The Humboldt County Sheriff’s office cold case database launched this week

EUREKA, Calif.(KIEM)- The Humboldt County Sheriff’s office cold case database launched this week, and it’s already showing some results.

The HCSO unsolved cases database has information regarding 57 unsolved missing persons and suspected homicide cases that date back to the 1950s.

“This is just us trying to take advantage of the modernizing of our society, realizing all the resources available; maybe there are people that want to volunteer,” said Justin Braud, Undersheriff. 

The database includes victim photos and information, case summaries, and an interactive map plotting the general location of each case.

“We have had a lot of people calling our tip line already, sharing information. So we are really happy about that. We are really hopeful that this will lead to us breaking through some of these cases,” said Samantha Karges, Public Information Specialist. 

Humboldt County’s sheriff William Honsal has appointed two deputy sheriffs’ to the newly formed cold case unit.

The two are appointed retired peace officers with decades of investigative experience and will exclusively review these unsolved cases for new leads.

“We had been seeing that some other sheriff office websites throughout California had found that it was actually very helpful for those departments in getting leads in and information,” said Samantha Karges.

The website has general summaries of the cases. The department wants to make sure they are not jeopardizing any case that might be close to being solved. 

The database does not include all homicides or missing persons cases for Humboldt County and will be updated as new information is received or progress is made on a case. 

The Humboldt County sheriff’s office wants to encourage the public to help out and call in with any tips they may have.