PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County released its 'Unsolved Playing Cards' deck Tuesday morning in partnership with law enforcement agencies in an effort to solve more local cold cases.
WATCH THE FULL PRESS CONFERENCE BELOW:
"Our hope is that this deck of cards will renew people's memories— that some little insignificant thing about these homicides that they could give you that information, but they didn't think it was important at the time, or maybe they were a snowbird that was here and went home and didn't realize that the person actually died," Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County President Sherri Cole said.
Crime Stoppers of Palm Beach County is a non-profit that takes completely anonymous tips from the community and passes those tips to police detectives.
"Our mission is always to keep our community safe, and this is one giant step forward in helping the families who have loved ones who have a little bit of discontent, thinking that their victim or their family member was not important because their case was not solved," Cole said. "Unfortunately, they're in this deck because the police have run up against a stone wall."
The deck features 52 different unsolved homicides, missing persons and unidentified remains from victims of all ages who detectives are still searching for in the county.
"You'll see when you go through the deck that some of our victims are very young," Cole said. "We've got a one-year-old that's in our deck. Help us get a child killer off the streets."
A total of 5,000 decks will be distributed within the community and the Palm Beach County Jail system in hopes of sparking fresh leads. A total of nine law enforcement agencies in Palm Beach County contributed to the construction of the deck.
"All these cases were randomly assigned a suit, however, we do have some that we want to focus on as a special interest, such as our ace of spades, which is our baby, Kaleb," Project Coordinator Cindy Jensen said.
Kaleb Watson was a 16-month-old child who was shot and killed while in the back seat of a car in 2022. The shooter is still unknown.
West Palm Beach Police Chief Tony Araujo was at the press conference and said the deck represents an ongoing commitment to the county's pursuit of justice for victims and their families.
"By working together, we can deliver long-awaited closure to the families and loved ones who have waited far too long for justice," Araujo said. "You see the cards behind me? Their voices are no more— they're extinguished. If you're a witness, if you know something, be the voice. Be their voice. Their lives mattered. Let's solve these cases together."
