Beach cold-case team may add part-time help

VIRGINIA BEACH

The Virginia Beach Police Department would hire two new part-time investigators to help solve cold cases under a recommendation put before the City Council this week.

Mayor Will Sessoms submitted the proposal Tuesday after studying the department's cold-case practices for two months with Vice Mayor Louis Jones and police Chief A.M. "Jake" Jacocks Jr.

The department would absorb the $41,143 annual cost, starting with the 2009- 10 budget, Sessoms wrote in his letter to the council. The detectives would help the department's one full-time cold-case investigator and the volunteers who assist him in reviewing cases.

There are 61 unsolved homicide cases in Virginia Beach that are more than a year old, according to the Police Department. Utilizing new DNA technology and adding manpower may help close some of the cases, Sessoms wrote in his recommendation.

Family members and friends of the victims have called for the creation of a cold-case task force. The proposal is Sessoms' answer to their request.

"We are the living victims, and we need help," Nancy Bloise told The Virginian-Pilot last month. Her daughter and grandson were killed in June 2004, and the case remains unsolved. "Never in our wildest dreams did we think this case wouldn't be solved."

The department would also create a Web page that includes a synopsis of each cold case and would allow people to e-mail information to the Detective Bureau.

The department would seek "experienced former homicide detectives" for the part-time slots and would explore grant opportunities to help fund cold-case investigations, Sessoms wrote.

Kathy Adams, (757) 222-5155, kathy.adams@pilotonline.com