“Cold Case” playing cards in Mississippi prisons aim to solve murders and disappearances
A Mississippi organization attempts to solve unsolved cases using a special deck of cards.
The Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers created “cold case” playing cards containing information on various unsolved murder and missing person cases and printed 2,500 of the decks, which were distributed at seven prisons.
Each deck has 56 cold cases. According to Lori Massey, CEO of Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers, there are 20 missing person cases and 36 unsolved murder cases.
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The cards each contain photos of a missing or deceased person as well as information about the circumstances in which they died or were last seen.
Crime Stoppers on the Mississippi Coast
Massey told CBS News that the organization was inspired to release the decks after learning that other Crime Stoppers units across the country had successfully used the technique to obtain information about cold cases.
“We're not the first, but we're the first in our state to release them,” Massey said. “It’s not my idea, I just borrowed it from someone else.”
The technology has a success story. A similar card game was released in 2009 distributed in Minnesota helped identify a set of remains as the missing woman. Arrests were made in 2017 two cold cases in just one week after playing cards containing case information were distributed in Connecticut prisons.
Inmates who report information leading to the discovery of a missing person's body or an arrest in a case would receive $2,500, Massey said, but added that Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers have not determined how people in the Prison could get the money. Different Crime Stoppers organizations have different incentives, Massey said.
Crime Stoppers on the Mississippi Coast
“We can’t put the money into their bank account or anything like that,” Massey said. “So we have to figure out how to get them the money. But not everyone serves a 15-year sentence. These are our county jails. … We are very confident that this will lead to something.”
Massey said the families of those featured on the cards “recognize” the initiative. Lacy Moran, whose father Joey disappeared in 2019, told CBS News affiliate WLOX she hoped the maps would lead to more information.
“I hope this is a new community that we haven’t reached yet,” Moran said. “Along the coast everyone has heard Dad's name and I hope there are a few people who still haven't heard it and that will solve something.”
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