The Cold Cases passes third-party review of its sources and methods

The Cold Cases, an independent investigative archive of unsolved homicides and missing persons based in Gainesville, Florida, has passed a third-party review of its sources and methods. The review was carried out by an outside agency and completed on October 23, 2026.

The evaluation looked at how the publication sources and verifies its reporting. Those documents are read against each other before anything is written. Where a family member or an investigator will speak on the record, their account is added alongside the paperwork rather than in place of it, and contradictions between the record and an account are published as contradictions. Every record names its sources, and where a document is quoted, the file states which agency produced it. Anything a family supplies privately is published only with their consent. Reporting, records requests and editing are handled in-house.

The archive is written for readers following unsolved homicide and missing persons cases, including families, investigators and researchers. Documents come from public records requests to police departments, clerks of court, medical examiners and state agencies, and from archival newspaper collections. Reader donations pay for records requests, court filing fees, transcripts and travel, and every donation is a one-time gift rather than a recurring charge. Because the files rest on documents obtained from public agencies, an outside check on sourcing and method speaks directly to what readers are asked to rely on.

All case files, interviews and guides are free to read at thecoldcases.com. Tips about unsolved cases can be sent to the newsroom through the contact page or by email. Tips are treated as confidential and are never published without the sender's consent. If a case is active, the archive asks that information be reported to the investigating agency first, since it documents cases and does not replace a police investigation.

About The Cold Cases

The Cold Cases is an independent investigative archive of unsolved homicides and missing persons, founded and edited by investigative journalist Dustin Reed Terry in Gainesville, Florida. It publishes documented case files, long-form interviews with investigators and families, and field guides on evidence and the public records process. Files are built from police incident reports, court filings, medical examiner records and newspaper archives obtained through public records requests, with sources named in each record. The archive has no paywall, no subscription and no advertising, and is funded by one-time reader donations.