Fort Worth has more than 900 cold cases and currently just one detective assigned to work them. So, a group of amateur sleuths wants to put their heads together to help find new leads.
On a dark and stormy night, the group of strangers met for the first time, drawn together by the same haunting interest.
"Initially the interest for me was the psychology behind it,” said the Fort Worth Cold Case Club founder, Dianne Kuykendall. “What could make these people do these things that they do to other people?"
What drives someone to kill, and what lets a case go cold?
"There's not enough resources and manpower to try to get these cases solved," said Rex Hutcheson, a new member.
"Even down to researching the old newspaper articles for instance,” said Vincent Strange. “I think there's a lot of forgotten stuff in there."
Strange launched the "Gone Cold" podcast to dig into local cases and connect with victims' families.
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"I lost my mother at an early age," Strange said. "I know how hard it is to lose someone so close. And I can't imagine not knowing."
"So do y'all want to just focus on one case?" Kuykendall asked the group.
They finally settled on a string of rapes and murders of women that terrorized Fort Worth in the 1980s.
"We had to face things that we didn't want to face," said Kuykendall.
Curtis Brown was a person of interest in more than a dozen but only convicted in three.
"Somebody's gotta know something," said Hutcheson.
The group members will pool their resources and their brain power, hoping to bring something solid to police.
They’re scratching an itch they can't shake.
"I don't know how much I can help, but I feel like I have to try," Strange said.
And hoping to clear part of their city's dark past.
