DENVER (KDVR) — There are hundreds of unsolved homicide cases, long-term missing person cases, and unidentified remains cases in Colorado where at least three years have passed since the crime happened.
The Colorado cold case task force created a list of those cases dating back to 1970. The Problem Solvers are working to highlight cold cases in our state.
Who murdered James O’Neal Johnson?
The Denver Police Department said that James O’Neal Johnson, 24, was hanging out with friends, drinking, and listening to music in the 1100 block of 26th Street on May 26, 1999 when he was shot.
He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
More than 23 years later, Johnson’s murder remains unsolved. Today would have been Johnson’s 48th birthday.
If you have any information about Johnson’s murder, please contact the Denver Police Department at 720-913-2000. You can also provide an anonymous tip to the Metro Denver Crime Stoppers and be eligible to receive a reward up to $2,000.
After losing my dad James O’Neal Johnson, many people said time heals all wounds. All things happen for a reason? Neither time or reason, could fill this void in my heart. Gone are the days we use to share. But with all my memories, I know in my heart, you are still there. I miss you more than anyone could ever know. All the grief I carry, I see it as, all the love I never got show. Always on my mind and forever in my heart is where that love will have to stay until we meet again, some other day. We miss you as a dad, a son, a brother, a uncle, a husband, and a friend, you were all those things and so much more. A phenomenal man, yeah that was my dad for sure 💙.
-Kenya Johnson, Daughter 26-years-old
Here are some of the other cases we’ve highlighted:
- ‘Don’t ever give up hope’: Cold case: Who killed Edward Steinbach?
- Cold case: Who killed Richard Elliott at a grocery store 23 years ago?
- Cold case: Who kidnapped Christopher Abeyta 35 years ago?
- Cold case: Who killed JonBenét Ramsey 25 years ago?
- Cold case: Who killed Jessica Bejarano 15 years ago
- Cold case: Where is Terri Ackerman?
- 18 people remain unidentified in Denver since 1970
The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System shows there are currently 21,556 open missing persons cases in the United States and over 300 in Colorado.