Cold case investigation becomes vital tool for police

CLEVELAND - A Five On Your Side Investigation that led to the creation of an extensive database of unsolved murders is being credited as a vital tool for crime fighters.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor William D. Mason said the data "was some of the best information put together on unsolved homicides in the United States."

A Five On Your Side investigation in May first dug deep into FBI crime reports and detailed vital information on every unsolved murder across Ohio and the country.

The report found 5,000 unsolved murders across Ohio in the last 30 years. Since 1980, there have been more than a thousand unsolved murders in Cuyahoga County and  185,000 across the country.

"I've never seen anything like it," said Mason, who has forwarded it to his own cold case team that was created four years ago and has already solved nine cold cases and sent defendants to prison. Mason is the first and only prosecutor in Ohio to establish a cold case unit.

"It's going to be helpful for investigators who are looking. It gives them trends."

You can learn much more about unsolved murders in your neighborhood and drill down in the FBI statistics by clicking here.