Helpful Hints

The Cold Case Database was created in 2007 when HB 1272 was passed which required the Colorado Bureau of Investigation to begin creating a database of all cold cases in Colorado from 1970 – Present.

This database contains case details of homicides, long-term missing persons and unidentified human remains, which are three or more years old, dating back to 1970.

The Home page for the Cold Case Database displays a scrolling case carousel featuring all of the victim profiles, which contain a victim photograph and a case narrative. If you would like to scroll through the cases faster than the time scroll you can use the buttons on the bottom of the carousel to move forward using the “Next” and using the “Prev” button to move backwards through the carousel. However, when you scroll through the cases using the “next” and “Prev” buttons the carousel will stop and you will need to refresh the Home page for the case scrolling to begin again.

In order to see the complete case profile, select the button “About this Case”.

Public Site Access

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Public safety agencies have provided the following information for cases contained within this database:

  • First/Middle/Last Name or Alias/Moniker
  • Case Type
  • Aliases
  • Year Crime Occurred in a range
  • Agency Name
  • Age
  • Gender
  • Race
  • Eyes Color
  • Hair Color
  • Height in Range
  • Weight in Range
  • Occupation
  • City
  • County
  • Agency Case Number
  • Judicial District
  • Year Solved

The Cold Case Database continues to be a work in progress. Agencies continue to provide both victim demographics, photographs of the victims as well as case narratives describing the case details.

Please remember all of these cases are unsolved and therefore are considered still under investigation, and the case narratives provide limited details as to not jeopardize prosecution.

How to conduct a thorough record search

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To conduct a search of the database select the tab at the top of your screen identified as “Search”. Once in this tab you will have 2 options. The first will be a search of minimal information to include Name, Case Type, Case Status, Year, and or Agency Name. None of the search criteria is mandatory so you can search based on the information the user has available.

If you select the box “Click for more search options” then additional search criteria fields will be available. They include: Age/Gender/Race/Eye Color/Hair Color/Height/Weight/Occupation/City Name/County Name/City Name/Agency Case #/Judicial District/Year Solved. Many of these fields have been created in the form of drop down menus for easy selection. You may search the database using a single element or many combinations.

When searching using height and weight if the specific height and weight are unknown you can search these fields using a range. For example if the victim’s exact weight is unknown but you have an idea based on the victim’s build you can search a specific weight range i.e. 120 -150 pounds to narrow your results.

The year field will allow users to query for one specific year by populating the first field and leaving the second field blank or you can search a range of years by populating the first box with the beginning of the range and the second box with the ending year.

Criteria can be added and modified to narrow the search results. However, keep in mind the more criteria you include, the narrower a search will be.

If when you are first searching for a case and have input specific details try broadening your search criteria. If after that you still don´t find the case you are looking for, please contact the CBI Cold Case Analyst for assistance.

Once your search results are displayed, you may continue to refine specific search criteria to further narrow the case list. Search results are displayed five cases at a time to allow the system to rapidly return results to you.

Use of your browser´s back button and forward buttons is not supported within the Cold Case web application. The PREVIOUS and NEXT buttons at the bottom of the search result page will move you forwards and backwards within the list of results returned. If the results returned to you consist of several pages those page numbers will appear at the bottom and you can click on each page to view the results.

If difficulties accessing links in the application are encountered, ensure browser pop-up blockers are not enabled.

Users may also click the VIEW ALL SEARCH RESULTS to see the entire results of their search on a single page. This page has been optimized for printing. When your search has returned a large number of records, it will take several seconds or more for your results to be displayed, so please be patient.

Each search conducted can also be downloaded into a file that can then be pasted into an Excel spreadsheet and used at your discretion. The first button you will see is the “Download All Case Files”. If you select this option you will receive a CSV text file containing all of the active records in the Cold Case Database. The second button you will see is the “Download Search Results”. If you select this option you will receive a CSV text file of all the records contained in your most recent displayed search.

All search results will be displayed initially in alphabetical order by the victim’s last name followed by the first name. If the last name consists of numeric values those records will be displayed first followed by the remaining search results in alphabetical order.

Users may sort the order of the information displayed by clicking on the title of each information column (the blue header area at the top of search results). Clicking the column title once sorts the information in ascending order; clicking again sorts the information in descending order.

When you would like to conduct a new search, click the “CLEAR SEARCH” button to begin a new search.

When you want to return to the Home page, select the HOME link to take you back to the application´s main page.

Many cases have been provided without hair and eye color. Using only these criteria may result in a no record match based on the limited demographic data contained in the database. The CBI continues to work with local law enforcement agencies to provide the most detailed information.

Database Administration

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Administrative access is limited to the CBI Cold Case Analyst. If there is a question about a case, or changes need to be made to information contained within, please contact the CBI Cold Case Analyst, Audrey Simkins, (audrey.simkins@state.co.us) with the appropriate changes.

The Database continues to be a work in progress. Agencies continue to provide both victim demographics, photographs of the victims as well as narratives describing the case details.

As new and updated information becomes available to the CBI, these changes will be made to the database. No changes will be made to the database without notification and coordination with the local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the case.

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