DCI creates cold case database

RIVERTON (WNE) — When Kathleen Pehringer’s daughter came home from school, her mother wasn’t there. Kathleen’s purse and glasses were gone, but her vehicle was parked on the street outside. Known as a responsible and punctual woman who took classes at Central Wyoming College, her absence sparked concern. She was never seen again.

Pehringer is just one of many Wyoming cold cases that are getting a new breath of air with the debut of a new initiative by the Wyoming Department of Criminal Investigation.

The new cold case database project aims to spotlight cold cases that have stalled out over the years, from homicides to sexual assaults to arson, and was recently unveiled on the DCI’s webpage. The files include everything from unidentified homicide victim cases to missing people like Pehringer who are believed to have been murdered.

Similar to the missing persons database maintained by the DCI, law enforcement divisions across the state have been asked to dust off old case files and submit records for the project.

Some details are limited from the public’s view, but the database also contains full case information for investigators to share across departments in an effort to assist one another.

“[Members of the public] are not going to get suspects’ names,” explained DCI Commander Ryan Cox to the Joint Judiciary Committee earlier this year, adding that the details released to the public are aimed at generating tips for old cases.

The full case files available to law enforcement agencies are meant to foster collaboration.

To learn more about this and other cold cases, or to make a tip, visit https://wyomingdci. wyo.gov/operations/cold-cases.

This story was published on October 5, 2024.