This past weekend's break in the Jacob Wetterling case out in Minnesota now gives hope to others waiting for answers, including those here in Central Georgia.
Bibb County currently has about 50 cold cases of unsolved murders and missing persons.
Captain Shermaine Jones works as an investigator with the Violent Crimes Unit, and that means he also works on cold cases – those are cases open longer than a year.
"If there’s nothing moving on the case, no leads to follow up on, nothing that the investigators can work on, it’s deemed cold then," said Jones. "We have a filing system. All murders are forever open until we solve them, missing persons are the same."
Jones says he’s solved one cold case in his time with the sheriff's office, the murder of Macon businessman Waldo Sheftall. He was found shot to death in his home in 2007.
"We got to the closing point…the information that came the suspect had been killed also," Jones said. "That was very difficult for me for me to explain to the family this is who killed your loved one but we’re not going to trial."
Bringing that closure to families is what keeps Jones going. He hopes to bring that to the family of Wendell Ford Jr., a 21-year-old shot during a robbery on Forest Avenue back in 2011.
"I can tell his father, I think that’s the only parent he has living, and let him know this what happened. This is why it’s taken so long," said Jones.
With each cold case their office closes, it brings hope to those who are still waiting.
"Don’t give up on us, cause we’re not giving up on your case, your loved one," said Jones. "Although it may seem that time is pushing away, and going along, we haven’t stopped just because nothing new has come. [It] doesn’t mean we’re not working, we’re constantly trying to bring resolve to the case."
Jones urges anyone with information on any case to call Crime Stoppers at 1-877-68CRIME