ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Police say it has been a big help in cracking open unsolved cold case murders; a series of videos and podcasts posted online that now, after a year-long hiatus, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) is bringing back. News 13 spoke with APD officials to get the first look at their relaunch of the Duke City Case Files.
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“What we’ve learned by sitting and listening to a lot of our families of homicide victims—which is the parents that survived, it’s the siblings, it’s the adult children that have survived—is they still want a sense of, ‘are you still looking into the death of my loved one?'” said Commander Kyle Hartsock, with APD’s Criminal Investigations Division, “‘Do you still care? Do you remember who they are? Um, you know, are they a person to you or just a case?’ And they taught us that. And out of those talks comes this series which just reminds them, ‘Oh we remember, we care.'”
That series was called ‘Duke City Case Files.’ Beginning in 2021, six episodes and two podcasts told the stories of cold case murder victims in Albuquerque that the department needed help solving.
“A cold case means we don’t have any more leads to follow up on. Reasonable leads,” Hartsock said. He compared the investigation of a case to looking at a bunch of doors—each one, a lead to follow. “Have we turned all the doorknobs? Have we tried our best to follow these leads? And once we have, that case is cold,” Hartsock said. This series was born of a desire to ‘create more doors,’ AKA get the public’s help to bring in new leads.
“Like Monsters Inc., right? Like, bring me a door, let me open it,” Hartsock said; and hopefully, finally, solve those cold cases. So far, the series has a good track record. APD has managed to solve four cold case murders as a result of this series.
“I totally attribute it to the Duke City Case Files, and here’s why: while some of them generated leads and some didn’t what happens is it requires a review to occur of the case,” Hartsock said. It means more eyes reviewing the case internally in the department, and more awareness generated in the community.
Victim Liaison Manager Terry Huertaz, who works with the families of these victims, says it gives them hope that their loved one’s case isn’t forgotten.
“They’re very very grateful that their story is getting back out there and hoping that someone in the community sees this story and that someone in the community comes forward and shares some information that could change everything for them,” Huertaz said, “They may not even realize how important it could be, it could just change the whole case, change the whole investigation and bring peace to a family that really needs it and deserves it.”
The series will start again on Monday with the episode focused on the case of Brittany Ramirez.
It will be available on all of APD’s social media sites, their website, and on YouTube. Hartsock says the primary way they will be taking tips is through Crime Stoppers.
