Families who have suffered from some of Fort Worth's most heinous and mysterious unsolved crimes say a lack of staff in the Fort Worth Police Department's Cold Case Unit has left Justice Shelved in their decades-long struggles for answers.
After we reported on the police department's troubled and severely understaffed crime lab, several families of murdered and missing people in Fort Worth reached out to NBC 5 Investigates. They expressed anger and frustration with a lack of action and communication in their cases.
NBC 5 Investigates reported last month that the Fort Worth Police Department's crime lab has been so short-staffed that it failed to meet state deadlines for processing evidence in sexual assault cases more than 1,200 times.
Five families, those of June Ward, Gloria Choice, Julie Moseley, Cheryl Springfield, and Thurlow Buchanon, are now members of a group they never wanted to join. They're united by loss and grief but also by shared concern with what they describe as the Fort Worth Police Department's lack of resources and responsiveness.
"It's wrong. We're angry. We're forgotten," said Jan Webster, whose sister, Cheryl Springfield, was murdered on Christmas Day in 1980.
The families said they felt forgotten because the Fort Worth Police Department's Cold Case Unit is understaffed. The department confirmed that only one full-time detective and two part-time reserve officers were assigned to the unit, which has 1,000 cold cases to solve.
"It's ridiculous. There's no way," Webster said.
Kym Caddell, who helps support and advocate for Fort Worth cold case families through Thaw the Cold Cases, said staffing in the unit reminds her of the situation NBC 5 Investigates exposed in the crime lab, where the police department had five vacant positions, resulting in delays to more than 1,200 sexual assault cases.
"No matter how dedicated, how passionate you are, you cannot work a thousand cases, nor can you go through the cases to see which ones are workable," said Caddell.
Caddell said there were parallels between the department's cold case unit and the crime lab, including a lack of manpower and funding.
"It's deplorable. As much as Fort Worth has grown and as big as we are, then, I mean, there needs to be more staffing," said Sheryl Buchanan, whose brother Thurlow was murdered in 1987.
NBC 5 Investigates sat down with Fort Worth Chief of Police Neil Noakes and told him that many families said they felt forgotten.
"They are not forgotten. I want them to know that," Noakes said.
The chief said his department is actively working on cold cases where new leads exist.
"This is extremely important. Any way we can bring closure to any family or a loved one of someone who was murdered. We want to make sure we do that," Noakes said.
The families told NBC 5 Investigates they could not get basic questions answered about the status of investigations.
"You know, you don't get responses. When you do, you know, 'I'm going to get back with you,' and they don't. I don't think I've ever had a return phone call," Buchanan said.
Scotti Choice, whose mother, Gloria Choice, was found murdered in a vacant Fort Worth apartment building, has had a similar experience trying to get an update on his mother's case.
"They won't call you back. They won't answer phones. You leave a message, they won't call you back," said Choice.
Many families would like to know about the status of DNA evidence in their cases and whether additional testing could be done.
"You know, where do we sit? What do we have to work with? Right. And then what are the criteria?" said Dave Ward, whose mother, 25-year-old June Ward, was killed in 1977. Her body was found naked, and she'd been strangled with her bra strap.
The families saw a glimmer of hope in 2020 when the Fort Worth Police Department solved the 46-year-old murder of Carla Walker. In that case, police sent DNA evidence to a private lab specializing in degraded DNA samples and genetic genealogy, which can identify even distant relatives of possible suspects to generate new leads.
"I know that technology's changed, and I know that there's something they could do. I'm just not sure why it's not getting done," Webster said.
Some of the families said they've asked those questions but have not received a response. They all said they felt the department had done a poor job of communicating with the families about their cases.
We shared their concerns with Noakes, letting the chief know each family hoped for an update on their case and whether there was any DNA evidence that could be sent away like in the Walker case. Noakes said families would be given those answers and pledged that his detectives would review each case to determine whether additional testing is possible.
"If there is something that we can send off to be tested, then absolutely we should make that happen," Noakes said.
Noakes conceded that families waiting months or even a year for a response from the Cold Case Unit was unacceptable. He promised to reexamine staffing in the coming weeks to see if additional staff would help the department be more responsive to victims, and he offered the families an apology.
"I am so sorry. The last thing we want is any victim of a crime or family member of a victim of a crime here in Fort Worth to feel that we don't care, to feel that they are forgotten," Noakes said.
For families, finding out what happened to their loved ones is more than just curiosity. It's a deep need to comprehend events that forever altered their lives.
