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The Growing Problem of Unresolved Homicides
and Long-Time Missing Persons: What are we going to do about it?
Our organization is made up of families. There
are families of victims of homicide and families of long-time missing
persons. What we have in common is that the cases of our loved ones
remain unsolved. In most of these cases, someone has gotten away
with murder.
When we formed this organization,
we were astonished to learn that unsolved homicides have grown -
in numbers and as a percent of all homicides - at an alarming rate
over the past four decades. Nationally, 94% of all murders were
"cleared" in 1961. By 1999, only 69% of murders were cleared.
Only 61% or the murders committed in Colorado in 1999 resulted in
arrests, according to the Longmont Daily Times-Call newspaper.
These homicide figures do not
include cases of long-time missing persons like Kimberly
Greene-Medina, who disappeared from an abusive situation in
Aurora in October 1996 leaving her two young daughters behind. Or
Nancy
Lyn Begg Shoupp, who disappeared from an Englewood apartment
in 1990 after asking her abusive husband for a divorce. Nancy also
left behind two young children.
A case is considered cleared
when an arrest has been made. But not all arrests result in trials.
Take the case of Phlisia
Marie Bunting. One of the three young males - who accompanied
her on a trip that ended with her death - was arrested but later
released. Polly
Sullivan's case also resulted in an arrest but the suspect was
later released. Likewise the suspects in the murders of Brad
Amack and Sid
Wells.
Then there are the trials that
end with acquittals. The case of 14-month-old Ryan
McDaniel is an example. His baby sitter was acquitted by a jury,
but Ryan is still a homicide victim. And John
Flores' killer walked after a California trial that so infuriated
Charles Flores, father of the victim, that he fired a verbal barrage
at the authorities (including the judge) that netted Charles 92
days in jail and the label "terrorist."
No one has ever been brought
to account for these murders. Are these cases "cleared?"
As our familes compared notes,
we found we also shared frusteration and despair stemming from our
contacts with the authorities. We questioned the thoroughness of
their investigations, their lack of communication with us and their
reluctance to follow our leads.
In some cases, like those of
Lysa Moser and Michelle
Mellema, the persistent families were successful in focusing
the attention of authorities on details that led to a change in
cause of death from "accident" to homicide. Two families
- Nethery and Bullington - are still struggling with suicide rulings
that they believe are murders.
Among our cases are two - Randy
Russom and Michael
Loughrey - where the murderer is known but could not be brought
to trial because he was protected in the federal witness program.
In the Sherri
Majors case, the murderer is known: Chester Todd; but in spite of a warrant for his arrest, authorities have been unable to find him since March 1996.
Thus we use the term "unresolved"
rather than unsolved to describe the status of our cases.
But, for the other cases, we
are confronted with blank walls. For victims like Michael
Reichert, Guy
Morton, Cindy
Stewart, Karolyn
Walker and many others, there are no leads. But we believe someone
knows who killed these people.
So we have devised a plan to
reward those who have information that will help identify and prosecute
the ones responsible for the taking of these lives. We call our
plan The Justice Reward Program.
We are raising the money necessary
to post large rewards - $50,000 and up - so we can pay those who
divulge this information to authorities in our cases. And we are
raising money to advertise those rewards on outdoor boards and in
other suitable media. Where possible, these ads will be displayed
near the scene of the crime.
We are also striving to get
in touch with more families of victims with a Colorado connection.
Through this website, publicity about our organization and referrals
from authorities, we hope to connect with these families and build
a database of all such unresolved homicides and long-time missing
persons. Sad to say, no such database exists in our state. Even
more remarkable, none exists in our nation.
We believe our organization
can be instrumental in helping the authorities solve these crimes.
And if we can help reduce the number of unresolved homicides, this
must help reduce the number of murders. For when the certainty of
being apprehended and punished goes up, the number of crimes goes
down. That's according to deterrence theory.
Also, recent studies tell us
that significantly more homicides would be solved if police followed
practises that appear to increase the likelihood of arrest. For
example, researchers at the University of Maryland determined that
the more detectives assigned to a homicide, the more likely it will
be solved; three to four officers seems to be the appropriate number.
Among other factors, the researchers also assert that a murder case
is more likely to be solved when detectives arrive at the crime
scene in 30 minutes or less.
So we are going to work at
our self-appointed job and we hope the authorities will make adjustments
to the way in which they handle homicide cases. Working together,
we believe we can make a significant impact to reduce unresolved
homicides and solve long-time missing persons cases.
If you can connect us with
a family of a victim of an unresolved homicide or long-time missing
person, call Howard Morton at: (303) 838-1337 or Mark Reichert (970)
352-8937; or leave a message on the FOHVAMP phone line: (303) 934-3690;
or send an email to info@unresolvedhomicides.org
We need and want your help. Our priority is to apprehend those who
are getting away with murder.
President:
Sherry Lee Burt, Denver
Vice-President & Secretary:
Kathy S. Anderson, Windsor
Treasurer:
Michael L. Radelet, Ph.D., Boulder
Executive Director:
Howard L. Morton, Pine Jct.
Other Directors:
Mark S. Reichert, Greeley; James D. Stewart, Denver; David A. Fisher, Jr., Denver; Celestina Terry, Colorado Springs
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The
Growing Problem