Violent Crime
Violent or major crime
Cold case
Typically, cold cases are violent and other major felony crimes, such as murder and rape, which—unlike unsolved minor crimes are generally not subject to a statute of limitations.
Sometimes disappearances can also be considered cold cases if the victim has not been seen or heard from for some time, such as the case of Natalee Holloway or the Beaumont children. The rate of cold cases being solved are slowly declining, soon less than 30% will be solved per year. About 35% of those cases are not cold cases at all. Some cases become instantly cold when a seeming closed (solved) case is re-opened due to the discovery of new evidence pointing away from the original suspect(s).Other cases are cold when the crime is discovered well after the fact—for example, by the discovery of human remains.[1] Some cases become classified cold cases when a case that had been originally ruled an accident or suicide is re-designated as murder when new evidence emerges.
The John Christie murders is a notable case when Timothy Evans was wrongly executed for the alleged murders of his wife and child. Many other bodies were later found in the house where they lived with Christie, and he was then executed for the crimes. The case helped a campaign against capital punishment in Britain.
