LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Dead ends in murder investigations often lead to a case going cold, but once the investigation is filed away to collect dust that’s when Henderson’s newest team of volunteers step in.
Joseph Ebert, the Henderson Police Department Cold Case Unit detective, said he was asked to create the team in 2023 following his retirement.
“I agreed. However, there was a few requests that I had,” he said. “One, we needed to have funding for DNA. We needed to have somebody to replace me and our team members as they leave.”
The team of five volunteers and Ebert works off an arguably small budget of around $100,000 to find answers that are priceless to otherwise forgotten families.
“We do this job for the victims and the victims’ families,” Ebert said. “And if you’re doing it for any other reason than that, you’re doing this job for the wrong reason.”
The team has made progress in the last year solving a 2003 murder case of a mother of two and a 1981 murder investigation of a 20-year-old woman.
“Due to advancements in technology, we were able to get a better result of DNA with less quantity DNA,” Ebert said. “And we took the opportunity to resubmit those cases, those particular pieces of evidence.”
Patricia Hinger, one of a cold case murder victim’s two daughters, said she was thankful law enforcement didn’t forget about her mom.
“I would just want to say thank you for not giving up on the case and putting in all of your hard work and effort to keep digging and investigating and trying to find the person who did all this,” she said.
Hinger only had a few memories of her mother and relied on her family to fill in the gaps, but one moment was unforgettable—learning to figure skate on the ice with her mom.
“I took up figure skating in her memory,” Patricia Hinger said. “It was something that I could do to be close to her since she wasn’t here anymore.”
Skating at the Pickwick Ice rink at the age of seven, Hinger was surprised people still remembered her mom.
“I actually named my daughter after her,” she said. “Theresa.”
Ebert said the moment of closure for some families is a big motive for finding a suspect’s motive.
“There’s so many times where I’ve spoke to different victims that have said stuff to me that brings a tear to your eye,” Ebert said.
The motivation to continue is also supported by funds from the City of Henderson, resources which the team hopes to continue.
“We have over 20 more cold cases to move forward with and we have only identified potentially six suspects in out of six of those cases,” Ebert said. “You can see how expensive it can be.”
Ebert said it’s hard to put a price on stopping a homicide suspect from continuing to cause harm in the community, but the team will continue to find justice in a sea of unearthed files.
“Some people will say we got lucky,” he said. “I don’t believe we got lucky. I think it was just the right time.”
