Families find closure in Utah cold case investigations
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In Salt Lake County, Utah, the Sheriff’s Office hosted the Hope Conference to support families with unsolved missing person and homicide cases.
Detective Ben Pender, the county’s only full-time cold case investigator, met with families to provide updates and solicit new information. Pender has solved several major cold cases, most recently securing a guilty plea in the 2010 murder of Sherry Black through advances in DNA technology.
Families shared their experiences at the conference, including Niki Price, whose brother’s murder was solved in 2025 after nearly two decades, and Axel Anderson, whose father’s remains were discovered in a car submerged in Starvation Reservoir after 20 years of uncertainty. Anderson initially hoped for his father’s return but eventually found peace in learning the truth and being able to speak about his father’s life, not just his disappearance.
Captain Dustin Fowler emphasized the county’s commitment to these investigations, noting that Pender traveled 20,000 miles across eight states pursuing leads. Fowler acknowledged that answers aren’t always immediate, but pledged persistence in every case, regardless of how long ago it occurred. Anderson described how finding closure allowed him to focus on remembering his father’s life, rather than dwelling on his disappearance, redefining his understanding of hope in the process.
