In January 2006, 20-year-old Derek Comrie from Hartford, Connecticut went to a basketball game.
While he was sitting in the passenger seat of his friend's car, a stranger approached and shot him.
On June 7, 2014, 19-year-old Ariel Morgan was attending a block party in Berkeley County,
South Carolina to celebrate the end of the school year. There, she too was shot to death and her
killer has never been caught. On September 12, 2019, Ernie Ortiz was found dead outside of the
restaurant he owned in Garden City, Kansas. Investigators believe that he had been shot
to death during a robbery as he was closing his shop for the night. These are just a couple
examples of cold case homicides that investigators work to solve every day in the United States.
It doesn't even include missing persons, fugitives, or other criminal activities, but federal, state,
and local crime agencies have found a fascinating way to expand their resources to get a little
closer to closing their cases. Welcome everyone. You're listening to episode 5,
Cold Case Playing Cards on Dying to be Found, The Dash. Hi everyone, this is Deb from Dying to
be Found. Before we get started, I just wanted to say that episodes contain disturbing discussions
on harmful acts and crimes against animals and or humankind. Recordings are not intended for young
or sensitive audiences due to the content nature of this podcast. Listener discretion is strongly
advised. Hi everyone, this is Deb, your host from the True Crime Podcast,
Dying to be Found. Welcome to D2BF's mini episode series called The Dash, where twice a month I'll
bring you bonus solo episodes or talk to fellow podcasters or true crime enthusiasts. Thank you
so much for everyone who's emailed me, shared, or commented on The Dash. Honestly, this is going
so much better than I ever imagined, but please continue letting me know what you think of our D2BF
Dash series. You can do this by going to our show notes to see how you can get in touch. Otherwise,
look for us on all the socials and drop a comment. Also, if you have a short true crime story you
want to hear, let me know and I'll get working on it right away. You can always let me know now
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coffee so we can continue to bring quality episodes. If you're a true crime podcaster or
work in the true crime industry and want to be featured on an episode of The Dash, send me your
email and I'll send you information on how to get on one of our future episodes. So here's my question
for you today. How often do you go to the casino to play a little blackjack or poker or sit around
with friends playing cards? What kind of deck do you use? Did you know that at least 18 states in
the US use a special deck of cards to send out information on cold cases? These decks are called
cold case playing cards and each deck consists of 52 unsolved crime cases that authorities need
your help in solving. Many of the cases highlighted on the cards range from unsolved homicides to
missing persons. Although there are hundreds of cards not highlighted in the playing cards
distributed throughout the 18 states, investigators still feel this program is a gateway to gaining
leads and closing some of their files. Believe it or not, playing cards featuring criminal cases
date all the way back to the Civil War. This tactic continued through World War II where US military
officials created special cards to distribute amongst the troops to 1. give them a pastime
activity and 2. to help them memorize foreign enemies. Pretty ingenious if you ask me. Most
recently, the US military issued a newer set of playing cards featuring high-profile criminals
such as Saddam Hussein and people directly linked to him. By 2007, Special Agent Tommy Ray,
based out of Florida, came up with the concept of playing cards that would feature unsolved cases.
All this came about when he was sitting in a meeting brainstorming on active and cold cases
from around the state. Ray believed it would be beneficial to manufacture playing cards that could
be distributed to inmates in the Florida Department of Corrections system. Apparently, the agency Tommy
Ray worked for liked the idea and worked quickly with district attorneys throughout the state to
identify which cold cases would be featured on a deck of cards. The agency felt the best avenue to
distribute the cards would be throughout Florida's correction facilities. Within three months of
distributing those cards to inmates, three cold cases were solved. I know that doesn't sound like
a lot folks, but you need to start somewhere and to me this is an incredible number. Once word got
around on some of Florida's successes in cold case playing card distribution, other states began to
follow suit. As I mentioned, 18 states actively participate in stocking these cards in their prison
systems. As of 2022, cold case playing cards are no longer limited to the United States because
Australia has also jumped on board to adopt this program and is sponsored by Crime Stoppers, an
anonymous tip line that anyone can contact to provide information on crimes throughout the world.
Not-for-profit organizations are also beginning to pop up to help distribute playing cards. In 2009,
Ryan Backman lost his father to a violent crime, which compelled him to start Project Cold Case,
a not-for-profit company that helps families of unsolved homicides and suspicious deaths also in
the state of Florida. There are many different ways these unsolved case playing cards are
distributed. As I mentioned, military outlets still use these cards to print details of war
criminals and other identified enemies, which began back in 2003 when the world was on the hunt
for Saddam Hussein and members of his regime. According to Forensic Magazine, Rhode Island
distributed 5,000 decks throughout their Department of Corrections system in December 2018. By July
2019, the Utah Cold Case Coalition also created cards to distribute within their Department of
Corrections system. Project Cold Case, the not-for-profit organization started by Ryan
Backman, distributes these cards to poker rooms, tattoo parlors, and craft breweries throughout
Florida to spread awareness. This is just a small list of agencies that actively put cards out to
gain exposure on unsolved crimes. Ultimately, cold case playing cards are considered a success
amongst the states who are participating in this program. Authorities continue to remain
hopeful that distributing, and I'll call these true crime playing cards, will continue to help
bring cold cases to a close. The cases chosen to be highlighted range from unsolved mysteries to
violent crimes, missing or exploited persons, and fugitive alerts. Investigators from Connecticut
say it is a win-win because, quote, it's like interviewing 93,000 inmates for new leads and
it's worked wonders, unquote. The reason a lot of these playing cards are getting solved is pretty
simple. Inmates like to brag or swap stories as to why they're in their current position and in
prison in the first place. Of course, other inmates think that they can get something in return,
like some added incentives for calling in tips to the free phone number listed on the deck.
