Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes created a new unit to help local police departments investigate unsolved cases.
“No matter how much time has passed, in Arizona there are too many families who are still searching for answers,” Mayes said. “Families who have spent years, sometimes decades, wondering if they will ever see justice for their loved ones.”
The new unit will give local police access to additional resources, including forensic genealogy, which uses new DNA analysis techniques and commercial genealogy services to identify potential suspects and unidentified victims.
“The advance in those resources for us has really opened up a lot of doors,” said Special Agent Roger Geisler, who will lead the new unit.
Mayes said she also has plans to approach Arizona’s universities and colleges to partner on the development of new technologies that could aid investigators, including artificial intelligence software.
“I think the other thing that I really am excited about is the opportunity to potentially use AI in a positive way to solve some of these cases, which I think, you know, has the potential to compare details across multiple homicides to connect them as potential serial murders,” Mayes said.
Mayes said the unit will initially focus on five cases:
- Leslie Good, a 39-year-old mother of three who died of an apparent gunshot wound in Goodyear in 2008.
- Melody Harrison. Harrison’s body was first discovered near Apache Junction in 1992 but was only identified in 2023 using new DNA analysis techniques.
- Sabino Lopez, who died from an apparent gunshot wound in Tolleson in 2018.
- Victoria Lacey, who died of an apparent stab wound in Glendale in 2012.
- Diana Shawcroft and Jennifer Lueth, whose bodies were discovered in a remote area of Yavapai County in 1996 three months after they were last seen in Glendale.
“I want to be clear that justice has no expiration date,” Mayes said. “This is about more than solving crimes. It's about providing justice for the victims and their families.”
Mayes said Geisler will work with Special Agent Melanie Montaño. Both Geisler and Montaño, a member of the Navajo Nation, also investigate cases involving missing and murdered indigenous people.
Mayes said the new cold case unit will not draw attention away from those investigations.
“No, I think it means more time spent on that,” Mayes said.
Mayes said she can establish the new unit without obtaining new funding from the state Legislature and she will use existing resources within the Attorney General’s Office.
“Although, I would love it if the Legislature would prioritize public safety and not cut our budget — as you know, they cut our budget by 2% to 3% last year,” Mayes said.
Nearly all state agencies experienced budget cuts of around 3% in the budget passed by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Katie Hobbs last June as they sought to close a projected budget deficit that exceeded $1 billion.
