As a criminal justice student at Florida Gateway College in Live Oak, Jason Futch learned about the cold case of an unidentified dismembered torso found at a local gas station in 1994. Intrigued, Futch followed the clues, interviewed people involved and uncovered details never released to the public.
He posted the information on Websleuths.com which, coupled with a poster from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, prompted the victim’s relatives to come forward, leading to his identification as Fred Paul Laster and the arrest of his killer in 2017.
Futch has since helped police identify two previously unidentified cold case victims: a black teenager lynched in 1983, and a 36-year-old man found dead along Interstate 75 in 1990.
He also founded Suwannee Valley Unsolved (SVU), a Facebook page and nonprofit that helps solve cold cases through an interactive map, road signs and relationships with law enforcement and forensics personnel.
On Saturday, May 10, Futch will share his journey from student to cold-case authority at the local monthly meeting of Sisters in Crime. The group welcomes all writers and readers interested in the topic to attend.
The meeting will be held at 10:15 a.m. in the Friends of the Library (FOL) room of the Ponte Vedra Beach Library, 101 Library Blvd.
For more information, contact floridasistersincrime@gmail.com.
