ROCHESTER, N.Y. — New technology is bringing hope to families of Rochester murder victims.
The Rochester Police Department has launched its cold case website that investigators hope will generate new leads in old cases.
There are more than 550 open cold cases currently in the city of Rochester.
The cold case website is an effort that has been a work in progress for some time, but gained momentum when Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan stepped into the role as interim chief of the Rochester Police Department.
The website RochesterNYUnsolved.com is now a reality.
“We’re only praying that as people can understand that this means closure for those families to be able to see an arrest, or at least to know, often sometimes what's happened to their family members," said Herriott-Sullivan.
Some of those families attended a news conference on Thursday where police unveiled the website. Among them, Genora Wilder whose son was killed a little more than two years ago.
“This is definitely a case where somebody knows something. There was, I was told, maybe 20 to 30, it was July, a nice summer night on a corner where there's a store and a barbershop. I was told there were something like 20 to 30 people out that night right at the corner," said Wilder.
The website is designed to bring awareness to unsolved murder cold cases by providing all of the public information about the case in one location.
The site is interactive. People in the community can not only view it but can share anonymous tips.
The hope is that someone will remember something or will decide to share information that could be a lead for police.
“It's small, but it's a very important way we can keep these cases in the public eye, beyond the maybe two days of press that it gets once it happens,” said Rochester Police Department Capt. Frank Umbrino. “You know, families have to live with this every single day for the rest of their lives.”
The oldest cold case on the website is the case of Jose Bas, who was killed while working in his corner store in 1972.
“As of today, it's going to be 49 years,” said Bas' granddaughter, Arleen Hyland. “And as of today, it still hurts. And to come here and see what they're doing, just gives me a lot of hope.”
“We can’t promise you that we're going to solve each and every case, but what we can promise you is that we're going to do what we can to provide the answers that everybody needs so desperately and that you deserve," said Capt. Umbrino.
“I'd like to pray that something could happen, even if nothing happens for my son’s case, I would be happy if something happened to somebody else's case," said Wilder.
