Senate budget includes $50K for cold case task force

On Wednesday, we showed you how one man is using his personal tragedy to solve cold cases in Florida.

Now, Ryan Backmann, the founder of Project Cold Case, is gaining new support from lawmakers in Tallahassee.

Soon, ProjectColdCase.org will show new cases of unsolved crimes on its website after people who saw our story reached out needing their help. There's also a huge boost in Tallahassee that includes money in the senate budget proposal for a task force.

“At the time that the segment aired, the website was overloaded with traffic,” Backmann said.

Backmann is talking about the Action News Jax investigation into the backlog of cold cases in Jacksonville. Right now, there are 752 unsolved homicides dating back to 1990. In comparison, the entire state of Colorado has just more than 1,300.

“It tells me what I’ve already known; that this is a necessary and needed program in the community,” Backmann said.

Sen. Aaron Bean, who has sponsored legislation that would create a task force dedicated to reviewing Florida cold cases, was able to get $50,000 earmarked in the senate budget.

But Backmann said there are still hurdles they've got to overcome.

“We still have the House that we have to get through, we've always had problems with the House really getting behind this cold case legislation,” he said.

If the bill is successful, the first order of business for the task force is coming up with a clear definition of what turns a case cold.

Backmann believes the sooner leaders realize this is a matter of public safety, the sooner more cases will be solved.

“It's not just an unsolved murder, it's a killer on the street,” Backmann said.

After our investigation aired Wednesday, Backmann said he was contacted by eight families wanting their loved ones cases featured on the website.

Cox Media Group