WMU Cold Case Program Solves 7 Cases While Training Students in Police Work

Since 2020, the WMU Cold Case Program has helped Michigan State Police solve seven cold cases while giving students hands-on investigative experience that could launch careers in law enforcement.

The program was founded by Professor Ashlyn Kuersten, who said its primary goal is to support detectives by digitizing case files and creating useful documents.

"Mainly their job is to make the detectives' lives easier," Kuersten said. "They create documents, they digitize case files, whatever the detective finds would be most useful for their investigation."

Among the cases the program has helped solve is the 1987 murder of Roxanne Wood in Niles Township. Wood was assaulted, raped, and murdered, and a suspect was arrested and convicted in 2022.

The program also contributed to solving the murder of Cathy Swartz, a 19-year-old found dead in her Three Rivers apartment in 1988. A suspect was arrested 35 years later, but died by suicide in jail.

Students have also worked on active cases, such as the disappearance of Brittany Shank in 2018. Shank went missing after a car crash in Sturgis, and her whereabouts remain unknown.

"I'm really surprised, I didn't expect that we would see results like that," Kuersten said. "I just thought this would be a wonderful experience for my students."

WMU students in the program say the experience is invaluable.

"It's much different than studying for exams every week," Gabriella Tesin, a student in the program, said. "It's cool to be able to get my hands on the case file."

Halli Warner, another student, emphasized the importance of advocating for justice.

"The most important thing that I've learned is how to advocate for justice for victims' families and how important it is to still look at cases no matter how old they are," Warner said.

Mary Ellen McCormick, a junior planning to pursue forensic science, said the program has boosted her confidence and provided a new perspective.

"It's really important to recognize that the victims' families that we're working for them so that they can help to get some sort of closure," McCormick said.

Kuersten was recently recognized for her leadership with the "Outstanding Faculty Award for Student Success" from the Mid-American Conference.

She attributes the program's success to the fresh perspectives students bring.

"That fresh set of eyes and having a whole team effort. Helping the detective, I think, is the kind of secret sauce to our success," she said.

The program holds open houses twice a year to encourage public interest and student applications.

Kuersten is hopeful that more students will apply and continue the program's mission of bringing closure to cold cases.

The program also works on high-profile cases like the search for Janis Sanders, who disappeared in 1975 after breaking up with her boyfriend in Niles.

Dr. Mine Dogan, an assistant professor of geophysics at WMU, has been helping the program use advanced drone technology to search for remains.

"The moment I read the email, just dropped everything," Dogan said.

"We may not have justice but in some terms we can find the truth," said James Sanders, who was 2 years old when his mother was reported missing.

The program operates on $200,000 in state funding that runs through fiscal year 2025. Kuersten is worried about what might happen if funding isn't renewed for fiscal year 2026.

The proposed executive budget for the upcoming fiscal year deleted the entire $1 million line item for cold case programs, but the Senate has approved a proposed budget that would renew the entire line item in full.

"The best thing that comes out of Western Michigan, I mean, aside from solving a case, is the fact that we actually have four current troopers in the Michigan State Police that have gone through the academy, gone through all the background stuff that were former CCP students. And that's huge," said Detective John Moore at MSP.

At the program, students help organize and digitize thousands of case file documents to make it easier for the detectives to find the clues they need to solve these cold cases.

"It doesn't cost a lot to operate a program like this, but it does take space — it takes computers, a lot of computers, a lot of scanners," Kuersten said.