Rally gathers in downtown Fort Worth to bring awareness to unsolved cold cases

Relative to about a thousand cold cases that are being investigated at the Fort Worth Police Department, only six have been solved, according to the FWPD Cold Case Support Group.

Notable solved cases in Fort Worth include those of Carla Walker and Melissa Highsmith. Walker was 17 when she was kidnapped, raped, and killed by Glen McCurley on Feb. 17, 1974. McCurley was sentenced to life in 2021 and died in prison. Highsmith was kidnapped as a baby n Fort Worth in 1971 and was reunited with her family in November 2022.

The developments in Walker’s and Highsmith’s cases have brought closure to their families and hope for others. But with the many cold cases that have gone on without leads there is much more work to be done in the Fort Worth police’s cold case unit, says Kelli Arnold.

“It’s not just one family, it’s so many families,” said Arnold, who gathered a rally — outside the Tarrant County Courthouse on Saturday morning — to bring attention to cold cases.

“I would like for our community to understand what a big issue this is. ... It doesn’t just affect the people here today, it affects future generations, because when you stop the people who have killed these people, then you’re preventing somebody else’s.”

Tawnya Thomas was one of the many people who gathered outside the courthouse. Like several other families of cold case victims, she will not rest until justice is served in her mother’s case.

Gloria Choice, Thomas’ mother, was murdered on Dec. 9, 2005. She was beaten to death and was found at a vacant apartment in the Woodhaven neighborhood in Fort Worth. Six years later, Michael Leon Davis Jr. was arrested in Choice’s murder, but a week after being taken into custody, he was released from jail due to insufficient evidence to convict him.

Like Arnold, Thomas believes that anyone with information in Choice’s murder can help close the case.

“We’re just asking everybody to come forward so we can go ahead and get justice,” said Thomas. “I’m ready for justice now.”

Arnold says that funding is still an issue for the police department’s cold case unit. The only funding that the department receives is through the FWPD Cold Case Support Group, a nonprofit organization that aims to collect donations that go directly to the cold case unit.

According to the Fort Worth Police Department, there is only one detective assigned to its cold case unit.

“You got one cop trying to deal with a thousand cases. That’s just not right,” said Arnold at the cold case rally that gathered on May 4, 2023. “We need to have open conversations about how we can have resolutions.”

The Fort Worth Police Department Cold Case Unit has not responded to the Star-Telegram’s request for comment.

The most recent development in funding the cold case unit came when U.S. Sen. John Cornyn announced the Carla Walker Act, the proposed legislation designed to fund DNA research and help solve cold cases.

“We’re really excited about it,” said Jim Walker, Carla’s brother. “We know it’s going to pass through and we know it’ll be signed into law. ... But that’s only half the equation.”

The Carla Walker Act is aimed to conduct “cutting-edge” forensic genealogy DNA analysis to identify criminals. A quantified DNA profile has to be submitted to the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System, but out of submitting 100 profiles, there is only a 2 percent chance of identifying a suspect, let alone the lineage of the suspect, according to Jim Walker.

Quantifying DNA profiles costs money and resources that the cold case unit does not have enough of, Jim Walker said.

“We’re really trying to put it all together from cradle to grave to get a lot of this back load. The city of Fort Worth works diligently to solve, get them done,” said Jim Walker.

Beyond funding, the cases lack leads, according to Jim Walker.

“Law enforcement wants to solve every one of our cases. And this is just our effort to try to help our city. We love our law enforcement, we love our prosecutorial teams,” said Jim Walker. “We know they’re doing warrior’s work, but ... they can only do what they can do.”

But the rally’s gathering isn’t just about raising awareness regarding funding, it’s about showing support for one another, says Jim Walker.

“That’s one of the wonderful things about this. Supporting each other. Let people know you’re not forgotten. Two: to bring awareness to our community, hoping that somebody will see something and say something,” said Jim Walker.

He, among other members of the FWPD Cold Case Support Group, asks anyone with information about a cold case to report it to the Fort Worth police.

“We’re going to work for getting new results,” said Jim Walker.