NICEVILLE — Students in Northwest Florida State College's Criminal Investigations course this spring delved into three local cold cases as part of a semester-long class project.
The students formed three groups, pored through case files, reviewed documents, talked to investigators, and compiled information. At the end of the course, each group gave a presentation on what they had learned.
Angela Moore of Crestview led the group looking into the Andrea Durham disappearance. Despite a thick case file, heavy media attention, and numerous leads and tips that still come in 25 years later, investigators still don't know what happened to Durham.
"There's nothing," Moore said. "She vanished out of thin air."
Moore, who will graduate May 9 with an Associate in Science in Paralegal Studies, said that looking into the case makes her appreciate the technology available today that wasn't around when Durham disappeared.
"I think it's a great idea to get students to try to help," Moore said. "We learned a lot more than we thought we would. We learned about criminal investigations by actually doing it.
"We put our all in it. We were passionate about the case."
NWF State College Criminal Justice Training Center Coordinator Jeff McGill, who teaches the course and is a former Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office investigator, came up with the idea for the cold case project. McGill said he contacted the Okaloosa and Walton sheriff's offices to ask if they wanted to partner in the effort.
The project has several benefits, McGill said.
"It's a good opportunity for the college and the law enforcement agencies to partner," he said. "You never know where you're going to find leads. It's an opportunity to stumble across something we haven't already found."
Even if no new information turns up, it still sends a message that cases are alive.
"It brings to light that these cold cases are still going on," McGill said. "People are still interested. We haven't given up."
In addition, it's a valuable learning experience for the students, enabling them to "see the practical side of what they learn in the book and the kind of work and effort that goes into an investigation," McGill said.
THE CASES
Okaloosa and Walton's sheriff's offices, in partnership with Northwest Florida State college, sent a number of cases that students could work on.
Among them were these:
• Andrea Durham, a 13-year-old last seen leaving her family's Fort Walton Beach apartment on Feb. 1, 1990.
•Merle Lewis, whose body was found at his Mary Esther home in October 1973; he had been shot once in the chest.
•Leroy Warren, found stabbed to death at his DeFuniak Springs home in September 1995.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview student at Northwest Florida State College leads cold case probe