The Boston Globe, October 2023
The Boston Globe is launching a series exploring unsolved homicides and unidentified victims of violence. The goal is to shed light on these cases, especially long-forgotten ones, with the hope that maybe, just maybe, someone will come forward with new information or evidence that will be helpful to investigators.
Sometimes even the most obscure piece of information — an observation or insight that may not have seemed important at the time — can be enough to break open a case many years later. Sometimes people who didn’t want to talk — out of loyalty or fear of reprisal — will have a change of heart and decide to share what they know with law enforcement many years later. As people pass away, and feelings evolve, long-held secrets can be revealed.
And thanks to advances in technology and breakthroughs in forensic genealogy, the potential for solving older cases is better than ever, which means more victims can be identified, families can get closure, and killers can finally be brought to justice.