YAKIMA COUNTY, Wash.- Correctional facilities in Yakima County could play a pivotal role in solving 52 cold cases across the valley.
New playing card decks with information on cold cases are being handed out in jails with the hopes of someone remembering details. The idea came from Yakima Police Department Detective Kevin Cays, who along with retired officers and judicial officials work in the Cold Case Unit to process over 70 homicides.
“It was a long process to gather all the information, working with detectives from around the valley, and getting all the information for each case,” says the detective. “The photographs, designing the cards, everything took a little bit longer than expected but we’re really happy that it’s getting out.”
Law enforcement agencies came together sorting through each of their cold cases to narrow it down to the 52-card deck. The narratives go as far back as 1977 with the case of Vereta Joni Gates, to as recent as November 2022.
“I think when you get cases in front of people that maybe they saw something probably 20, 30 years ago, they might remember something,” says Sunnyside Police Chief Rob Layman. “That one small detail might be all that it takes for us to solve a case.”
Sunnyside Police and Layman were one of multiple agencies represented at the press conference unveiling the cards. SPD, YPD, Union Gap PD and Yakima County Sheriff’s Office all contributed to cases hoping to be solved.
“We talk for the victim, we do,” says YCSO Sheriff Bob Udell. “But we don’t just give up after a case, maybe go stale or cold. Those cases are extremely important to us.”
Union Gap Police Chief Greg Cobb reiterates the importance of any detail helping. He recalls one case where witness saw four people in the car of a drive-by shooting, and how any of those four could have shared details with someone else.
“Those people talk to other people,” says Chief Cobb. “Maybe somebody sees this deck of cards and they’re in a different circumstance now than they used to be. Maybe they’re willing to come forward with some information now that they’ve been reminded of this case where previously they wouldn’t normally come forward and cooperate with the police.”
That reward is available even if tips are submitted anonymously.
“Not everyone wants to call into the police and say, ‘this is my name and blah, blah, blah,’ for so many different reasons,” says Mark Peterson with Crime Stoppers. “We have a track record of almost 90 murders that have been picked up in Yakima County, Lower Valley and Upper Valley, and almost 2000 felons.”
The cards are currently only available inside correctional facilities where they are free to inmates. Officials say the cards may become public in the future, but the focus starts inside the facilities. Eventually, the decks could be made available outside of Yakima County, in hopes of bringing closure to victims’ families.
