Database led to information that prompted new search in 1994 cold case
More than 600,000 people disappear every year in the United States, according to the National Institute of Justice.
On Action News Jax, we often share alerts from police or the Sheriff’s Office, asking you to help find someone. But there's another way you can help law enforcement solve these cases. Action News Jax reporter Courtney Cole has researched a database called “NAMUS” and learned how a local law enforcement agency used it recently on a cold case.
The Putnam County Sheriff's Office was able to pull a file on the NAMUS database that led to the search for a woman in a 25-year-old cold case.
Mary Roderick was last seen at her home on Lake Margaret Boulevard in Lake Como on Dec. 16, 1994. She was reported missing by her siblings, but since then there hasn't been any trace of her. Police suspect foul play in her disappearance.
Just last Monday, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office teamed up with the Sarasota K-9 and rescue unit to search for evidence in Roderick's disappearance.
This search, 25 years after her disappearance, has stemmed from the file investigators pulled on NAMUS.
"NAMUS gives those families and law enforcement a place to input all their information -- so if they turn up somewhere they can be identified,” said Ryan Backmann.
Backmann, the founder and executive director of Project Cold Case, told Action News Jax that NAMUS also provides families with free training, criminal justice services, forensic services and DNA collection kits.
"As long as we have the public interest and community interest, we've gotta be pushing these things so that as many cases as possible can be resolved,” Backmann told Cole.
