Retesting evidence gathered from homicide investigations in the 1970s and early 1980’s could help close about 20 cold-case homicides in Salt Lake City — but the evidence is missing.
The University of Utah’s Center for Human Toxicology tested forensic evidence — such as bloody knives or fingernail scrapings — for the Salt Lake City Police Department up until 1983, when the state opened its own crime lab.
After testing, the evidence would immediately have been returned to police, according to Dennis Crouch, who was a technician at the center during the late 70s and early 80s, and later became laboratory director and a research associate professor in the U.