Detective works full time to revisit decades-old cold cases
By Abner Sosa
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BENTONVILLE, Arkansas (KHBS, KHOG) — Nearly 20 years after Pea Ridge teenager April Andrews disappeared while walking to church, Benton County investigators say her case is still active and still moving forward.
The Andrews case, which reaches 20 years unsolved in July, is one of more than 20 cold cases now being revisited by the Benton County Sheriff’s Office as the agency dedicates one detective full-time to unsolved investigations.
Lt. Detective Hunter Petray, who has worked in criminal investigations for more than a decade, was assigned exclusively to cold cases earlier this year after previously balancing them alongside active investigations.
“Just in the four or five months, we’ve made significant progress,” Petray said.
The sheriff’s office says the cases range from missing persons to homicides and unidentified human remains, with some investigations dating back to the 1970s.
Petray said modern advances in DNA testing and surveillance technology are changing how investigators approach decades-old cases.
“Technology has changed. DNA technology has advanced,” Petray said. “Something that you had tested, say, 20-plus years ago, you need to have submitted again for retesting just because the technology has advanced so much.”
He said newer cases can sometimes be easier to solve because of cell phone data, digital records and the widespread use of security cameras, tools investigators did not have decades ago.
“You can go on Amazon and buy a Ring or Blink home security system for $100,” Petray said. “Years ago, that wasn’t the case.”
The work often involves revisiting old evidence, re-contacting witnesses and using newer forensic methods to identify previously unknown victims.
Petray said the sheriff’s office recently worked with outside forensic laboratories to identify previously unidentified homicide victims, helping investigators generate new leads. In one case, investigators were able to close the investigation after identifying the victim, though the suspected offender had already died.
Other investigations remain active.
Among them is the disappearance of Andrews, who vanished in 2006 and remains one of Northwest Arkansas’ most well-known missing persons cases.
Another is the 1989 killing of Dana Stidham, a Bella Vista teenager whose death remains unsolved.
Petray said investigators are also working to identify remains found near railroad tracks in Gentry in 1983. DNA testing is expected to play a key role in determining the person’s identity.
Despite technological advances, Petray said time remains one of the biggest challenges in cold case work.
“Every day that goes by, your cold case, it gets more difficult to solve,” Petray said, citing fading memories and witnesses or family members who may have died.
Still, he believes most cases can eventually be solved.
“I’m of the belief that any case is solvable. Just some are tougher than others,” Petray said.
He also believes someone still holds information that could help investigators.
“I fully believe that in every single case that I have on my board, somebody knows something that they’ve not reported,” Petray said.
Petray said the term “cold case” can be misleading for families still searching for answers.
“The case is never cold to the family,” he said. “They live it every day.”
Anyone with information connected to Benton County cold cases is asked to contact the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.
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