- Mississippi officials hope prisoners serving sentences will recognize a victim
- Some 2,500 decks showing 56 cases have been distributed to seven jails
- Similar cards have solved cold case murders after being rolled out in Florida
Mississippi prisons have issued ‘cold case’ playing card featuring missing people and murdered victims in the hopes some of them will be recognized.
The cards give information about 56 unsolved cases, and 2,500 decks have been printed for distribution within seven jails in the Magnolia State.
Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers, the nonprofit creator of the cards, said there are 20 missing persons and 36 unsolved homicides pictured in the deck.
The eight of diamonds pictures Cameron Perryman, a 33-year-old who was shot and whose body was dumped in Desoto National Forest Roadside Park on New Year’s Day 2021.
Kimberly Watts, a 48-year-old Long Beach nurse who was found strangled and stabbed to death in her home on November 10, 2014, is on the ace of spades.
Mississippi prisons have issued ‘cold case’ playing card featuring missing people and murdered victims in the hopes some of them will be recognized
Kimberly Watts, a 48-year-old Long Beach nurse who was found strangled and stabbed to death in her home on November 10, 2014, is on the ace of spades
The eight of diamonds pictures Cameron Perryman, a 33-year-old who was shot and whose body was dumped in Desoto National Forest Roadside Park on New Year’s Day 2021
Along with a photograph of each victim, the cards show the date they died or disappeared, a brief description about how they died and contact information for the relevant Crime Stoppers organization.
Officials hope that prisoners serving sentences will recognize someone while playing with the cards and give information to help solve the crimes.
Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers said the decks cost around $6,000 to produce and they were funded by a grant from Season of Justice nonprofit.
‘We have nothing to lose,’ Lori Massey, the chief executive director of Mississippi Coast Crime Stoppers told the New York Times.
‘These cases are sitting on investigators’ desks. We feel like one lead is better than no leads at all. If one case it solved, it would be worth it.’
The deck of cards approach has been tried and tested in several other states – and some have brought closure to families waiting for answers on what happened to their loved ones.
In Florida, the Department of Corrections rolled out 100,000 decks of cold case playing cards featuring 104 unsolved cases in 2007.
The murders of James Foote and Ingrid Lugo were solved thanks to the tactic, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The murders of James Foote (pictured) and Ingrid Lugo were solved thanks to the tactic, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
Foote, 53, known to his friends as Jim, was fatally shot in a Fort Myers parking lot after a night out enjoying karaoke in November 2004.
His case lacked witnesses or evidence and went unsolved for years until the card with his story on landed in front of prisoners who were incarcerated with his killer.
Inmate Derrick Hamilton was convicted for the murder after bragging about it to at least four inmates.
Meanwhile, Ingrid Lugo’s ex-boyfriend Bryan Curry, 36, was arrested at his home near Tampa in November 2007 and charged with her December 2006 murder.
The revelation came after an inmate who served time with him saw a playing card with details of Lugo’s death.
Curry had served time for forgery and told the inmate details that only the killer cold have known, according to investigators.
Prisoners can also purchase ‘cold case cards’ in Indiana, while Minnesota was piloting the cards as far back as 2008.
