The Criminal Investigations Division of the Newport News Police Department has established a new Cold Case Unit that is assigned to the General Investigations Section. The Cold Case unit was formed by taking one detective from the Homicide Unit and one detective from the Career Criminal Unit and reassigning them. The Cold Case Unit now has the time and resources necessary to focus on cases that have become “cold” over time. Investigations will primarily focus on unsolved homicides and missing persons’ cases involving unusual circumstances. 

Cold Case investigations are not new to the Police Department, as these cases have always remained open cases assigned to the Major Crimes Division where detectives assigned to the Homicide Unit worked these cases in a traditional manner until running into some type of roadblock. This approach has proven to be less than ideal, as the detectives’ current caseloads left little time to focus on this important task. By creating this new Cold Case Unit, the Newport News Police Department hopes to better be able to bring closure to the cases and to the families involved.