A new cold case unit has been established in Macon to address dozens of unsolved homicide cases, some dating back more than 50 years. The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office Cold Case Unit began operations on July 1, at the start of the county’s fiscal year, and is focusing on homicides that often involved sexual assault, gangs, and robberies.
These investigations had largely stalled since around 2014 when Macon-Bibb County consolidated its city and county governments and transitioned from the Macon Police Department to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office. Limited resources prevented significant progress on these cases until now. The sheriff’s office received $58.1 million from the annual county budget, with some funds allocated to the Cold Case Unit. The unit also benefits from a partnership with a federal grant program.
Two investigators, Kristina Tench and Jack Côté, are currently leading efforts to reopen these cases. Two additional investigators are expected to join soon, according to Tench. Some cases receive further support through a federally funded program for sexual assault victims.
Tench noted the challenges faced by investigators: “I’m not going to say they just put them on a shelf and never looked back at them, but realistically, our investigators are overwhelmed with the number of violent death cases that we have,” she said. “Do they have the time to dedicate to them? No.”
Law enforcement agencies in Georgia are not required by law to have cold case units or victim advocates. While such units are common in larger cities, they are less prevalent in medium-sized jurisdictions and rare in smaller areas, according to Tench. However, under the Coleman-Baker Act enacted in 2023, agencies must review and potentially investigate cold cases upon request.
Tench works part-time for the sheriff’s office while serving full-time as chief of personnel and mission management at Robins Air Force Base in Warner Robins. She selected five cases out of many cold cases based on available evidence and witness testimony.
“As I work on one case and I’m waiting for something to happen on this one, I’ll jump on another,” Tench said. “Sometimes, you have to go through these cases four or five times… It’s like watching a movie, like, ‘Oh, I didn’t see that the first time.’”
Of her current caseload, three involve sexually motivated homicides; another concerns a missing person; one deals with unidentified human remains.
The Cold Case Unit collaborates with the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Task Force led by the Georgia Criminal Justice Coordinating Council—a state grant-funded program supporting law enforcement and survivors of sexual assault.
Amy Christine Hutsell is director of Human Trafficking, Child Abuse and Sexual Assault at the council; Jay Eisner coordinates Georgia’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative Task Force.
Hutsell described how their approach centers victims: “That’s one of the philosophies that we operate under, that we put the victim and their family at the center of everything we’re doing,” she said. “It’s considered best practice.”
The task force provides resources such as advanced investigative technology and access to additional state investigators and victim advocates.
Victim advocates help connect individuals with needed resources while minimizing trauma during criminal justice proceedings. Eisner explained: “We start with, ‘Where are you at? What do you need? How can we help?’ By the time we’re getting to prosecution, usually we have a couple years of relationship with the victims. This is always going to be traumatizing, but we try and soften that.”
This initiative renews an earlier partnership between local authorities and state agencies that previously helped identify Yvonne Pless—known as “Macon Jane Doe”—as a murder victim killed by what authorities called “the nation’s most prolific serial killer.”
“It’s really a great example of a state and local partnership, and how we’re able to get justice and answers for families,” Hutsell said.
Tench reported obstacles such as degraded DNA samples or difficulty finding witnesses who may no longer be alive or willing to speak: “One of the challenges… nobody wants to pick up the phone,” she said about tracking down witnesses today.
The sheriff’s office seeks more vehicles for outreach work; efforts continue toward securing additional grant funding for necessary tools.
Tench commented on evidentiary standards: “Those standards just keep getting higher and higher,” she said. “DNA has become the gold standard of everything.” However, DNA evidence can degrade over time or may not have been collected using modern methods decades ago.
Evidence processing starts locally but may advance through state crime labs or private companies specializing in forensic genealogy if needed.
“A lot of private companies have carved out a niche…that we wouldn’t necessarily be able to do even at the state level,” Tench said.
Tench emphasized public tips’ importance: “We haven’t even scraped the surface with all these cases,” she said.
The public is encouraged to contact authorities if they have information relevant to any cold case investigations.
