INDIANAPOLIS — Two Indianapolis women have joined a team to help push information about cold cases involving missing and murdered victims.
Ashlee Fujawa and Anna Eaglin are co-founders of the interactive website "UNCOVERED." The pair is inviting the public to be part of an online version called Uncovered.com.
"We have always been interested in the genre of unsolved crimes, true crimes," said Fujawa.
The two friends, who met in college, have now made this their new mission in life. They are part of the team running a new website to help put some heat on cold cases.
"The more we got to talking about it, bringing it all credible information, verified information but then also pursuing it in a way people can consume better," Fujawa said.
"For me, when I was in college, my cousin went missing. It's still a cold case. It has not been solved," said Eaglin.
Anna's cousin is 22-year-old Molly Dattilo, who went missing July 4, 2004. The pair made Molly's case the first one they worked on for Uncovered.com. Although Anna was not really that close to Molly due to age differences, she recalls the impact her case had on the family back then and even today.
"Every case has something the family needs," she said. "The family advocate needs, something that needs to be looked into."
Not only does 'Uncovered" highlight high-profile cases like the disappearance of Indiana University student Lauren Spierer and the murders of friends Abigail Williams and Liberty German in Delphi, but also the cold cases that eventually stop making headlines.
"We are filling in all those gaps with crowdsourced information with the notion that there are so many answers to be uncovered and so many people need to know what happened," Fujawa said.
That includes what happened to Najah Farrell of Avon after part of her remains surfaced in Crown Point, Indiana.
The Uncovered website allows anyone to submit a case. There is also an opportunity for you to learn how to become a citizen detective.
Right now, law enforcement agencies are working to solve as many missing persons and unsolved homicide cases as possible. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department has a 65% clearance rate for homicides, which is close to the national average.
Still, there are families who have to see the anniversary of their loved ones' unsolved cases come and go each year.
Both Anna and Ashlee believe their website will help families searching for answers. Their message to missing persons and unsolved murder suspects is simple.
"People should feel unnerved if you have created a crime," Eaglin said. "Because it's not just the work of citizen detectives."
"If we can take a community and move it from consumption of true crime to advocacy then we have just met what we set out to do with Uncovered," Fujawa added.
Both women invite the public to join them at Uncovered.com, where families can also submit cases they would like posted on the website.