ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Local college students are about to help police crack cold cases in our state. It’s part of a new course teaming Central New Mexico Community College students with New Mexico State Police.
In July 1989, the body of Janis Pulliam was discovered in Elephant Butte Lake. Her car was found abandoned at an Albuquerque hotel days later. In January 2004, Joan Vance was killed in a gift shop she worked at in Tucumcari. Decades later, there is still no clear answer on who did either crime. These are just some of the cold cases NMSP’s cold case unit has been trying to solve.
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It’s cold cases like these that are about to get a new set of eyes on them. “One cold case is too many cold cases. So, if this allows our students to bring something and make a connection or possibly a lead that was not ever noticed before, then it’s a win-win for everyone especially the community,” said Leslie Foust, Interim Associate Dean for CNM’s School of Health, Wellness, and Public Safety.
After two years of development, at the end of the month, the college is launching its collaborative cold case course. Partnering with the New Mexico State Police, the students will work on real cold cases in our state. Students will help digitize files and hone their investigative skills. The work will teach students and help law enforcement.
“It’s one thing to be reading something out of a book. It’s another thing to actually have those real life connections and experiences, they’re much more profound and meaningful for the students,” said Foust. “The investigator can take that and utilize that information to maybe possibly have a lead and maybe make that cold case closed for final.”
It’s also a chance to give long-overdue justice to crime victims and their families. “It’s one thing to get an ‘A’ on a paper but it’s another thing to say we solved a cold case that would’ve otherwise not been solved and got some resolution for a family,” said Foust.
The first part of the 14-week course will begin on April 29. Each of the ten students will undergo a background check to ensure they have no connection to the case NMSP will have them work on.
