DES MOINES, Iowa — On Tuesday, Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird announced a new state cold case unit, consisting of a team of three investigators and one prosecutor who will work to solve the over-400 unsolved cold cases in Iowa.
Cold cases, as defined by Steve Ponsetto, senior investigator for the Office of the Attorney General of Iowa, pertain to a homicide with a missing person or with unidentified human remains, and when all active leads have been exhausted.
The state will fund Bird's cold case unit for $530,000, and that money will begin on July 1. Bird also said the three investigator positions remain open at this time, but Ponsetto will be the sole prosecutor for the unit.
The cold case team was a promise Bird made when she took office, and made the announcement the unit was ready on Tuesday with multiple law enforcement agencies and families of homicide victims behind her at the Polk Co. Sheriff's Office.
Bird read the names of the families and thanked them for being there, and added: "To have a son or daughter, husband or wife, brother or sister, aunt or uncle, suddenly and violently taken away from you, that's something nobody should have to go through."
RELATED: Here’s where courts are slowing Republican efforts for a state role in enforcing immigration law
Polk County Sheriff Kevin Schneider said on Tuesday that he knew a lot of the victims standing with him, and doesn't want over 100 unsolved homicides in the county, but believes this cold case team can be successful. He also mentioned the county was already running their own cold case unit made up of volunteers.
Josh Okland also recounted his family's case involving his sister Ashley Okland who was murdered in 2011. He said he trusts law enforcement and believes this team will bring closure to the hundreds of families affected, like his.
Bird's office said it prosecuted two cold cases since 2023, and plans to pursue all the cold cases that have been exhausted by local law enforcement across the state with this new cold case team.