MARQUETTE, Mich. (WZMQ) – The Michigan State Police are teaming up with Northern Michigan University to shine a new light on an old missing persons case
The students arriving for this class are, unlike other students, these Juniors and Seniors are actually working on cold case files for the Michigan State Police.
“I think it’s the most interesting course you can take at NMU the things you work on, it’s real and it means a lot. It gives you a real purpose and a value. You work on a real case,” said Senior Tucker Havel.
Today, the Michigan State Police and NMU held an open house showcasing the collaboration between Northern’s Criminal Justice Department and the MSP’s detectives. The goal is to learn about the complexity of actual active investigations.
“This is a super unique experience for students. Not very many people can say that they worked with Michigan State Police on a real cold case,” said Junior Jalin Halcome.
Today. NMU’s Cold Case program was assigned to help investigate the disappearance of Helen Dymond, a National Mine resident who went missing in 1981.Her granddaughter is grateful for the renewed interest in the case.
“She left, started walking down the main road to National Mine and was never seen again. Its a super challenging case, and like I said, to have some resources and to have all that brain power of these students who were just so bright and asking the best questions and all the right questions, I feel like they know what they’re doing,” said Dymond’s granddaughter, Holly Letson.
The Cold Case program at NMU is unique among universities offering criminal justice degrees in Michigan.
“We’re the only program in the state of Michigan that actually provides our course, our program as a permanent course offering.