With an investigative career that included obtaining confessions in high-profile, vicious crimes, OPP Superintendent Jim Smyth knows that solving the case and getting the accused properly tried and incarcerated is the result of teamwork.
And now, the OPP and Barrie Police want you to join their team as they launch a new collaborative effort to solve cold cases such as the homicides of Cindy Halliday and April Dobson.
“The reality is when you work with the families and see the impact, that’s all the inspiration any of our investigators need,” said Smyth, the OPP’s Central Region operations director, who elicited confessions in cases from Terry-Lynne McClintic for the murder of eight-year-old Tori Stafford in Woodstock and from Colonel Russell Williams.
“I was a member of a large team on which everyone played their role; otherwise, we’d have never gotten to where we got to.”
Simcoe County Case Files will be soon appearing on your social media feed.
Every two days, the joint police venture will upload a video, with photos, family recollections and information about the case.
The cases are very cold: 17-year-old Cindy Halliday went missing on Apr. 20, 1992; her remains were found two months later in Springwater Township. Her killer has never been found, however.
Then there’s the story of two British Columbia men, who went missing in Barrie in September 1991 – Grant Ayerst and Norman Whalley.
And the third case is the chilling story of April Dobson, who was fatally shot while sitting on her front porch, on Oct. 14, 2005.
“This is our first foray into this style of bringing information to people’s attention. It’s also very similar to what a business would do – we’re on social media. We will have the vehicle driving around. Hopefully, it will trigger people to come forward with information,” said Smyth.
Barrie Police Chief Kimberley Greenwood said the collaborative, community-focused approach has been used in jurisdictions out west and in Europe, but this is the first time it’s being used in Ontario.
“We identified these three cases to start off this initiative. If we see success, we will ensure this method is used in other investigations,” she said. “The videos speak to the personal side of the stories.”
Every two days over the next several weeks, the police will post new videos about the cases on social media. As well, a van highlighting the unsolved cases will be in the community advertising the efforts to resolve the cases.
As well as Crime Stoppers, you can reach out to police via a tip-line, 1-844-677-5030,
“This is a very personal approach. It really highlights the victims and the information on their last contact with family and friends and we hope that will trigger witnesses to come forward,” said Greenwood.
She added not only are the police working to find the criminals and bring them to justice, but police want to help the victims’ families.
Each one of us can help by sharing the posts and if one of the videos jogs a memory, contact police.
“Your one little piece (of information) could be consequential to our investigation,” said Smyth.
