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Cold Case Consultants of America (C.C.C.O.A.), an agency that specializes in unsolved homicides, has compiled the largest known database of letters written by serial killers, promising a major boon for reopening cold cases.
It’s been called the largest known singular database of letters written by serial killers, and it dates back nearly 80 years, all the way to 1944.
The data trove has been compiled by investigative husband-wife duo Alex Baber and J-Lynn Baber who cofounded Cold Case Consultants of America (C.C.C.O.A.) In 2001, an agency that specializes in working on unsolved homicides, PRNewswire and WFMZ report.
The robust collection contains over 500 letters penned by known serial killers. The writings have been digitized, which allows technology to add additional metadata such as the letter’s origin, cross-checking for forensic patterns, linguistic similarities, and the correlation of content. Naturally, the digital nature of the data will make doing comparisons faster and easier.
Armed with this new evidence, CCCOA says it will be releasing its recent findings to the public in order to shed light on a variety of cold cases.
Some of the high-profile cold cases the team is working on includes The “Circleville Writer” case of Ohio; D.C’s Freeway Phantom; Texarkana Moonlight Murderer; and Oakland County’s Child Killer; as well as others.
The Babers say their agency was conceived in the belief that every victim deserves answers. To them, a “cold case” is never truly cold. They say unsolved homicide cases that become categorized under this terminology are only due to a lack of strong evidence, unproductive leads, limited manpower, or occurs when an agency does not receive enough annual funding to focus on a particular type of case.
The agency is hoping the database and advancements in forensic science it is utilizing will help reopen a number of seemingly unsolvable cold cases across the nation. At the same time, the same information could also help exonerate those who have been wrongfully accused.
Cold Case Consultants of America has a team of top forensic experts including Forensic Document Examiner Curtis Baggett, forensic anthropologist Dr. Arpad A. Vass, Detective Patrick Apoian, and Michigan Broadcasting Hall of Fame inductee Joe Cochran.