Some of the incentives that I found but are by no means a sure thing include better food or
even access to education or rehab programs. Okay, folks, am I wrong here? I don't consider
either of these an obstacle. First of all, human rights, but how many times have you heard of
inmates receiving a degree while behind bars? All right, I'm going to add my opinion here for
just a split second. If you know me well enough, you know I'm an advocate for educating people.
I feel that there is a better chance of rehabilitation when you allow those education
programs when people are incarcerated. Otherwise, I'm thinking the only obstacle that prisons are
facing are budgets. Regardless, incentives are somewhat of a given here. Inmates are more
susceptible to come forward with information, especially if they know that there's something
in it for them because in the whole scheme of things, we as humans are selfish and always want
to know what's in it for us. Am I right? The list of positive feedback in these cold case playing
cards definitely outweigh the negatives, but here's one promising little tidbit on the
effectiveness of installing a cold case playing card program. Connecticut prisons have received
over 770 tips since 2010, which has led to further investigating about 7% of their cases. Of course,
this number is relatively low, but you've got to start somewhere and I'm saying solving even one
case is a big win. There are some downsides to these cards. You might be wondering why only 18
out of 50 states actively support this program. Even though the pros do outweigh the cons,
there are still concerns that violence can increase, especially when we're talking about
prison systems here. Some jurisdictions say that although these playing card programs are a great
concept, they do contain some negative setbacks. For example, the Butler County system out of Ohio
actually removed these cards from their penal system due to security issues inside the jail.
Why, you ask? Because criminals are behind bars for a reason. They don't follow society's rules.
And in the instance of Butler County jails, inmates were using the playing cards to block
the locking mechanisms to their cells. Have you seen the last several episodes of Oranges of the
New Black? And do you remember what happened when inmates take over the facility? So for obvious
reasons, Ohio jails put the program on hold until they could come up with a better way to use cold
case playing cards to their advantage. Other concerns about these cold case playing cards
is how the information provided by inmates proves to be more unreliable than helpful.
Delaware officials cite that nearly 50% of the informants testimony proves to be false,
mostly due to those incentives I discussed earlier. And I'm not sure there are more
incentive programs than just better food or self-improvement programs. Heck, I've learned
that if you just give someone a lollipop, they're happy and will do anything for that freebie.
Secondly, we know snitches get stitches and many prison systems are dealing with just that,
which adds to the fact that prisoners and jail officials don't need inmates to police themselves.
Like I mentioned, cold case playing cards are not limited to the United States.
Shout out to my friends and listeners in Australia because you have these too.
New South Wales jail systems introduced cards in 2022 after friends and family members of victims
tried for over five years to get these programs off the ground. As far as any other countries
who have this program in place, again, I really couldn't find much information on this. I do
believe there are some international versions for fugitives or crimes overseas, but there's
just not a global effort yet to distribute this type of card around the world. Let me end by
giving you a couple of incidents where cold case playing cards have been a success. In 2007,
a friendly game of go fish amongst Florida prisoners produced tips that led to the arrest of
one of their cases on that deck. As of today, Connecticut alone has solved over 20 cases using
these cards. One of those cases is that of Derek Comrie. One of the cases I mentioned at the
beginning of this episode, Derek was the young man who had attended that basketball game and was
shot by the stranger while he was sitting in the passenger side of his friend's car. An inmate who
was serving time in the Connecticut prison system came forward to provide information on Derek's
case after a card game with fellow inmates. This tipster had purchased a deck of cold case cards
from the commissary, say that 10 times fast, and saw Derek's case on the deck. He remembered hearing
a fellow inmate bragging about shooting Derek back in 2006 and contacted that tipster line provided
on the card. This case was solved and Derek's killer received a 37-year sentence. Well, that's
the story of cold case playing cards. I tried to find a list of all the states that have these
cards in their correction systems, but couldn't find it all in one spot. I would suggest that you
Google this to see if your state has the cold case playing card program and write to your state
and local officials if it doesn't. You can refer them to this episode of Dying to be Found, The
Dash, to find out what they need to know about how effective this program is and what things they
need to avoid. If you have any agencies interested in featuring cold cases on playing cards, please
have them contact Project Cold Case at 904-525-8080 or email info at projectcoldcase.org. You can
contact the Federal Department of Corrections to inquire how cases can be featured on cards from
your own state. If you're wondering where you can find a deck of cold case playing cards, Amazon or
eBay are your best bets. Distribution is limited mainly to the prison systems. Unless you live in
Florida, then you can stop by your local brewery or tattoo parlor. Alright you all, let me know
your thoughts on this episode. If you have a storyline you'd like to specifically hear on the
Dash, let me know that too. Don't forget, if you want to hear less of me and more collabs, shoot me
your email and I'll get you on that Dash lineup. Until next time, be sure to click on the links in
our show notes to find out more about this podcast and check us out every Wednesday on the Dash and
every Thursday when I get together with my family members. Talk to you soon. Thanks for listening to
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Be sure to Dash in every Wednesday for our mini episodes, plus every Thursday when I get together
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