PROJECT: Cold Case was created by Ryan Backmann in Jacksonville, Florida 5 1/2 years after his dad was shot in the back and killed while vacuuming drywall dust at a construction site. With no witnesses or evidence, the case quickly went cold. One of the toughest days for Ryan after the murder was when detectives told him that they had exhausted all leads and were suspending the case. No one would be looking into his dad’s case file again unless someone came forward with new information. Unfortunately, the local sheriff’s office did not have the time, money, or manpower to list their cold cases online and that, Ryan believed, made it extremely unlikely that anyone would know to come forward if they did have information on the case.

PROJECT: Cold Case is focused on helping with unsolved criminal homicides. Criminal homicides are classified as crimes like murder, manslaughter and vehicular homicide (hit and runs).  Homicide is defined as “the killing of one human being by another”, but not all homicides are crimes (i.e. self defense, excusable, or justifiable).

Through public records requests to law enforcement agencies. We also have a Case Submission page for family members that want to submit their loved ones’ case. Due to limited funding, the large number of unsolved homicides and the many law enforcement agencies in the state and country, we rely on families or potential witnesses to provide case information while we work to collect a complete package from law enforcement. Because PROJECT: Cold Case was started in Jacksonville, Florida, we began our records request with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and plan to expand to each county throughout Florida before moving on to other states.

We plan to offer an internship program that provides educational credits to college students. In the meantime, we have unpaid intern positions available for those that want to help this cause and gain valuable criminal justice, victim advocacy, administrative and/or non-profit experience. If you would like the opportunity to intern with us, please submit your contact information through our Volunteer/Intern Application on our Get Involved page.

Please visit our Get Involved page for information on donating money, goods, services, as well as volunteering with our organization.

Yes! PROJECT: Cold Case, Inc. has been determined by the IRS as a Public Charity and exempt from federal income tax under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 501(c)(3). Donors can deduct contributions under IRC Section 170. A copy of PROJECT: Cold Case’s tax-exempt IRS letter is available upon request.

Donations will be used for projects or events that help families of unsolved homicides, victims, administrative costs or salaries. Until we are able to secure grants, donations will help with some initial expenses that the organization is in need of (i.e. tax exempt status fees, public records costs, database development, etc.).

Yes, as long as your loved one’s case is over one year old and is a criminal homicide. Visit our Case Submission page to provide us with the information we need to add them to our system. Please note that we must verify all cases through the law enforcement agency that investigated them. Depending on how many cases we have received and how quickly law enforcement confirms the case, it may take several weeks to get them online. Our database is currently being developed to provide easy and efficient searching and accessibility. We hope to have the database online very soon. Submissions can be made now even though the database is not yet live.

Any unsolved homicide one year old or older can be submitted. We realize that a year can seem like a really long time for families that have just suffered this type of loss. We also understand that investigations may take longer, due to processing evidence or interviewing witnesses.

Sometimes family members have a hard time accepting that their loved one could hurt themselves. And sometimes officials get it wrong or legitimately don’t know. If you have one of these cases you are welcome to submit it through our Case Submission page. We will use our resources to contact those involved and as an organization, if we believe there are enough questions to justify it, we will add it to the database with a note of explanation.

One of the hardest things for the family of an unsolved homicide victim is knowing that police know who did it but can’t make an arrest. Because of the laws that govern our criminal justice system, police and prosecutors only get one chance to convict the perpetrator. If they rush to make an arrest before getting all witnesses and evidence, they risk an acquittal at trial and can never prosecute that person again, no matter what evidence comes out after the trial. We, at PROJECT: Cold Case, understand and respect law enforcement’s stance early on in these investigations. However, after years and years of no new evidence coming forward, we believe and advocate for police, prosecutors and families sitting down together to discuss the potential benefits and downfalls of making an arrest and pursuing a conviction. If your family is in this position, please Contact Us to see what we can do to help. Although we have no jurisdiction, and only the State Attorney or District Attorney for the judicial district where the homicide occurred can decide whether or not to prosecute, we are happy to make phone calls and write letters on behalf of families that have waited years for the arrest and prosecution of a known killer.

Our experience has taught us that homicide detectives tend not to contact victims’ families unless they are calling to say they have made an arrest. Once notification has been made about the death their focus is on the investigation with little time to keep family members up to date on case progress. This is particularly the situation with cold cases that aren’t even being actively investigated. We recommend that you start and keep a positive and professional relationship with the detective investigating your loved one’s case. Don’t be afraid to reach out to the detective. Rarely, if ever, will a homicide detective call you to just check in. Find the balance between calling every day and never calling. If you have specific needs and questions and feel that your detective is ignoring you, call and ask to speak to his supervisor. Legitimate concerns should be taken up the proper chain of command. You can also Contact Us and we will call and/or write a letter asking the investigating officer or agency to contact you for a meeting.

Because the man that shot the gas station attendant across town the other day could be standing behind your wife at the bank. Because the person that got away with murder 10 years ago lives next to your child’s bus stop. Because you can make this world a better place just by caring.

No. And even if the victim was, does their family deserve to suffer? Does the rival drug dealer or gang member deserve to go free? A quick internet search of homicide victims will reveal the 8 year old girl abducted and killed, the elderly man beaten in his home, the young mother hit by a stray bullet, the business man robbed in the parking lot. Every victim had a story, a family, people that loved them, and they each deserve justice.

There are multiple ways to report a tip and help get a killer off our streets. If you are willing to testify, call the law enforcement agency investigating the case and ask for the homicide department and the detective working that case. If you prefer to remain anonymous, call the Crime Stoppers hotline in your area.

PROJECT: Cold Case does not pay out rewards; however, some homicide cases do have rewards associated with them. Call your local police department, Crime Stoppers, or victim serving organization to get information on rewards. Remember that some rewards are offered after an arrest and some are only after an arrest with a conviction. Some are eligible even if you remain anonymous and some will require you to testify. We encourage you to report any and all information because it is the right thing to do and these victims and their families deserve justice.

Tips may be submitted anonymously through both Crime Stoppers and your local law enforcement agency; however, a case may have a better chance of successful prosecution if you are willing to reveal your identity and testify.

To date none. But we just launched this program in March 2015. We are confident that by earning the trust of the public, as well as law enforcement, we will be able to provide information to both parties – bridging the gap and ultimately helping solve cases.