ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida is turning to playing cards to help solve unsolved homicides or missing-person cases.
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Attorney General Ashley Moody announced the launch of Cold Case Cards, a deck of cards in which each playing card features a photograph and information about an unsolved homicide or missing-person case.
The decks will be distributed to Florida jails and prisons to generate new leads and insights from inmates to help solve longstanding criminal investigations.
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“As a former federal prosecutor and now as Attorney General, I have seen so many stalled investigations get new life after someone came forward with groundbreaking information. Sometimes that new information comes from criminals or co-conspirators, who have a change of conscience or maybe they are motivated by a reward,” Moody said. “Since taking office, we have launched several innovative initiatives to bolster ongoing efforts to solve cold cases, and today we are taking action to generate even more leads to help law enforcement bring criminals to justice. We are giving Cold Case Cards to inmates, but we are not playing games. This low-tech approach to generating tips may prove to be an ace up the sleeve as we continue to bring finality to seemingly unbreakable cases.”
More than 5,000 decks of cards will be printed and distributed to more than 60 county jails overseen by Florida Sheriffs’ offices, and 145 sites overseen by FDOC.
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To see the entire deck of Cold Case Cards, CLICK HERE.
Other states have seen success through similar programs. In Connecticut, similar decks have helped the state solve 20 cold cases, and in South Carolina, at least eight cases were solved.
Tips that lead to an arrest are eligible for a cash reward of up to $9,500. Tipsters will remain anonymous.
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“The Florida Association of Crime Stoppers, alongside partners including the Florida Attorney General’s Office, the Florida Sheriffs Association, the Florida Department of Corrections, and Season of Justice, a national organization dedicated to solving cold cases, is embarking on a statewide initiative,” said Florida Association of Crime Stoppers President Frank Brunner. “This effort aims to address some of Florida’s most haunting cold case homicides. By spotlighting these cases within correctional and detention facilities, the collective hope is to generate leads that will aid in solving them, offering much-needed closure to the families and loved ones of the victims.”
In February, Moody announced the new Florida Cold Case Investigations Unit, housed within the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution. The unit helped investigate and prosecute the suspect of the 2010 murder of a 16-year-old Alachua County boy.
In July 2007, Florida released an older version of Cold Case Cards that led to an arrest. In 2004, construction workers found 34-year-old Ingrid Lugo’s body floating in a retention pond. After seeing the information on one of the cards, three inmates reported the murderer, found to be Lugo’s boyfriend, Bryan Curry. Curry ended up being tried and found guilty of second-degree murder in March 2008.
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