A dog-eared case jacket bearing a number written in permanent ink. Inside, a checkbook dated 1995, an address book, an incident report and crime scene photos.

In police records, the few pictures and pieces of paper are all that remain of Brenda Swierk aside from the face of a woman with her eyes closed and mouth open in a crime scene photo.

“If you’ve ever worked a homicide, you know that stays with you,” said Lt. Ronda Bamberg of the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office. “When you solve a case, you bring closure to that family.”

James Henry Legree, Sandra Gail Lee, Chris Britt, Lucy Lewis and dozens more -- unsolved. No one arrested, no trial, no closure.

They’re called cold cases, cases that stay with investigators more than others perhaps because more time -- years, in some instances -- is spent on them.

“No, you never forget them,” said Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Capt. Mike Adams.

Thursday marked the 21st anniversary of Adams’ first homicide case. A shots fired call went out around 9:10 p.m. A new police officer, Adams responded to 117 Boulevard Street, the address of the Crab Net, a seafood establishment that was located on railroad corner in 1987.

Inside, the 42-year-old woman known to residents in the area as “Miss Lucy” was found lying face down. Adams secured the scene and called for homicide investigators, who found a knife underneath the shop owner’s body.

Police developed a suspect. No one was brought to trial.

It was March 9, 1989 when a police officer showed up on the doorstep of the Legree family. James Henry, the only son, had been murdered. No suspects, no arrests.

“If Orangeburg County would do their job we wouldn’t be going through this,” said his sister, Dee Peeples.

Frustrated there are no answers, no closure, no answer to the never-ending question, “Why?” Peeples says, “It’s very hard for the family. I just miss him.”

As a law enforcement officer for the past 23 years, Bamberg said investigators are acutely aware there is a distinct difference for families of homicide victims who have closure and those families who do not.

Both types of victims are tragic figures. One set has some answers, while the others are left only with memories and wounds that won’t heal.

“We want those answers, too,” she said. “What did she do that you had to kill her? That could be my mother, somebody’s loved one.”

Investigation agencies are aware of the belief that if a case is not resolved immediately, an old case becomes a cold case and a cold case is closed.

“The public perception is that after a while there’s no interest in the case, that we have closed the case or maybe feel it isn’t important,” said Barbara Walters, chief at the OCSO. “We never close the cases until we have solved the case.”

Police say a case only becomes cold when all leads have been exhausted. At that point, however, the case jackets are not simply put into a dead file.

“We have a periodic review of the cold cases,” Adams said. “Do we just go through them? No, our forensic investigator reviews the case with an eye toward new technology. Is there something available now that we didn’t have when the case was opened?”

It wasn’t long ago that a DNA sample had to be a large sample for analysts to get a profile. Huge steps have been taken in the field of DNA sampling that have greatly enhanced investigators’ capabilities.

“Twenty to 30 years ago they could develop DNA, but they needed to take a large quantity,” said Carl Shultz, crime scene investigator for the ODPS. “Now they can do it with a single cell.”

With new technology coming online, there could possibly be a day in the near future when each case is solvable within a few weeks based solely on DNA.

“I think that the possibility exists, absolutely,” Adams said.

Aside from technology, time itself may become an important factor in a cold case.

“Circumstances may change and someone may come forward,” Bamberg said. “Their coming forward could be the last piece that we need.”

Peeples said that in the 19 years since her brother was found, she hasn’t allowed herself to imagine a day when police would knock on her door one more time, this time to bring resolution.

“It would be, whew ... I can’t express it,” she said. “I pray 24/7 that we find whoever did it.”

Until that time, homicide investigators say the faces of the unresolved murder victims remain in the thoughts of the officers, who themselves attain a form of closure when a cold case becomes a closed case.

“At peace. The soul of that victim can finally rest,” Walters said.

T&D Staff Writer Richard Walker can be reached by e-mail at rwalker@timesanddemocrat.com or by telephone at 803-533-5516.

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