NOTE TO READERS: In her position as public safety reporter, Lauren Delgado has interviewed many people who have lost a loved one to violence.
But in the course of this reporting, she wondered about victims’ family members who never experience the closure of a suspect’s arrest and conviction.
What would happen if your child disappeared and was never heard from again?
Would you hold a memorial service?
Or would you still be waiting to hear their voice 30 years later?
For this Sunday Special, Delgado interviewed three families whose loved ones’ deaths or disappearances have never been solved, even though decades have passed.
Jewel Summerlin Melvin's family: “We want to see the court system punish them, too.”
Leonard "Buddy" Phelps' daughter believes justice will prevail. >>
She also spent time with an Okaloosa County sheriff’s investigator who works daily on some of his agency’s “cold cases.”
Look for other law enforcement agencies’ cold case updates in the coming weeks as the Daily News continues to report on this issue.
See photos of the sheriff's office cold case victims. >>
Read some of the sheriff's office's Cold Case Chronicles. >>
HOW TO HELP: Anyone with information on local crimes and cold cases is asked to call the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office at 651-7400 or Emerald Coast Crime Stoppers at 850-863-TIPS.