(COLUMBUS, Ohio) -- Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced today that more than 1,640 cold case homicides have been added to the Ohio Unsolved Homicides Database since efforts to expand the program were announced last year.
Attorney General DeWine asked law enforcement agencies to submit their cold case information to the online database in September 2012. At the time, there were only 166 unsolved homicide cases on the site.
Today there are 1,808 cases in the database.
"Since launching the database expansion, we have received dozens of tips regarding several of the listed cases," said Attorney General DeWine. "We want to keep reminding Ohioans that it is never too late to come forward with information. Even information that might seem insignificant could be the detail that breaks a case."
The goal of the Ohio Unsolved Homicides Initiative is to bring widespread visibility to unsolved cases, increase the possibility for tips, and help jurisdictions compare details of unsolved crimes. Agents with the Attorney General's Bureau of Criminal Investigation can also assist local agencies in investigating unsolved homicides.
Attorney General DeWine also routinely features cases from the database on the homepage of the Attorney General's website in an effort to bring that case increased visibility.
This month's featured case is the 1994 homicide of Kathryn Menendez, whose unclothed body was found on an oil well road off Fewtown Road in Portage County.
Menendez had been strangled, stabbed, and bludgeoned to death. Her clothing has never been found.
According to information submitted to the database from the Alliance Police Department, the victim was reported as a runaway on August 20, 1994, five days before her body was found. Authorities believe she had been murdered 24 to 48 hours before she was discovered.
Investigators also believe that Menendez may have been killed in Alliance, Ohio, and her body was then moved to the location where it was found.
Anyone with information on this case should contact that Alliance Police Department at 330-821-9140.
Those with information on this or any other unsolved homicide can contact BCI at 855-BCI-OHIO. Tips can also be submitted online through the Ohio Attorney General's website.
Law enforcement agencies that would like to include their cases in the database should contact BCI's Jennifer Dillion at 740-845-2000.
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Additional Resources:
Ohio Unsolved Homicides Database
Kathryn Menendez Database Entry
Submit a Tip Online
Media Contacts:
Dan Tierney: 614-466-3840
Jill Del Greco: 614-466-3840