MIDWEST CITY, Okla. –
Midwest City police have an extra set of eyes working on unsolved murder cases. Police have partnered with the University of Central Oklahoma Forensic Institute in Edmond to review cold cases in hopes of solving them or at least generating new leads.
The Midwest City Police Chief said his detectives are assigned thousands of cases to investigate every year. Handing off cold cases to UCO students will allow detectives to focus on their daily workload.
The unsolved Midwest City murders may be decades old, but the victims have not been forgotten.
“We try to keep the families updated when there’s information to give them and keep in contact with them,” said Chief Greg Wipfli, Midwest City Police Department.
Wipfli said his investigators have combed over the evidence in the murders of Nancy Probst and the nearly 50-year-old murder of Lynda Jones, but the families continue waiting and hoping for justice.
“It’s very frustrating, but we’re trying to think of innovative ways to continue these investigations,” said Wipfli.
That is why police turned to UCO forensic students for help.
“We have the entire case files from Midwest City Police Department,” said Mattie Cheeney, student. “We have pretty much everything that the original investigators collected.”
Graduate student Mattie Cheeney and others have been reviewing the Probst and Jones cases since August.
“They didn’t have a lot of the technology that we have now,” said Cheeney. “So, it’s interesting looking at the stuff they did, which we would do a lot differently.”
Cheeney said working on real-life cases, along with the staged crime scenes and lab work, is preparing her for a job after graduation.
“A lot of time we don’t get to see active, open cases,” said Cheeney.
Investigations Cheeney could make a difference in.
“I hope so,” said Cheeney. “I mean, I really think that the important thing is finding new leads and keeping it relevant.”
Students will complete their reviews in December and present their findings and recommendations to the Midwest City police then.
UCO is part of a Cold Case Task Force formed in 2018 that also includes the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office.
