The Cases Between the Records
Florida’s unsolved murders, missing people, and serial-killer history demand a closer examination of how evidence connects — and where it does not.
By Shane Huey | Florida Unsolved
A missing-person report establishes that someone has been reported missing. An unidentified body establishes that a person has been found without a confirmed identity. A homicide file establishes that a death is being investigated as a killing.
Those records may concern the same person. Establishing that connection can be the work that changes an investigation.
Florida’s history raises difficult questions about people who disappeared, murders that remained unresolved, and offenders whose crimes extended across communities and decades. But a responsible examination begins by testing the premise behind a familiar question: Why does Florida have such a high rate?
Florida AG Launches Statewide Cold Case Task Force, Partners with Othram
On April 8, 2026, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier stood before cameras in Miami and put a number on a problem Floridians rarely see in full: more than 21,000 unsolved murders in this state since 1965. Nearly 900 cases involving unidentified human remains. Approximately 2,500 unsolved missing persons cases.
The announcement was the launch of Florida's new Statewide Prosecution Cold Case Task Force — and a $600,000 partnership with Othram, the same Texas-based forensic DNA laboratory that identified Mary Alice Pultz from remains found on Crescent Beach four decades after her death.
Othram's technology extracts usable genetic material from decades-old evidence — clothing, hair, biological trace — and maps it against consumer genealogy databases to identify victims and suspects alike. The process has contributed to more than 1,300 case resolutions nationwide since its introduction in 2018, including the identification of the Golden State Killer and the 2022 Idaho student murders.
Uthmeier was pointed about the initiative's scope. Investigators are already examining cold cases from the 1970s in Broward and Miami-Dade counties and a more recent double homicide in Miami Gardens. He declined to name specific cases. "If there are perpetrators out there, I don't want to put them on notice," he said. "Rest assured, we are going to be investigating, and where we can, we will prosecute."
The Cold Case Investigations Unit — created under former AG Ashley Moody — continues to operate alongside the new task force, supporting local law enforcement agencies on select cases as requested.
For the families of Florida's 21,000 unsolved victims, the announcement is long overdue. For Florida Unsolved, it is confirmation of exactly why this work matters.
Every name. Every case. No expiration date.