"They had lives," Webster said. "They deserved to know what happened. We deserve to know what happened."
Ward described how the violent death of his mother left behind emptiness and a desire to know what happened while creating a drive to advocate on her behalf.
"You have a daughter? You have a sister? You have a mother? You could probably imagine how this would feel," Ward said.
Noakes told NBC 5 Investigates that his department is also working to turn the old paper records in their cold case files into digital records, which could help detectives better track the status of cases and DNA evidence.
Even after decades, degraded DNA could still be tested, just like in the Walker case. In the case of the missing trio of teenagers, the families would like a letter left behind to be tested to determine if it was written by one of the victims or someone who harmed them. The families agreed that they wanted the information, whatever the answers to these questions were.
Cheryl Lynn Tunnel Springfield was just 21 years old in 1980 when she was found dead inside a quaint home on Whittier Street in Fort Worth. In a 2016 report, NBC 5 talked with the victim's sister, Jan Webster, who promised justice for her sister. "We may not be able to get it now, but technology will catch up. And if you're 80 years old and I have to come jerk you out of the nursing home, I intend to do that," Webster said. Springfield had been working things out with her ex-husband, Scott, and they planned to spend Christmas with their young son. When Scott arrived at her home on Christmas morning, he found her naked and bloody body on the floor next to her Christmas tree. Detectives said she was strangled with a cord that was still tightly wound around her neck. Springfield's ex-husband was ruled out as a suspect in her murder. Fort Worth police said a neighbor reported seeing her talking with an unknown man at about midnight on Christmas Eve, but a good description wasn't available. A partial fingerprint was recovered at the scene.
Sandy Harkcom's neice Julie Moseley is one of Fort Worth's "missing trio" of three teenagers who vanished two days before Christmas in 1974. Reports from NBC 5 said 17-year-old Rachel Trlica, 14-year-old Renee Wilson, and 9-year-old Julie Moseley had driven to the Seminary South Shopping Center on Dec. 23, 1974, and were never seen again. There was speculation the girls went to Houston to visit relatives, but after police found their car abandoned with Christmas presents and school books in the rear seat, investigators knew they'd never made that trip. The disappearances were profiled in an episode of NBC's Dateline, which pointed at physical evidence in the case -- a handwritten note received by Tommy Trlica, Rachel's husband, the morning after the girls disappeared. The note was suspicious, the family said, because it was signed by Rachel but her name was misspelled. The families also found the statements made in the note unbelievable.
O.D. Wyatt graduate Thurlow Buchanan disappeared in Fort Worth in November 1987 and was never seen or heard from again. According to a Jan. 2, 1988, article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Buchanan was last seen leaving his friend's apartment on Pinson Street in his new pickup truck. Three days after his disappearance, the truck was found near the University of Houston, where his girlfriend attended college, but there were no signs of foul play and no sign of Buchanan. According to the paper, Thurlow was dependable and never left town without telling his mother and previously had only visited his girlfriend on weekends because he attended night school.
The Fort Worth Police Department began investigating the murder of June Ward in February 1977. Ward was believed to have had car trouble after her white Chevrolet Laguna was found along the 4800 block of South Freeway. Ward's body was found not far away, lying next to a curb on the 1000 block of West Fuller. It was determined that Ward had been strangled.
On Dec. 9, 2005, Gloria Yvonne Choice, 57, was found dead in a vacant apartment in East Fort Worth. According to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Report, Gloria was attacked by another person and suffered blunt trauma to her head and brain. Her body was found in the Willows of Woodhaven Apartment complex at 5855 Goldenwood Drive. A suspect was not identified. In 2010, the Cold Case Unit reopened the investigation. In April 2012, Fort Worth Police announced they'd obtained an arrest warrant for the murder, but the suspect was later released.
Kym Caddell and the families who spoke to NBC 5 are part of a private group called Thaw the Cold Cases. The support group is dedicated to bringing families who have lost loved ones together, where they work collectively to raise awareness for their cold cases.
Before gathering at the NBC 5 studios, the families previously met at an annual remembrance walk organized by the group. The next walk is planned for April 2025.
A nonprofit has been established to raise funds to support the Fort Worth Police Department's cold case unit. For more information on the organization and how to donate, visit its website.
Anyone with information about a Fort Worth Cold Case or any unsolved homicide is asked to contact Fort Worth Police at 817-392-4307 or 817-392-4308. Information may also shared via email at coldcase@fortworthpd.com.