Playing cards give Kansas prison inmates a chance to help solve cold cases. Here’s how

Inmates at Kansas state prisons will soon have a new deck of playing cards — and a chance to help solve cases that have run cold for investigators.

Regular playing cards at the Kansas Department of Corrections will be replaced with cards that each include information detailing an unsolved crime in the state, according to an April 25 news release from the Kansas Department of Corrections and the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

Officials said they developed the Cold Case Playing Cards to hopefully generate information from inmates that could help solve previously unsolved homicides, missing persons cases or unidentified remains.

Each card will include brief information about the crime with a phone number for those with information to call.

“These cards highlight case details in the hope that a person or persons familiar with a case will come forward with information leading to its resolution,” the release said.

These new cards will replace the current decks, and will be available in prisons and county jails in common rooms.

“Every call or tip that is shared with law enforcement will be vetted by investigators assigned to the case,” KBI Director Kirk Thompson said in the release. “No matter how small, each tip has the potential of being the missing piece of information needed to finally provide justice to crime victims and their families.”

According to the release, other states that adopted this program solved multiple cold cases by making the cards available.

Florida was the first to adopt the program back in 2007, and two cases were solved from the first two editions.

“Not every tip received leads to resolution of a case, but someone usually knows something,” Kansas Secretary of Corrections Jeff Zmuda said in the release. “Within Kansas correctional facilities and jails, we have segments of our population who want to do something good, perhaps atone for past mistakes, and they may have information about unsolved cases. Our hope is that we receive actionable intelligence that leads to solving cases.”

Some cases involved in the playing cards date back to 1976, with others as recent as 2020, the release said.

The cases, which come from all over the state of Kansas, involve 37 males and 22 females. The 52 cards highlight 59 unsolved criminal cases, according to a news release about the development of the initiative.

“It’s our hope that by distributing this deck more attention is drawn to these cases, and that someone comes forward with details that will move us one step closer to providing justice,” Thompson said.

This story was originally published April 25, 2022 at 12:25 PM with the headline "Playing cards give Kansas prison inmates a chance to help solve cold cases. Here’s how."

Mariah Rush

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Mariah Rush is a National Real-Time Reporter. She is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and has previously worked for The Chicago Tribune, The Tampa Bay Times and The Philadelphia Inquirer.