TORONTO — Police in Toronto are hoping a website launched Wednesday will help investigators solve some of the city's hundreds of homicide cold cases dating back to 1959.
The force says homicide investigators have been highly successful in solving murders, and have averaged near 80 per cent from 1921 until now.
They say that since 1996, through new investigative techniques and advancements in scientific methods, cold case investigators have had success solving cases through the re-examination of old evidence.
Investigators say there are cases that just need a name to match a DNA profile to solve a homicide and they're hoping the profiles of the cases on the website will bring in new tips from the public.
In addition to the case profiles, homicide investigators will be releasing short video clips via the interactive website and social media in hopes of stimulating information on cold cases.
The website — www.torontopolice.on.ca/homicide/search.php — also has a most-wanted page profiling 30 people identified by investigators as being allegedly responsible for homicides in Toronto.
"We would encourage the public to go to the website and use social media to spread the word on the individual cases and people wanted for murder," Chief Mark Saunders said Wednesday.
Each case or most-wanted profile has links for easy sharing to social media such as Twitter and Facebook.
