AUG 7, 2022
James Winston was always immaculately dressed. Since he was 10 years old, he would carefully iron his clothes, right down to his socks and underwear. He would later do the same for his kids, making sure they were coordinated from head to toe.
www.cnn.com
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In an effort to turn up new leads, Kansas authorities developed a deck of playing cards featuring 52 of the state’s cold cases – each card displaying a victim’s picture, a short description of their case and a tipline number. The Kansas Department of Corrections says that it began distributing the cards over the last week to people incarcerated in the state’s prisons and county jails, in the hopes that some might know something about the cases and submit tips.
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A grandmother ‘paralyzed’ by uncertainty
Alex LaRussa disappeared in December 2017.
Courtesy Colleen Greenemeyer
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Before his disappearance, LaRussa had been struggling to mentally and physically recover from having his leg amputated that summer. For much of LaRussa’s life, his grandmother watched out for him, at times bringing him to live with her and trying her best to keep in touch as he went in and out of jail, mainly on burglary and theft convictions.
Greenemeyer recalls her grandson chasing his dream of playing football while he lived with her. When he went to prison, she said he took up reading, asking her to send him packages of books.
After LaRussa went missing, Greenemeyer moved out of her dream home about an hour away and returned to Salina to be close to her daughter, determined to find out what happened. When she got there, she said she became overwhelmed with grief.
“You truly are paralyzed,” she said. “And it’s really disheartening because I moved up here thinking that I can help or get to the bottom of this – that I would do this, this and this, and we would find out and I would be persistent. And I couldn’t do it, either.”
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Like other cold case family members CNN spoke to, Greenemeyer has worried for her family’s safety. They believe LaRussa may have been harmed and for a long time after his disappearance, they feared whoever may have done so would target them next.
As the cold case decks are given to prisoners, Greenemeyer is hopeful her grandson’s time in prison will increase the chances that someone who picks up his card will recognize him and come forward with information.
“I believe there are people, yes, that know exactly what happened to him. They’re just not talking,” she said. “My fear is that I’m not going to know before I die. I’m 72 years old and I’m not in good health. … That is the biggest fear I have is not knowing.”
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