A COLD case is a crime, usually violent, that was never solved and which the police are no longer actively investigating. Cold cases are major crimes such as rape or murder that are not subject to a statute of limitations and could in theory still be solved.

Cases may become instantly cold because bodies are discovered years after they disappear. In other cases people convicted of crimes are proven innocent, thus leaving the crime unsolved. Occasionally, police solve cold cases with advancements in technology or new information.

Take steps to help the police solve your cold case

Instructions
1. Visit the police department responsible for solving the crime and make an appointment to speak with the detective in charge. Ask to speak with the specific cold case detective assigned to your case. Bring all of the information you have that is relevant to the case to the meeting. If the victim isn’t you, bring photographs and information about the victim. Tell the detective that you are interested in taking another look at the case and ask if he can help. Do not get discouraged if he tells you that he sees no reason to activate an investigation. If you can provide new information about the case, the police are required to investigate.
2. Determine that the police have used every new technology available to solve your case. Do not assume that the police have tested the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) evidence in your cold case just because DNA testing has become available since the case occurred. DNA testing can be very expensive and police departments are very busy with new cases. If there is DNA evidence in the case, insist that it is tested.
3. Hire a private investigator. Give the private investigator all the details of the case and explain that you would like to reopen the case and solve it. The private investigator will communicate with the police and review all of the information available and then attempt to gather new relevant information. This investigation could involve interviewing witnesses or suspects, reevaluating old evidence or visiting old locations.
4. Offer the public a significant private reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of a suspect in your case. You may discover that someone knows more about your cold case than you originally believed. You also may attract the attention of a witness whom the police never thought to interview when initially investigating your case.
5. Contact local newspapers and news stations and explain your case and your interest in reopening it. While your case may not necessarily be breaking news, it may have a human interest quality that attracts a journalist’s attention. The more publicity your case can get, the better the chances are of finding someone who has information that can help solve it.
6. Hire a lawyer to represent you if you feel that the police are not pursuing relevant leads or evaluating new information you present to them about your case. You may find that once you have legal representation, the police become more interested in solving your cold case.
Some police departments have cold case units. These units work full time attempting to solve cold cases and should be willing to work with you on your cold case.

How to Open a Cold Case
Yvonne Van Damme is a freelance writer based in Seattle. She has been writing for several years with a focus on criminal justice and legal topics. In addition to various websites, she has published in several academic journals. Van Damme holds a Bachelor of Arts in law, society and justice and sociology from the University of Washington.
She contends: Cold case files are difficult to solve.
A cold case is one that was not solved during the initial investigation. Usually, the case is several years old, sometimes as many as 50 years old. Often times, there were not enough detectives to investigate the case properly. A common reason for the existence of cold cases is simply because the technology was not advanced enough to process fluids and other DNA evidence. The process of a cold case investigation is assigning detectives to re-examine the case. Depending on the police department, they might even create a cold case squad to handle these cases.
Instructions
1. Check with the supervisor or employee that works in the evidence and property room to see if the physical evidence is available. If the cold case is quite old, this may take time to locate. Once you have the evidence, inspect and photograph all evidence.
2. Review the case information. This is extremely time-consuming. Look at all information associated with the case, including photographs, witness lists, suspect information, patrol notes and laboratory documents. Also, find out if the suspects and witnesses are still alive.
3. Create a strategy for working the case. Once you have reviewed the case file information, it’s time to create a to-do list and an outline of how to begin the case and the priorities of the investigation.
4. Re-interview suspects, witnesses and victims or families. Even if they were interviewed initially, there may be things that were missed. It’s always helpful to interview them again. Sometimes, cold cases are solved that way.
5. Meet with laboratory personnel.You will need to determine the type of testing that can be done on items in evidence. Re-testing is important as technology has advanced since the first investigation.
Many laboratories are understaffed and overworked, so be patient when waiting for results as it could take some time.