By Patrick Johnson
Source masslive.com
State police are doubling down in the pursuit of several unsolved homicides and missing person cases in Massachusetts, and are upping the ante in the hope it will pay off in new information that leads to arrests and convictions.
The Unresolved Cases Unit, in partnership with the state Department of Correction and the various district attorneys, is unveiling a set of playing cards featuring photos and information on 52 of the state’s unsolved homicides and missing person investigations. The deck’s two Joker cards have no photo, but instead have text saying that unsolved crime is no joke.
Each card contains the toll-free number to call with information, 855-MA-SOLVE, or 855 627-6583.
“The victims in this deck were someone’s mother, father, sister, brother, wife, husband, child, or partner,” said state police Col. Christopher Mason. “Much time may have passed since the crime that took them from their loved ones, but they, and the victims of all our unresolved cases, are not forgotten.”
The decks of cards will be distributed to the district attorneys, who will distribute them to local police.
The Department of Correction will also distribute them among the state prison population. The hope is that inmates playing cards will have their memories jogged and then be motivated to share what they know.
Several cards involve notorious, unsolved cases from Western Massachusetts.
Molly Bish, the 16-year-old girl abducted from her lifeguard job in Warren and whose body was found three years later in Palmer, is the queen of spades.
Holly Piirainen, abducted in 1993 in Sturbridge and found murdered in Brimfield months later, is the 2 of hearts.
Other cards represent unsolved homicides in Springfield, Chicopee, Belchertown, Ware and Pittsfield.
Heather Bish, the sister for Molly Bish, said she had heard about the playing card idea some months ago from one of the detectives working the case. The Unresolved Cases Unit has taken several innovative approaches in finding answers, she said, and the cards are just one example.
“I’m eager to see what else they will be doing,” she said.
She said that any idea that helps find the people responsible is worth it in the end.
The families of the 52 people on the playing cards all hope the cards lead to answers, she said. But the families of people not featured in the deck all deserve answers too. Bish said she hopes this first deck of cards leads to multiple editions where different unsolved homicides and missing person cases are featured.
“I know there are a lot more people out there for sure,” she said.
There are cases that don’t get the attention of a case like her sister’s abduction and murder, she said, “and it’s important to hear them as well.”
Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni said the new approach might make a difference in bringing an end to any of the open cases.
“We never forget about unsolved homicide victims and their families and continue to vigorously work these cases with our police partners,” he said. “In conjunction with the Massachusetts State Police and Department of Corrections, we hope this effort might provide a lead to solve one or all of these cases.”
“We won’t rest, and we’ll try every reasonable and lawful means, to bring justice for victims and families of homicide,” Gulluni said.
Steven Gagne, Northwestern first assistant district attorney, said, “Even if it is a longshot, this project provides a glimmer of hope that someone may come forward with information that could prove helpful to the case.”
Four of the cards in the deck represent cases handled by the Northwestern DA’s office, which covers Hampshire and Franklin counties and Athol. Gagne said he and Capt. Jeffrey Cahill of the state police detective unit assigned to the DA’s office selected open cases that took place not so long ago that there is a chance people might still remember details that could be helpful to investigators, even if they don’t realize it.
“We wanted to pick cases we thought people might remember with a gentle nudge,” Cahill said.
The idea for the deck of cards was promoted by former state police Col. Kerry Gilpin, whose 15-year-old sister was abducted and murdered in Kingston in 1986. A 61-year-old North Carolina man was arrested and charged with her murder in 2019.
This is the first time playing cards have been used in Massachusetts for law enforcement purposes, but other states have used them and had some success.
In 2005, law enforcement agencies in Polk County, Florida, distributed cards with unsolved cases to the county jails. Within three months, the cards generated 60 tips, leading to four convictions.
The U.S. military famously produced a deck of cards during the Iraq War in 2003 that featured the faces of Sadam Hussain and his family, and members of his cabinet.
Prior to that, playing cards were used in World War II with silhouettes of enemy and friendly aircraft, and even maps of escape routes behind enemy lines.
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