Big Effort Aims To Tie Up Cold Cases

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Sacramento County is investigating nearly 1,200 missing person's cases.

The Sacramento County Sheriff's Department has now partnered with local and federal agencies to tie up more than 1,000 cold cases.

"They don't know what happened to their loved one," said Deputy Sheriff Paige Kneeland. "And that is something that eats away at them for years."

On Saturday, the sheriff's department will partner with several local and national agencies to try to solve cold cases, some dating back to 1944. It's an event called Missing in CA. It's the first of its kind to come to Northern California.

"My sister and I always knew that he had died because he would never have just disappeared!" said Kristen Yager Duarte, who lives in Sacramento.

The last night she saw her father, George Steven Yager, was the night of her junior prom. Duarte was just 17 years old. She says her father had mental-health issues and his missing person's case wasn't a priority for police.

"For 12 years, it was just a question mark," she said.

That was until 2009 when she got a call from Kneeland.

"We found your father and we know what happened," Duarte recalled. "You were right, he was murdered."

In 2005, Kneeland had two cases: one a John Doe, found burned post-mortem. The other case, for 47-year-old Yager.

"It just so happened I had been reviewing an unidentified remains case that matched that physical description," Kneeland said.

Duarte provided a DNA sample and Kneeland discovered the two cases were a match.

"To have that finally come to closure is just more than I can say with words," Duarte said.

But for some families, that closure never comes.

"There's not a ton of resources invested initially just because there's no crime scene and there's no compass to point us in any direction," Kneeland explained.

Some cases were reported in the '60s and '70s, long before national databases like the National Crime Information Center ever existed. Kneeland says details from families like a broken bone or prior surgery are critical.

"Any information that the family can bring that can lend itself to identifying a person," Kneeland said. "Having that public input can be helpful."

"No matter what happens, you'll at least know more," Duarte said.

He told CBS13 her sister recently had a baby and named her Paige, after the deputy that brought their family so much peace.

Tomorrow's "Missing in CA" event will be at the Harper Alumni Center at Sacramento State, 6000 College Town Drive from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration is encouraged but not required.