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CASEHigh-tech tools may help detectives solve cold caseFROM PAGE 1Ozaukee County Sheriffs detective and Madison State Crime Lab analyst reopened the cold case last year, working with a University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh anthropologist.The sheriff’s office in Grand Traverse County has established a similar program.COLD CASESLast year, detectives from the sheriffs office met with representatives from the Grand Traverse County Prosecutor’s Office, Michigan State Police Crime Lab in Grayling and Western Michigan University Cold Case Program for several months to launch a new investigative partnership with WMU.WMU’s Cold Case Program, in its third year, involves students trained in forensic science, law, and criminal investigation tactics to review cold cases in hopes of uncovering new evidence.This past semester, students in the program were working on the Meteer case.What the students develop from their research depends on what the county investigators request from them and what they are able to do with the information available. Their course ended just a couple of weeks ago and the materials are already being used.“We have gone over what they organized and developed for us,” said Clark.“just in the past few weeks, we’ve taken a look and discussed it. It’s been very useful.”“We learned about the program fall of 2023 and brought them the Cabinaw case to kind of see what they could do, knowing that we were going to take the Meteer case to them,” Clark said.In the spring of 2024, students at WMU assisted the sheriff’s office with the unsolved disappearance of Jacob “Jake” Cabinaw.He was last seen near Traverse City’s Open Space on March 31, 2010, with a friend, Gary Wittig of Traverse City. The two had played disc golf at Hickory Hills and Wittig told law enforcement that Cabinaw dropped him off near the volleyball courts at the Open Space, a beachside park, around 7:30 p.m.Wittig said he’d invited Cabinaw to go with him to some downtowm bars, but Cabinaw declined, saying he needed to go home and study for class. He was last seen in Texas and the police report said Cabinaw’s car, a gray Chevy Malibu, likely ended up in a scrapyard in Mexico.Officially, Cabinaw’s disappearance is still considered a missing persons case, even though the courts declared him deceased for legal reasons in 2015.Clark said the Cold Case Program was helpful with both cases. The students were able to provide organized timelines for individuals involved in the case, searchable databases of case documents, and other highly detailed work.Their hope is that by establishing new relationships, such as this one, utilizing new technologies, and reaching out to grow community cooperation, the number of unsolved cases will drop.Kathryn DePauw reports in partnership with Report for America.Just the FactsThe Grand Traverse County Sheriff's Office is asking anyone with information regarding Linda Meteer's murder to call the Detective Bureau at (231)995-5002 or (231)995-5037.
Newspaper Details
Traverse City Record Eagle
Traverse City, Michigan, US
Tue, Dec 24, 2024
Page 2
Full Page
Clipped by
Taylor R.
USA 08 Feb 2025
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