey Duane Stane, 52, in the 1996 slaying of 22-year-old Debbie Dorian. Authorities said the...

Detectives failed in 25 instances to place cash evidence or property into the property room by the end of their tour. January 29, 2020 Dallas Chief of Police U. Renee Hall disciplined nearly two dozen former vice officers Wednesday for mishandling department money used in gambling operations and for not delivering evidence in those cases to the pro...

Not delivering evidence in those cases to the property room. Enter Article DATE HERE Dallas Chief of Police U. Renee Hall disciplined nearly two dozen former vice officers Wednesday for mishandling department money used in gambling operations and for not delivering evidence in those cases to the property room. The investigation into suspected ...

Burke is currently on house arrest after receiving a 12-month conditional sentence in connection with stealing drug evidence, which was removed from the police station's evidence locker January 29, 2020 Kawartha Lakes Police Service officer Jeff Burke is in trouble with the law again. Lindsay police chief Mark Mitchell confirmed that Kawatha Lakes ...