‘We will never stop searching’: Iowa AG announces new cold case unit

DES MOINES, Iowa (WOWT) - Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said Tuesday her office is stepping up to make sure more of the state’s cold cases are solved.

The Iowa Legislature allocated $530,000 in immediate funding for this cold case unit this year.

Bird said it will consist of three full-time investigators and one prosecutor. Their job is to focus on unsolved murders, bringing fresh eyes to the old cases, and working with any new evidence.

Bird said Iowa has more than 100 cold cases, which have left families in the dark, while murderers walk free.

“I can promise you this: We will never give up,” she said. “We will never stop searching. We will never stop turning over those leads.”

Investigator Steve Ponsetto is leading this new unit.

He said the AG’s office will partner with law enforcement agencies across the state and the Iowa Department of Public Safety on identified cold cases.

“These field investigators will live in different locations across Iowa and work hand in glove with local law enforcement on their cases,” Ponsetto said. “There will also be an assistant attorney general assigned to prosecute these challenging cases in conjunction with the local county attorney’s office.”

Pottawattamie County’s cold cases include the 1999 slaying of Council Bluffs woman Kimberly Ratliff. Authorities arrested her stepbrother, Matt Kennedy, for her murder four years ago, but a jury found him not guilty.

The list also includes the 1998 death of Council Bluffs man Paul Brule.

Brule’s sister Jamie Reed told 6 News she doesn’t know if this new cold case unit will bring justice to her brother’s killer, but she hopes it does.

If you have any tips about any cold case, you can contact the Iowa attorney general’s office by calling (800) 242-5100. You may also email them at [email protected].

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